Being an effective audiobook narrator is tough. The intricacies of preparation, technical production, genre mastery, performance, and much more are what make attending Johnny Heller’s 3rd Annual Splendiferous Narrator Workshop so gosh-darn important.
For those of you who aren’t aware, audiobook narrator extraordinaire Johnny Heller hosts a workshop to coincide with the annual Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) and The Audies, which is like the Oscars but for audiobooks. It’s a full day of panels and live coaching covering everything from narrating fiction vs. non-fiction to the business-end of the audiobook industry.
That’s Johnny Heller, the aforementioned mensch.
That’s this year’s panel of amazing narrators.
From left to right: Carol Monda, Johnny Heller, Simon Vance, Hilary Huber, Sean Allen Pratt, PJ Ochlan, Scott Brick, Andi Arndt, Jeff Kafer, and Amy Rubinate.
The panelists are some of the best audiobook narrators in the business. Just for fun I did the math and between them they have narrated 3,602 audiobooks! It’s safe to say they know what they’re doing.
There were also live coaching sessions between the panels. This is panelist Scott Brick working with Pam Lorence. It’s amazing how much you can learn just by listening to someone else being coached!
A huge thank you to Johnny Heller, Steven Jay Cohen, and Jo Anna Perrin for organizing this amazing event!
If you want to take part in other Splendiferous Workshops that Johnny hosts, join his mailing list.
TIP OF THE WEEK
What did I learn at Johnny Heller’s 3rd Annual Splendiferous Narrator Workshop?
I can’t share any specific tidbits because that’s for the folks who paid to attend. What I can share is that the workshop reinforced three things for me:
Audiobook narration is not for the faint of heart. It requires dedication, energy, stamina, and patience. You can’t half-ass an audiobook performance.
The best audiobook narrators are good actors, good students, and good listeners. Listening is everything. You need to listen to the story, the author’s message, the tone, the speed, your performance, and a myriad of other things.
No one is a naturally great audiobook narrator. Talent is the minimum requirement. You need training and need lots of practice. You need to find the truth of every moment in the story, not fixate on how you think you need to sound to achieve a desired effect. Remember: it’s not about you.
NEWS AND NOTES
My next Edge Studio “Business and money 201” webinar will be Thursday, June 15th @8PM EST. The subject: Keeping Clients Coming Back. We’re gonna talk about not just the finer points of client retention but the most important part: good communication. Click here to sign up.
FaffCon registration is this week! This year preferential treatment will be give to first and second-time Faffers and attendance is capped at 150 instead of 100. Click here to get in on the Faff-action.
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Repeat Day and Repeat Day! See what I did there?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, The H is Silent, but I’m Not.
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.