Audiobooks narrator C. S. Perryess at work.
An Interview with Audible Narrator C. S. Perryess
Audiobooks are hot. Especially for adult fiction.
- People like to listen to audiobooks on their phones.
- New audio platforms like Amazon Echo and Alexa and Google home make listening to audiobooks convenient and fun.
- Millennials like audiobooks.
- There are lots of options for getting them: the library, iTunes, Audible, Google Play.
The Alliance of Independent authors (Alli) says all indies should branch into audiobooks.
But how does an indie author afford the initial expense of hiring a narrator?
One answer: go through the “royalty share” program at Audible, the audiobooks wing of Amazon.
Today I’m talking to the narrator of my audiobooks, C. S. Perryess, who records for Audible (aka ACX.)
1) Tell us about Audible/ACX. Is it true an author can get audiobooks recorded with no money up front?
Absolutely. Audible/ACX offers options. Producer/narrators sometimes work for a royalty, sometimes for a previously determined rate based on the length of the final production, and occasionally for a hybrid deal involving a bit of both.
The author or publisher (known in ACX lingo as the rights holder) determines his /her preferred option before posting the job. You can check it all out here.
2) What made you decide to be a narrator for Audible?
Becoming a “narrator”
I spent many years teaching middle school English, & loved reading to my students.
This love led me to become the organizer and “first pages” reader at an annual writers’ conference I help organize for SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators).
Participants submit only the first page of a manuscript. Then the faculty editors and agents listen to each page as I (and another voiceover/narrator pal of mine) read each page.
Afterward, the panel members comment on what in that first page might pull them in or give them pause. What we’re getting down to is whether panel members would turn that page and continue reading.
I discovered that participants were pleased to hear me read their work, and what better gig could a book-loving introvert have than sitting in a room and reading stories to himself?
Working for ACX
I blithely started with ACX in 2011, unaware that an audiobook narrator/producer is competing against most the out-of-work actors in the country. Bad business decision, eh? Still, in those six years I’ve narrated and/or produced sixteen audiobooks — some for kids, some for teens, and some for adults.
A few of my favorites have been your books: Food of Love, No Place Like Home, So Much for Buckingham, and Why Grandma Bought that Car (which I co-narrated with the amazing Claire Vogel).
The ACX experience is a lot like old school want ads, except that it’s free. A rights holder can search over 50,000 samples to find the narrator s/he wants, or choose to post a “want ad” describing his/her book and offering an audition script.
Producer/narrators are constantly looking for work. If your project is attractive, it’s likely you’ll receive a couple auditions within a week or two.
The audition arrives as a digital file for you to consider. In my experience, rights holders accept or reject auditions pretty quickly, but they can also contact a narrator/producer, offer insight, and ask him/her to submit another audition.
I’ve found the ACX website is very slick and easy to navigate.
3) As a narrator, what do you look for when you’re deciding whether to audition for a book?
Much like an editor or agent looking to represent a book, I will give the book its best shot if I’m passionate about it. So I look for a audition scripts that really hook me, for characters that intrigue me, for a compelling voice.
That said, about 90% of the audition scripts available to me are in such desperate need of editing I drop them before even giving characters a chance to get their hooks into me.
A narrator’s job is to read exactly what’s on the page, and if what’s on the page doesn’t track well, doesn’t make sense, or has any number of other editing/revising needs, I won’t even consider the job.
4) What would make you turn down a book after you’ve been offered the job?
Though this has happened only once in my audiobook career, it should have happened twice. I once auditioned to narrate and produce a little-known book by a big-name author who had passed away.
The gentleman managing the author’s estate accepted my audition and sent me the full manuscript.
To my dismay, the manuscript reflected egregious sexism. Since I had a contract, I tried my best, but after a few chapters I could see I wasn’t the right narrator for the job. Thankfully, the estate manager and I agreed it was best to bilaterally cancel our contract.
Another project had a very promising first chapter with a spot-on voice, but once I got hold of the full manuscript I could see the author had no idea how to construct a novel. It was an editorial mess.
