Why Audio Book Narration Is A HitAudio book narration is the process of translating written words into spoken words almost verbatim and with emotion consistent with the intention of the author. The person who does the reading for the purpose of producing an audio recording is called a narrator. A narrator must have a good voice and must know how to use his voice to get the attention of his listeners. The voice of the person behind an audio book recording must be acoustic, strong and vibrant. He must have the knowledge of how to modulate, manipulate and generate various tones of voice. His speech must be clear and free of any distraction from being easily absorbed and understood. A narrator can only become effective if he knows what he is talking about and is fluent in the language being used. Recently, audio book narration has provided better opportunities for popular readers and struggling actors. Most audio book productions prefer actors (whether on film or theatre) as their popularity can help promote and boost sales of the audio book. Narrators, too, have developed their own following and have become popular like stage and movie celebrities. Wall Street Journal revealed that Martin Javis, who read Shakespeare audio books, was admired and even cornered by Prince Charles in a cocktail party. Publishers get to select their own choice for their audio book narrator. Among the highly requested big-name stars for audio recording are Brad Pitt and Kelsey Grammer. But some authors prefer to do the narration on their own. Take the case of Toni Morrison who is a successful reader of the audio recording of his own books. He has in fact provided the audio book narration for most of his books and autobiographies. Narrators get modest compensation which can be around $100 per hour of completed recording. It may not be much but most narrators claim that they are doing it for the love of literature and not for money. One narrator whose dedication to her craft should be recognized is Josephine Bailey. She is a professional narrator who received the “Best Female Narrator” award in 2002. Her voice has been used in many audio books like “The Wild Thornberries”, “Uncle Gus”, and some projects of the Disney-Dreamworks. Not just a narrator, Bailey was also into television, film, and theatre. Her credentials show that one must be well-versed in those three fields in order to be an effective audio book narrator. She underwent several trainings in Corona Stage School in London and Tracy Roberts Actors Studio in Los Angeles. The audio book industry has prospered even more as people are now favoring audio books due to the ease with which they can now be downloaded into their personal computers and digital players. The industry has also benefited from the popularity and increased access to the internet. The web has allowed more people to see the online advertisements of these audio books. Celebrity narrators have also allowed the inclusion of their names in advertisements and this has caused an increase in the sales of audio book recordings. Audio books are highly in-demand in all educational levels from children’s literature to advanced studies. Even college students use audio books as instructional materials due to the realization that their comprehension is further enhanced when they listen to audio book narrations as compared to just reading them. The blind community has benefited most from an increase in the number of audio book recordings. This technology is expected to do more for them as more publications especially designed and suited for their needs are released into the market. The rising demand for audio book recordings is expected to improve the industry even further. |