As fun and rewarding as narrating audiobooks is, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed. So here are some tips to make sure you don’t burn yourself out.
- BE! REALISTIC!
This is the MOST IMPORTANT RULE! When you audition for a book and an author chooses you, they will make you an offer with a proposed timeline. If that timeline doesn’t work for you, TELL THEM IMMEDIATELY.
The first thing I do when I get an offer is look at the timeline he/she gave me. If it’s too aggressive, I tell the author,
“I narrate audiobooks as a hobby on the side of my full time job, so the timeline is a little aggressive for me. However, I’m very excited about this project. Would you still be interested in me narrating your book if the deadline was XYZ date instead?”
For your sanity, you have to honestly be okay if they come back and say “no thanks.” However, I have not had that happen yet. Remember, they chose your audition (out of however many they received) because they wanted YOU to be the voice of their book.
- Know your pace.
This goes hand-in-hand with number 1. If you have a too-aggressive timeline, you won’t be able to pace yourself. Knowing your pace means knowing how many hours you can comfortably record each day/week, how much audio can you edit in 1 hour, etc.
Part of this comes with experience, but as a married person with a full time job, I don’t realistically record every day after work. Some days my husband needs attention. Some days I’m wiped out. Some days it’s raining or loud for some other reason and I can’t record. I can COMFORTABLY record 3-6 hours a week, so when calculating my timeline for an author, I assume I will only be able to record 3 hours/ week…just to be conservative.
- Record books you’re interested in.
This should be obvious, but don’t record books you find boring. Even if you think they’ll sell well, you’ll dread recording, dread editing, dread emails from the author asking for updates…just don’t. Record the stuff you like and don’t even look at stuff you don’t.
- Take breaks/ Be Selective
Sometimes, even if you’re only recording or editing a couple hours a week, it can still get exhausting to constantly have looming deadlines. So when you need to, take a break. If you’ve done good work and put samples up on your profile, you might have authors reach out to you asking you to audition for their book during your break. Be selective and ask yourself if you are interested enough in this book to interrupt your break. Or, try the approach mentioned in #1 and tell them you’re occupied until [end date of your break] and ask if they still want you to audition even though you won’t be able to start until then. You might be pleasantly surprised!
- Keep it new!
Try new editing techniques. Try new microphones. Listen to professionals. Seek out new information. Listen to podcasts. Learning new techniques and audiobook-related stuff keeps you excited about it!
DON’T GET TIRED! GET FIRED….UP!
….I’m writing this midday on a Sunday, give me a break…