I did my best with it, but I should have asked to back out of the contract. This manuscript wasn’t ready for anyone’s eyes or ears. I’m not pleased at all that this particular audiobook now bears my name as narrator and producer.
5) What are your pet peeves as a narrator? What do authors tend to do that drives a narrator batty?
Probably the same things that drive a reader batty. Of the books available for me to produce, the primary sin is poor editing (or no editing at all).
Some narrators complain about authors including foreign words and obscure English words, but I’m a word guy, so I actually get a kick out of having to research pronunciation and meaning.
I also enjoy it when the project requires an accent or two. It’s not a pet peeve at all, but one of the most challenging scenes I’ve done involved a conversation between a half dozen different women of varied national origin and socio-economic class. A particular author named Anne R. Allen sure had me working hard on that scene.
6) You have a magnificent “Shedio”—a recording studio in your back garden. Do most narrators of audiobooks have recording studios?
I love my little shedio. Part of the producing/narrating job is finding a truly silent place to record.
No author wants to hear the neighbor’s lawnmower rev up in the middle of chapter five.
Audible/ACX producers run the gamut on how they manage this challenge. For my first three audiobook projects I carpeted our bedroom closet and worked in there.
I’ve heard tell of some producers getting away from neighborhood noise by pulling a car into a garage, rolling up all the windows and setting up recording gear in the passenger seat (though this sounds a bit odd, a car in a garage is stunningly silent).
Some ACX producers have studios that make my shedio look like a dilapidated beach hut.
For those interested in doing this kind of work, being a handyperson is helpful. I found that through research into acoustics, judicious use of recycled deck and fence boards, and a lot of discerning Craigslist purchases, I was able to build this cozy, double-walled sound studio for just under $3,000.
I found it intriguing that the goal for most recording studios is keeping the noise in (rock and roll doesn’t always agree with neighborhood bliss). In contrast, an audiobook studio is built to keep noise out. The one noise the shedio doesn’t protect me from is that annoying beeping sound big trucks make in reverse, but otherwise, it does the trick just fine.
7) Is it true that Kevin Spacey once beat you out for a part in a high school play?
Well, it’s true Kevin and I took Play Production class at Canoga Park High School together before he got classier than the rest of us and transferred to Chatsworth High.
For years after Kevin made it big, I loved telling the story of how Kevin Spacey had beat me out for the part of Lucky in the musical Dames at Sea.
But a few years ago I spent some time with a mutual high school friend who pulled out his yearbook to prove me wrong: both Kevin and I lost the part to classmate Chris Strand (now a Nashville musician, actor and businessman). Memory is a funny thing.
8) What advice would you give an author who wants to write books that will be successful as audiobooks?
If it’s a great book, it can be a great audiobook. So study your craft.
Attend writing conferences. Join your local writers’ group or a national/international groups that focus on your genre.
Then write a great book. Get your heart on every page.
Join an excellent critique group and seriously consider the input that group offers. Find brilliant beta-readers and listen to them.
If you’re publishing traditionally, make the best of the expertise offered by your house’s editors. If you’re an indie author, once your excellent critique group and brilliant beta readers have had a go at your ouvre, hire a professional editor. Do this even if you can’t really afford him/her. Your book is worth the investment
9) How does somebody find you if they want you to audition for them? Where else can they find you: your blog? Social media?
I’m easy to find. When my wife Ellen and I married, we combined names, unaware that this act would make us the only two people on the planet with the last name Perryess.
Also, I’ve embraced your Slow Blogging advice, so for the past six years I’ve posted weekly at csperryess.blogspot.com also known as Wordmonger, my blog about words. I can be found at Twitter @CSPerryess and on Facebook.
My Audible audiobooks can be found here. Also, you can view my author profile at SCBWI, the international Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I can be emailed directly at csperryess@gmail.com.
And Anne — thanks heaps and heaps for asking me to join you on the blog, in recording projects, as a critique pal, and as a friend.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) and C. S. Perryess (@csperryess) July 9, 2017
What about you, scriveners? Have you turned any of your books into audiobooks? What platform did you use? Do you listen to audiobooks? Any questions for Charlie?
