🎧 what does the audiobook process look like?
An interview with audiobook narrator Gail Shalan!
How does a book become an audiobook?
Hearing the words you’ve written brought to life by a talented voice actor is a highlight of the publishing process—at least for me! It’s also something I’d wondered about well before I started my own publishing journey.
So what happens on the author’s side? For my publisher, the first step was gathering auditions, where narrators would read an excerpt of the book. Once they’d compiled those together, they sent me them to review. That’s when I was able to listen to the auditions and choose which narration matched what I’d envisioned while writing. (This process may differ with different publishers/imprints.)
Before the official audiobook recording began, the programming producer emailed me a list of names and locations from my book and asked if I could record a quick pronunciation guide to send over for reference.
Then came the studio magic.
To dive deeper into audiobook recording sessions, I’m thrilled to share that award-winning audiobook narrator Gail Shalan is here to discuss what goes into recording books! In our interview below, you’ll get to learn more about this process from her point of view—and more!
An interview with audiobook narrator, Gail Shalan
Gail Shalan is an award-winning audiobook narrator and actor who may have voiced some of your favorite books! Below you’ll find our interview where she breaks down what it’s like recording audiobooks and gives you more insight into her background and experiences!
FP: I'd love to know how you got started! Can you share a little bit about yourself and your background?
GS: Sure! I’m an actor, narrator, puppeteer, puppet builder and designer, writer, and deviser—so I often just say I’m a storyteller! (I’m also a double Aquarius with a Sagittarius moon and ADHD raised in beautifully creative Berkshire County…so maybe hectic multi-hyphenate was always in the cards).
I’ve always loved the way the Brits approach the art of storytelling, so in addition to spending much of my life in New England and New York, I’ve also spent several different chapters of my life training, working, and adventuring across the UK.
I currently live in New York City with my partner and our fur baby, Edith, where we make the most of being immersed in such a dynamic, diverse, deeply magical place by taking in lots of live music, theatre, art, amazing food, neighborhood strolls, and an incredible community of talented and wonderful friends.
FP: New York is so magical! You've done so many fantastic audiobooks (I recently loved Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter!) and you're an award-winning narrator! What first drew you into the audiobook space?
GS: Thank you— I adored Friends with Benefits, GM Hakim’s performance as Theo is so pitch perfect.
I’ve always been a fan of audiobooks (I’m talking checking out big, clunky plastic boxes full of “books on tape” from the library) and started working as an actor when I was a kid. Flash forward a couple decades and several degrees of continued dedication to acting, literature, language, and storytelling… I finally put 2 + 2 together, and realized that audiobook narration was a way to put all my skills and creative joy as an actor/storyteller to excellent use.
Thanks to an info session at Audible Studios for recent grads of Boston University’s Acting program, I initially got to learn about this industry from the legendary Scott Brick and late great (I’m talking iconic) Katherine Kellgren about a decade ago. On the train ride back, I got to sit with Katie, who told me narration was the key to her happy creative life—she could afford to make new theatre and have a family in New York, and she got paid to read books and tell stories every day!
That sounded pretty great to me. I got my start narrating with indie authors in one of my *many* closet booths, did an indie audiobook or two a year for the next several years, and had the wonderful author, Joanne Bischoff, bring me with her to Blackstone Audio for her romance The Lady and The Lionheart. Shortly afterwards, I went to Bristol, England for my Master’s at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and Audible UK was casting a young American woman for Robyn Schneider’s Invisible Ghosts. I booked it and recorded it on the last three days of my Visa!
FP: What goes into the pre-production process and how do you personally decide to approach each book + characters?
GS: Typically I am asked to audition for books I’m cast in, sometimes producers know my work well enough to hand me offers, can offer an author a sample of my previous work that gives them a good enough idea of what I could do with their work, or authors will request me themselves.
In my opinion, every book is different and therefore demands different asks of me in preparation. What I can generally say is that I aim to initially get everything I need from the text—I always read the book at least once, making many notes for myself—then once I’ve learned about the world of the story, the voice of the narrative, the nature and shape of the characters, I’ll feed what I need to deliver the performance from any and all tools available to me.
Often this can look like:
Creating vision boards and music playlists that evoke the world, characters, etc. to ignite my imagination.
