Professional narrators generally work from a home recording studio for a range of clients. A typical day usually involves lots of emails, plus research and prep for upcoming projects. Narrators spend several hours a day in the booth recording. When out of the booth, they take care that their lifestyle (hydration, rest, diet, exercise) supports their work behind the mic.

Watch this: A Day in the Life of an Audiobook Narrator

While it is true that some people with no acting background have good instincts for audiobook narration, those who walk in the door with acting experience are definitely in the fast lane in this competitive career.

Depending upon the demand in the industry for your voice type, finding your footing can take anywhere from a few months to several years. Having a professional community to turn to can make a big difference.

You need a space treated to keep external noice out (soundproofing) and internal echoes dampened (sound treatment). You need a computer, some kind of DAW software, and either a high quality USB microphone or an interface + XLR microphone.

There are quite a few audiobook narrators who make a comfortable full time living as narrators, and others who split time between audiobook narration and their film / tv / live theatre work. Still others take only the amount of work they can reasonably deliver by their clients’ deadlines due to life circumstances (parenting young children for example), but getting a foothold in this career takes persistence.

Narrators may work for independent authors through a platform such as ACX, or they may focus on work for production companies or publishers. Different types of work require different marketing strategies. Our Launching for New Narrators course covers this information, with opportunities to ask specific questions in the course forum.

According to one casting director for a Big 5 publisher, they love working with narrators who are good communicators, meet their deadlines, and deliver high quality work, in that order.

In the early (pre-ACX) days of home studio recording, there were a few hundred narrators working steadily. The explosion in the industry means that there are now thousands.

No.

Grab a random book from your shelves, go in a closet and read out loud, stopping each time you make a mistake to begin that sentence again. If you’re unsure of the pronunciation of a word, stop and look it up. Keep going for 45 minutes. If you’re ready for more after a 15 minute break, that’s a good sign. If you couldn’t imagine doing that for hours a day several days a week, this is not the job for you. If you love the creative part but hate the thought of running your own business, marketing and promotion, attending networking events, dealing with rejection or listener reviews, that’s going to be a challenge. Dealing with common struggles, and being able to problem-solve with a group of people who just “get it” are why so many narrators join communities like narrator.life.

Watch this: "Reality Check" Parts 1 &2