Audiobooks are increasingly popular, and authors may be tempted to narrate their own books. I asked Simon Vance, one of the foremost audiobook narrators, what authors need to know before getting in front of a microphone.
The audiobook boom
Audiobooks are an increasingly popular way to “read” books. According to the Audio Publishers Association, 38% of Americans listened to at least one audiobook in 2024, and they listened to an average of 6.8 books in the year. Audiobook year-on-year sales are increasing regularly, totaling more than $8 billion worldwide in 2024, and this figure is expected to grow substantially. Amazon’s Audible is the leader in audiobook sales, with about two-thirds of the market, followed by Apple Books, Spotify, and the Google Play Store.
If an author is well-known, it’s increasingly common to see audiobooks narrated by them: the ability to hear the author’s voice is a selling point for many books. Even for lesser-known authors, narration can be a fulfilling way of sharing their books and an additional source of income. (Though it’s worth noting that audiobook narrators generally just get a flat fee up front, unless they self-publish.)
There are two situations where an author will narrate their own audiobook. The first is when a publisher asks them to do so, and this is generally done in a studio with an engineer and all the support that this environment offers. The other is when a self-published author records their own audiobook and sells it through the various self-publishing channels. In this article, we look at the techniques of narrating an audiobook, regardless of how it is later sold. In a future article, we will discuss recording and selling an audiobook on your own.
Narration tips from Simon Vance
Simon Vance is one of the most respected audiobook narrators in the business. Simon has 17 Audie awards (the audiobook equivalent of the Oscar or Emmy), along with countless other accolades, including induction to the Audible Hall of Fame. If you’re a regular audiobook listener, you’ve heard him narrate books like The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
I chatted with Simon about what authors should know about narrating their books. The first thing he said was that audiobook narration is “a marathon, not a sprint,” that you need stamina. You need to be able to maintain your voice over time. For recording alone, you should count two to three hours for each finished hour of a book. There are another two to three hours of editing and mastering after that, though experienced narrators can make that process smoother.
I asked how an author should try to find out if they could narrate an audiobook. He suggested that you should “pull a random book out of your bookcase. Sit down and read out loud for an hour, and then take a break and come back and read out loud for another hour. Then come back and do that again, three hours a day for a week. At the end of the week, do you want to be an audiobook narrator?”
The most challenging aspect of narration is consistency; maintaining the same voice and energy throughout. “I don’t think people coming to audio narration are aware of the focus that is required. Every day you start with a certain kind of voice in the morning, and by the end of the day, you’ve got a different kind of voice. You wake up the next morning, your voice is young again, and by the end of the day, it’s old and slow. So you take that into account. Maybe, when you’re a beginning narrator, don’t do too much.”
Taking breaks is important, and Simon likes books with short chapters. “You should never break in the middle of a chapter and certainly not in the middle of a paragraph. Find the breaks. I always mark my script up. Usually, chapters are fine, and they can be a couple of pages, five pages, or 10 pages. If they’re hour-long chapters, then try and find the breaks within the chapter, because there are going to be times when you need to take a break.”
Simon describes what he does as a narrator as “seeing through the words. I see the words, but I don’t fixate on the words too much. You have to look through them. You take the words as a guide, and you see the play beyond the words.” The audiobook should feel like a discovery, as if the narrator is experiencing the story for the first time alongside the listener.
He pointed out that authors may be better suited for narration if they’ve written a nonfiction book. “If it’s nonfiction and you’re the author, you have a passion for your reading. And that’s going to come through naturally. That’s what people want to hear.”
And remember that what you’re doing is an extension of your book, and is another way to express the story you’ve told. “You’ve written a book that is being published. Somebody has invested in you, so you have the confidence to know this is a good book. You have a story that is going to bring people along.”
Like any new skill, narration takes practice. But it’s important not to overthink things. “To me, the most important thing is being in the moment. And that has to do with the sense of discovery. You’re not anticipating what’s going to happen. Everything is happening in that moment.”
Kirk McElhearn is a writer, podcaster, and photographer. He is the author of Take Control of Scrivener, and host of the podcast Write Now with Scrivener. He also offers one-to-one Scrivener coaching.