Watching films or shows, reading books/audiobooks, or visiting locations that inform or evoke the world of the story and the characters
Reading previous work by the author if it exists.
Researching any words I don’t know how to pronounce, customs of the time/place of the book, accents required for characters. Sometimes working with a dialect coach, a prepper/researcher, the director/production team on this aspect of the process.
Taking textual cues about character and narrative voice and integrating them physically so that my body understands where each voice is coming from within myself.
FP: It’s so interesting to get a look into your preproduction prepping! What does a typical day look like when you're completing an audiobook session and what part of the process brings you the most joy?
GS: Typically, I will record roughly 10a-4p (with breaks for lunch, stretching, silly dances, and lots of tea).
Before my sessions, I currently listen to The Creative Act by Rick Rubin in little chunks as a morning meditation and then do a vocal warm up and yoga with Edith (or we might go on a walk). Then I make coffee, journal, eat a protein-heavy breakfast, and on my commute I feed in any info I need from my prep to help me get in the mindset for the session that day.
When I get to the booth, we typically do a sound check and jump right in! The engineer or director will stop me if they hear a misread or if the director has a creative note, I need a pronunciation played, or need a moment to reference any notes. Other than that, we just keep riding through the story, often for days at a time, until we reach the end.
My favorite part is when I’m lucky enough to be working on a story so rich and well-written that the work feels like catching and surfing an amazing wave into another universe. When I’m truly transported by the text and walk out of the booth feeling like time flew, my body has been on a journey, and I was a part of a truly magical thing.
FP: I love that! What are three things you must have with you in the booth?
GS: I’m sure I’m not the only narrator who is a beverage goblin, but I often have a caffeinated bevvie, Dr. Stuart’s Throat Relief tea, room temp water, and maybe a sparkling water, too. I also record standing up, so I’ll bring a massage ball for my feet. And chapstick.
FP: Was there any part of the process that surprised you when you first started?
GS: I assumed this was a job about talking, but I’ve learned it’s so much more about listening. And how incredibly resilient and strong the human body is! Narration is *ATHLETIC* and it’s still shocking to me how strong our voices, bodies, brains, eyes, and ears have to be to do this work.
FP: How do you decide on unique voices for characters? Is it a solo choice or do you work with your production team? Or does it depend on the book?
GS: It definitely depends on the book… sometimes the author gives me all I need to know, sometimes it’s inspiration from movies, tv, media, or even characters I meet at the supermarket. Sometimes it’s a conversation with the director, with the producer, with the author, and often with other narrators if it’s a multi-cast project.
FP: When it comes to bringing a book to life, do you have a preferred or favorite genre?
GS: I love variety! It’s truly one of my favorite parts of the job is getting to dive into a new world with each book. But right now, I’m very interested in Speculative Fiction, Cli Fi, Magical Realism, Literary Fiction that employs unique use of language and writing structure, Historical Fiction and Non Fiction about brave, wild, wonderful women, and I think YA and Middle Grade will always have a special place in my soul—writing that’s geared towards teens and tweens always seems to strike a special chord of emotional honesty and curiosity that I find particularly beautiful, healing, and deeply joyful to perform.
FP: What's something you wish more people knew about audiobook narrators?
GS: We are some of the most skillful, hardworking, creative actors in the business—audiobook narration *is* acting. And it’s so much more than that. I think there’s a common misconception that it’s “easy” work and that we’re just there to read the words on the page—we breathe life into not only one character but, sometimes, literally hundreds in the course of one project. We are often self-directing, self-engineering, acting as our own agents, bookkeepers, marketing team, dramaturgs, dialect coaches, and more. We are working at the height of our skill and intelligence. It’s a fully physical endeavor, a fully creative act. And if we want to make a living at it, we’re often crafting and delivering these epic performances every week, overlapping several stories at once. I love it, but it’s hard (and sometimes lonely) work, and I often think it does not get compensated nor respected in the way it deserves to be.
FP: This was so beautifully stated. ENORMOUS applause and respect for all the narrators out there! If someone wants to work with you, where can they reach out?
GS: If the audio rights for your book are with a traditional publisher you can always directly request me as your narrator or request an audition from me via your audiobook producer. You can also learn more about my work and reach out via my website (www.gailshalan.com) or my Instagram @grshalan.