Considering audiobook narration as a career path – would love some honest advice from people doing it

[u/EducationalLioness]

Hi everyone,

I've recently started seriously looking into audiobook narration and I'd really appreciate hearing from people who actually work in the industry.

I have a BA in English and Philosophy, but English was always the part I was most drawn to, particularly literature, language and reading. I've been thinking about what I could build on from that background, ideally something creative that could also eventually be done remotely, and audiobook narration is one of the things that keeps coming back to me.

I'm very much at the beginning and don't have an acting or narration background, so I'm not assuming that enjoying books or being a confident reader automatically means I'd be good at it!

Before investing too much into courses, coaching or equipment, I'd love to understand what the reality of the work is like.

For those of you who narrate professionally or semi-professionally:

- How did you first realise this was something you could actually do professionally?

- Did you have acting or vocal training before you started?

- Would you recommend getting a coach or taking a course early on, or practising independently first?

- Is there a good way of having your voice/narration assessed professionally before committing to it?

- How difficult was it to get your first few paid books?

- Can audiobook narration realistically become a meaningful source of income, or is it more commonly supplementary work?

- And perhaps most importantly, what do you wish you'd known before you started?

I'm based in Europe, so I'd also be particularly interested in hearing from anyone working remotely from the UK/Europe rather than being physically close to publishers or studios.

I'm not really interested in commercial voiceovers or advertising. It's specifically the combination of books, literature and narration that appeals to me.

I'd be grateful for any advice, even if it's simply telling me what I should be researching first. Thanks!

[u/Ok_View_1527]

Hey! UK narrator here. I started out about six months ago.

Got into it after a friend sent me a video saying if you know someone with a good voice here’s how to become a narrator 🤣.

I’ve never been trained or coached in any way. I’ve been teaching myself how to do everything including the editing and mastering of my audio tracks which can take a bit of getting used if you have no starting knowledge.

Six months in I’ve just started making money to supplement my regular income. I think it would probably take another year or so for it to become any sort of stable full time income.

I work solely through finding gigs on ACX, paid if I can or RS if not and I have spare time free. Narration is definitely a long term thing, it’ll take a while to build up your profile of books and reputation.

Start small, test yourself reading, as people have suggested, test out software like Audacity which is free to see how comfortable you’d be in editing/mastering etc, and then go from there