Audiobook Narration Manual: How to Set Up a Home Studio and Record Audiobooks for a Living

by Derek Perkins

The seminal guide to learning how to become an audiobook narrator, Derek Perkins’s Audiobook Narration Manual is compulsory reading for beginners and more experienced narrators alike. Here is your complete step-by-step guide gaining experience as a narrator; setting up a home studio; creating a demo; the best way of marketing yourself; establishing a super-efficient recording methodology. The Audiobook Narration Manual explains how to gain experience of narrating books in a professional studio; details all you need to set up a low-cost home studio that produces excellent quality sound and explains in detail how to develop and produce an effective demo at an affordable price. And the marketing information contained in the book outlines all you need to know to position yourself quickly and efficiently with key industry contacts. Grover Gardner, an AudioFile magazine Golden Voice, multiple Earphones award winner and Audie nominated narrator, says the Audiobook Narration Manual ‘As comprehensive and readable a book on the basics of audiobook narration as you are likely to find. Derek Perkins has done a superb job of describing the fundamentals of our profession as they are currently understood. Highly recommended’. No-one should venture into the world of audiobook narration without thoroughly reading the Audiobook Narration Manual - and even after that, keeping it close by your side for further reference as you work through each step of your transition from novice narrator to audiobook professional.

154 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2016

About the author

I’m originally from the UK, but I now call Boston home (don’t worry—no Boston accent here!). Prior to my career in audiobooks, I worked in a variety of business settings from business development to sales, all of which allowed me plenty of opportunities to travel, something I’ve always loved to do.

Another great love of mine? The arts, which likely harkens back to my youth. Winning a verse-reading contest and appearing in multiple high school plays were early indicators of my passion for the written word as well as performance arts.

Later in life, I spent seven years in Toastmasters learning the key skills of speech-making and verbal delivery. I won various contests in inspirational speaking and humor at the Club, Division, and District levels. This passion remained squarely a hobby, however, until 2010 when I landed my first voiceover project with a local studio. Soon after, I learned about the ACX website, and my love affair with audiobook narration officially began.

By 2012, I’d produced my first book for ACX, and by the end of that year, I had two regular publisher clients. In early 2015, I relinquished my other business commitments and took the plunge into full-time audiobook narration. I’ve never looked back.

My transition has been a smooth one, thanks in part to my love of reading, knowledge of three foreign languages, and facility with accents and pronunciations. To date, I’ve narrated over 270 audiobooks in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. I’m also member of the Audio Publishers Association and SAG-AFTRA.

I was thrilled to have my narration work recognized for the first time when I received an AudioFile Earphones award (2014) for The Venetians by Paul Strathern. Further awards have followed, including an Audie for The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne (the Audie is the audiobook world’s equivalent of an Oscar). Learn more about all my awards and reviews, and check out this write-up about me from AudioFile magazine.

In 2016, prompted by conversations with aspiring narrators, I wrote and published a helpful guide: Audiobook Narration Manual: How to Set Up a Home Studio, Find Work and Record Audiobooks for a Living. I love taking part in audiobook podcasts and panels and regularly present on the art and business of audiobook narration to community and professional groups.

Today, I work out of my state-of- the-art home studio near Boston, MA. My wife Helen and I have two sons, and we still love to travel every chance we get.