Audiobook Narration: When the Voice Talent is also the Author

audiobook CD version coming 9/15/11

Weird. That's all I can say. Sure, we voice talents are getting increasingly used to wearing many hats: director, producer, editor, voiceover artist, and sometimes grammarian (if the script needs a little, um, help) - not to mention blogger, marketing guru, social media student.

Still, this is a new experience for me. I am narrating this book I love: Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophreniato Hope.

The audio publisher is Spoken Word Inc., an awesome young company who believes in the book as much as I do, and has hired me to narrate it.

What's the weird thing? I am also the author of this book. Yeah, It's my own words I'm reading, drafted and rewritten a gazillion times. And now, as narrator, I'm having a tough time resisting the urge to rewrite as I read.

Of course, as audiobook narrators know, the words are sacrosanct. The author's voice is the star, you just enhance it with your read. But turning off my "author brain" is taking some focus. And, at the same time, it's a relief. Yes, the book is now in print at last. I have held my own hardcover in my hot little hands. Now, to forget I am the author, step back from the writing desk, and treat this manuscript with the same freshness as I would when written by any other author. Who is not me.

Challenge! This is why we have such a passion for what we do as voice actors.

Will keep you posted.