OUR AUDIOBOOKS
Food of Love, narrated by C. S. Perryess, is available at Audible and iTunes
No Place Like Home, narrated by C.S. Perryess and Anne. R. Allen is available at Audible and iTunes
So Much For Buckingham, Narrated by C. S. Perryess and Anne R. Allen is available in Audiobook from Audible and iTunes
Why Grandma Bought that Car, narrated by C. S. Perryess and Claire Vogel is available at Audible and iTunes
OPPORTUNITY ALERTS
The Golden Quill Awards. The theme is “Liberation.” $500 first prize. Short fiction, poetry and personal essay categories. Up to 1500 words for prose, 40 lines for poetry. Entry fee $15. Deadline September 15, 2017.
University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize. A prize of $1,000 and publication of your book-length manuscript by UNO Press for a short story collection or a novel. The selected manuscript will be promoted by The Publishing Laboratory at the University of New Orleans, an institute that seeks to bring innovative publicity and broad distribution to first-time authors $18 entry fee. Deadline August 15.
Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards. Write Romance, Thriller, Crime, Horror, Science-Fiction, and Young Adult? Short fiction: 4,000 words or less. $20 fee. Grand prize $2500. Deadline October 16th, 2017
Boyds Mill Press accepts unagented submissions of children’s book manuscripts. Highlights for Children owns the press.
20 Literary Journals that publish new writers. Compiled by the good folks at Authors Publish magazine.
25 Publishers who accept unagented submissions for Young Adult books. Also form Authors Publish, a great resource.
Aesthetica Creative Writing Award Two prizes of £1,000 each and publication in Aesthetica. Winners also receive a consultation with literary agency Redhammer Management. Up to 40 lines of poetry ($15 fee), 2000 words for short fiction ($24 fee.) Deadline August 31.
Boy, this is wonderful, Charlie. To open up Anne’s Sunday blog and see your bright and shiny face. I know you’ve been doing a lot of audiobooks and I can’t imagine anyone better. This is a great post and I’m sharing and tweeting it all over. I didn’t know that about you and Kevin. Life if funny. And memory too. Anne, there are some terrific submission calls. Love the one about the 20 lit journals that publish new writers. If only I had this list when I started out. And BTW, good way to begin a writing career. Publish in small lit journals and get your writing creds first. Over and out. Hugs to you both. Paul
Paul – You are so right. Anne’s blog is a wealth of information: for those just starting out, for those who’ve been at it a while, and for us codgers who’ve been at it forever. I’m hoping life is being good to you, my friend.
Thanks, C.S. and Anne.
“That said, about 90% of the audition scripts available to me are in such desperate need of editing I drop them before even giving characters a chance to get their hooks into me.” Ditto with a huge percentage of indie books as well as some that are published by the Big Five.
Regarding your sixth point, in my house, the clunking of the heat register would appear as background noise in recordings. What do you use for heating and air conditioning in your shedio, C.S.?
Greetings Kathy – Anne and I are fortunate to live in a little coastal town that rarely calls for AC or heating. That said, I have had a couple recording gigs in the winter and it can get somewhat chilly in the shed. My answer to that is a small electric space heater I turn on while editing and turn off while recording. Thanks for coming by.
CS—Great! Thanks for the informative, eye-opening post filled with lots of info new to me! Now I need to get my a$$ in gear! 🙂
Gracias Ruth – May you a$$ get in gear speedily and with little protest.
Hi Charlie! I love the shedio. It reminds me of when they were filming a documentary a few years ago and begged the construction crew nearby to take an early lunch so we could film an outdoor massage scene. Couldn’t bribe the airplanes overhead. 😉 I admit I’ve only listened to non-fiction books narrated by the authors so this might be a naive question but how often do male narrators audition for books with female characters?
My publisher sold audio rights to my debut novel and I’m obsessing a little about a narrator who “gets” my characters. You know, the ones Ive been hearing in my head for all this time. haha Thanks for a behind-the-scenes look at audio narration. Great interview Anne!
