How to find a narrator for your audiobook
So you want to have your manuscript turned into an audiobook. For that, you need a narrator. But where to go?
There are several places, some less reputable than others. For the sake of avoiding litigation, there won’t be any mentions of specific sites to avoid, merely things to watch out for, and sites that are commonly used for audiobook productions.
This is working under the assumption that you aren’t having your audiobook produced through a traditional publishing service, and are managing the production yourself.
Referrals
This would be your best option. Talk to other authors that you know and ask them if they have used anyone for their audiobook production. This way you can ensure that you aren’t getting involved with someone with no history, and you will have an idea of how this narrator is to work with prior to getting started.
ACX (Audible Creators Exchange)
Narrator Experience level: all. You will get some very experienced narrators along with people who are using a cheap USB microphone and recording in and empty room.
ACX is one of the most commonly used sites for audiobook production. Rights-holders can post their projects, and narrators can find projects that interest them and audition. If/when you find the right narrator, you enter into an agreement with them to produce the book.
In addition to offering a PFH rate (see the Narrator Rate Guide) for your project, ACX also has options for Royalty Share, where you don’t pay the narrator anything up front, but give up 50% of your royalties for any books sold to them for a certain period of time.
The narrator will upload finished chapters to the site, which will tell them right away if the files don’t meet spec. Once they’ve finished, the can submit the project for your approval. Once approved and payment to the narrator is confirmed, they can release the project so ACX can go through the final approval processes on their end and start to distribute the audiobook to Audible, iTunes, and other sites.
The upside to using ACX is that as long as you use the system as intended, there are some safety mechanisms in place that protect both parties; you aren’t forced to pay the narrator for bad/incomplete work, and you can’t abscond with the files without paying them.
The downside to using ACX is that they are very hands-off; if you feel the need to dissolve a contract, both you and the narrator need to email the site (except in very extreme circumstances). They can also take a long time in their approval process, depending on volume of works submitted. As of the authoring of this piece (April 6, 2020), I submitted a project in January 31, 2020 and it still hasn’t been approved. This is certainly longer than usual, but you are at the mercies of the service.
That said, ACX is a free service for both parties, and they don’t take any piece of the project fee that you pay the narrator, making it an attractive option for all parties involved.
Freelance Sites
Narrator Experience level: all. You will get some very experienced narrators along with people who are using a cheap USB microphone and recording in and empty room.
There are several of these (I won’t mention any specific ones here) where you could either contact a voice actor directly, or post your project.
Many professional narrators shy away from these sites, as project rates tend to be much lower than the industry standard. That said, you could potentially find someone that can work within your budget.
Something to be aware of: many of these sites have rules about taking communication off of the site itself and about using the site for submitting work; should you violate either of these, you will no longer be protected by their service agreement, and they will not help you should you find yourself the victim of a scam or of shoddy work.
The upside to using freelance sites is that you have access to a large talent pool and people willing to work for just about any budget.
The downside of using freelance sites is that there are a lot of scammers on them, as well as people who are calling themselves “narrators” or “voice actors” who simply do not have the training, skill, or technical ability to deliver quality audio. Additionally, the freelance sites are not set up for easy submission of the multiple large files that make up a completed audiobook project.
You may also need to pay a fee in order to get your project listed, or to have it pushed to the top of the list.
Pay-to-Play Sites
Narrator experience level: intermediate to advanced. Pay-to-play (P2P) sites often require voice talent to pay an annual membership fee of between $300-$500 in order to actively audition for projects., so many beginners will not spend this money to join the site.
There are a lot of opinions in the VO (voiceover) community about P2P sites; they are both the bane of many VO’s existence as well as a reality of the industry. I won’t bother to comment on that here.
The upside of using P2P sites is that you will find a talent pool of voice actors on P2P sites that would be able to complete your project in a professional manner.
The downside of using P2P sites is that you may have to pay to have your job listed, and the site will take a portion of that project fee out of the narrator’s end. The sites are also not set up well for taking on the multiple large files of an audiobook project, which would require you to take communication off of the site, and possibly violating their Terms of Service.