Hey Eldonna — Excellent question about narrator gender. In my experience, most rights holders lean toward a narrator that matches the gender of the protagonist. This makes 100% sense with first person narratives, but with third person narratives, narrators can “cross-read” successfully. And your publisher will most likely have multiple options in terms of narrator choice. If the publisher’s got a good feel for your book, s/he will probably do a fine job of choosing. After all, it’s in the publisher’s best interest to choose the narrator that will make a great book sound even greater.
Thanks for teaching me a bit about Audiobooks, Charlie. I’m aware of their importance and, being cofounder of a small publishing company, have been researching how we might expand into them, but as a company investment we are careful due to the cost per production. We are also in Canada, meaning we can’t hold an ACX account to create our own even if we hired someone else in the US to create them. It’s good to know that there are some options for us through Audible — in fact I’ve sent my partner to this article so he can take notes.
One other great point I wanted to relate to is the importance of knowing what your book sounds likeas an author. I learned this one early on as a writer and have actually found reading my book aloud has helped shape awareness of pacing and flow in ways reading on page does not. I have a 13 month editing process ahead in the publication of my debut and plan for at least two of the drafts to read the entire thing aloud as part of my revision process between edits. I’m publishing this through my own imprint so I made sure to set the editing deadlines accordingly so I can take this extra step. Not only have you inspired me further, you’ve also got me thinking I should explore Audiobooks in addition to print and ebook.
Thanks again!
Hi John — I couldn’t agree more that an author needs to read his/her work aloud multiple times. I used to tell my writing students they should read it aloud to themselves a bunch, then turn to face a cat or dog — even a teddy bear — and read the work again. Even an implied audience changes the way we “hear” our own work. After the animal/stuffed animal performance and ensuing edits, we need to find an attentive, human audience and read the darn work AGAIN. Who says writing isn’t a performance art? May your editing process go well and may your audiobook consideration process do similarly.
Fascinating! Thank you, Charlie! Wow, I do want to look into this. You’ve enticed me thoroughly. (And thanks Anne, for running this post!)
Thanks Melodie — it’s been good fun.
Hi Charlie. We’ve never met, but I’ve seen you around the blog-o-sphere forever. My question deals with finances for audio. You touched on it briefly and I did look into ACX a while back (long while) and if I remember correctly, there are 3 different scenarios for payment.
1) Author goes all in and pays the narrator up front.
2) Author and narrator split the royalties in some way.
3) I can’t remember.
Can you possibly break it down a little more for me, that way I won’t be completely lost when I finally get to ACX?
Also, love the shedio.
Hi Anne. Hope you’re well.
Hello Anne — ACX spells it out pretty clearly at http://www.acx.com/help/authors/200484540?utm_medium=author&utm_campaign=hiwtable. My experience has been that most authors prefer that the narrator/producer work for a royalty, but authors with Big Names or publishers who are certain the audiobook will make Big Money prefer to pay up front (so they don’t have to split the takings with the producer/narrator). One thing to be aware of is that since Amazon bought ACX, Amazon can unilaterally change the price on an audiobook (usually from 16 bucks or so to $1 or $2). This is a very cool deal for listeners, but it has serious consequences for authors and producer/narrators working for a percentage of the sales price.
Thanks Charlie. I appreciate the hint about Amazon. One thing I don’t like, making less than thirty cents on something that I worked months on.
I’m with you, Anne. 25% of 16 bucks is respectable. 25% of 99 cents — not so much.
Anne, every time I think you’ve run out of great topics… EVERY single time! This is fabulous and spot-on from what little I know of market demand.
This would be the number one thing I’d do with more time to create, creating more audiobooks. Emphasis on “creating”! C.S. here’s the thing- you look and sound like you’re having so much FUN. I want that too, and frankly I’m too jealous to share the voices, songs, FX et al with anyone else. If I could post the photo I’d show you my nice mike. Excelsior!
Excelsior indeed! Having done a few projects with Anne, I have to say it’s a fantabulous thing when an author narrates her own work. Readers love hearing the author’s voice, and authors know their work better than anyone. Create well, Alex.
Oops. Create well, Will.
My publisher turned all four of my books into audio books – five if you count the boxed set of the trilogy. The narrator was awesome. He went the distance with not only the narration and voices, but sound effects. I think the books were done through ACX as well.
Excellent news. There are a lot of good people out there doing good work. It’s good to hear that you & your publisher are pleased with the productions.
I’ve tired this, but didn’t get any offers of voices that fit my narratives. Do you have any advice on other outlets besides the royalty share with ACX? I also had a friends that has recording equipment, but it was very confusing how they ACX wanted it broken down in chapters, intros, etc. Is there a service, if you have your own recording that will help you upload to the ACX specifications?
Hello Tam – I’m not a digital native and I’ve found the tech aspect to be do-able. As a budding narrator/producer with ACX I found the video tutorials to be spot-on. It takes a time commitment, but their tips for setting up a studio and what to include in submissions were very clear. I had to look elsewhere for specifics on mastering, but everything else was available at ACX. You can find their guidelines here: https://audible-acx.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6736/c/3550,3551 — another possibility is to look into other ACX-like services. I’ve heard murmurs that a few competitors exist, but to be honest, I haven’t looked into other options.
You might also take a look at your “want ad” on ACX. Look at it through the eyes of a narrator/producer. Is it classy and professional? If the book straddles genres, have you listed in all applicable genres? Are e-book or print book sales strong? Does the audition script show off your work?
Another possible avenue for you might be to cruise the audio samples of given narrators, choose a few, and contact them about producing your book.
Thank you for your time and expertise. I had given up, but you’ve given me some new perspective and direction. I will look into all those suggestions. You’re wonderful 🙂
You are too kind. May you have big success finding the right narrator.
Great interview – thank you! I’m especially interested in your comments on editing and how you’ll turn down opportunities when the book hasn’t had enough editing.
Hello Iola — Thanks for checking out the interview. On the topic you mention, the high percentage of non-edited or poorly-edited audition scripts astounds me. Most (though not all) audition scripts are the first few pages of the book, and don’t we authors usually spend heaps and heaps of time on our first pages? Additionally, a narrator’s job is to read the work exactly as it appears on the page. When the work doesn’t make sense, a good narrating performance is pretty much impossible.
Thanks for this fascinating insight into getting one’s books recorded. I have considered having a professional record my poetry, however I feel that (as the poet) I am best placed to read my work. However it obviously works well for many authors. Best, Kevin
Ahoy Kevin — we all find what works. I’ve had the opportunity to narrate/produce a few of my own short stories. It makes perfect sense, but it still surprised me that my own sentences flow out of my mouth more naturally. I hardly have any editing/re-recording to do. There’s a great argument for narrating your own work (unless, of course, Morgan Freeman materializes at your door and offers to narrate your work).
So, after already commenting and being inspired. I set up on ACX for pitches for The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress (a 1940s, romantic, coming-of-age, dance fiction). I got one audition so far, and I like the way the actor reads the dialogue, but not the narrative. How much can I coach or request from the voice actor? I’m not sure what etiquette is for this type of thing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again 🙂
Hello again Tam — I’m so glad you’ve received an audition with potential. Speaking only for myself, if I like the voice of a piece, I’m more than willing to give an audition a second or even third try. I’d suggest responding to the narrator just as you might respond to another writer in a critique group. Tell the narrator what you really like about the audition, explain the improvements as clearly as you can, then ask politely if s/he’d be willing to give it another go. Be aware that what s/he’s doing is akin to writing on spec. Your’e asking the narrator to spend more time and energy with no guarantee of being paid for it. Most producer/narrators report that an hour of final “product” takes about four hours of work, which tells you that a 5-minute audition will take most narrators about 20 minutes of time. S/he may or may not jump at the chance to try again. It certainly won’t hurt to ask.
Thank you again.
Thanks for teaching me a bit about Audiobooks, Charlie. I’m aware of their importance and, being cofounder of a small publishing company, have been researching how we might expand into them, but as a company investment we are careful due to the cost per production.
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