Romance Audiobooks discussion

An author who attended our RWA audiobook workshop asked me this question:

I've had wonderful male narrator for my audiobooks so far. I now have a new series - do listeners prefer a male or female narrator for Scottish historicals?

I told her that I preferred a male for a Scottish historical, thinking of those brawny Highlanders (and possibly Phil Gigante). Now, I greatly love Davina Porter's portrayal of Jamie in the Outlander series but beyond that, I'm thinking males make those Highlanders come to life more effectively.

However, I truly enjoy male narrators and I know listeners are split on their preferences for male or female. What about you?

I'm editing to add this:

If you are an author wondering about narrator choices, please message me and I'll place your request on this thread. All three of these requests came to me from social media sites including Facebook and Twitter and by personal email.

I love both Phil and Davina's performances. But, I think overall I'd probably prefer a male narrator for Scottish historicals.

Jonetta wrote: "I love both Phil and Davina's performances. But, I think overall I'd probably prefer a male narrator for Scottish historicals."

I agree!

I would agree too :) As long as the narrator does a decent female lead and has a lovely deep voice, I'd most prefer a British male narrator for British or Scottish historicals.

Interesting. For me, I became so used to Davina's narration on the Outlander series, I have been able to listen to The Scottish Prisoner because the male narrator is so different on Jamie.

Male all the way. Kudos to Davina that she can portray an awesome Jamie, but you haven't heard a Scottish hero until you hear Robert Petkoff with the IAD series. His accent is mindblowing.

I don't read or listen to historicals but male narrators win hands down for me. As audiobooks get more popular and become big marketing extensions (not just new but a way of reviving old titles), I'm hoping more and more Romantic Suspense titles will feature male/female duos narrating.

I'm currently listening to an old Iris Johansen - Reap the Wind, narrated by Laurel Merlington and it badly needs a male narrator for Alex Kazarov!

Every time I finish an audiobook narrated by a female, I have to listen to a male narrator next just to soothe my ears.

agree ...I love male narrators. Dick Hill one of my favorites

I find I'm happiest with Male narrator's in this genre, but if the female voice suffers to much I'll take back my vote.

I used to think I only liked females in the romance genre, but then I heard a few phenomenal male narrators. For me it is all about the narrater. I have a lot in both genders I will not listen to period. But I can name several I will listen to regardless of what hey are narrating as well

I've actually yet to listen to a male narrator for a Scottish/British historical, but I have a few in my library waiting for me to get to them. I've heard a few female ones that make me want to stab my ears with a rusty butter knife, but I've loved the ones by Kirsten Potter, she does a great job, IMO. I have a Phil Gigante and Tristan Hunt in my library, as well as a Simon Prebble and a Nicholas Boulton in my wish list, so hopefully I'll have a male reference point soon.

My only reference point for Simon Prebble is Julia Quinn books, and I hate them so...but I love Phil Gigante, Nicholas Boulton and Dennis Kleinman.

Hmm, well I'm going to go against the tide here and say that I'd look more favorably on a female narrator. The determining factor, of course, would be the competence of whoever is chosen. Naturally a good narrator of either sex is better than a poor one.

Another male narrator for Scottish historicals that I have greatly enjoyed is Roger Hampton / James Langton in the Grace Burrowes MacGregor series. I actually prefer his non-dialogue sections to Phil Gigante.

There are a few narrators of both sexes that I will seek out for purchase...
Female: Kate Reading, Xe Sands, Anna Fields, Barbara Rosenblat, Carolyn Morris. I have also enjoyed Susan Duerden narrations.

Male: Nicholas Boulton, Roger Hampton, Simon Prebble (though he's not right for Julia Quinn's books in my estimation). Richard Armitage is aMAZing, but I've only ever heard him do Heyer abridgements. Scott Brick is very enjoyable, though I don't know what accents he might have in his repertoire.

And another request of a different sort from a second author:

Looking for a narrator of my series - heroine is 15 years old and it is a paranormal. There isn't a HEA in the first book but there is a love interest. Who do you recommend as narrator?

Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "And another request of a different sort from a second author:

Looking for a narrator of my series - heroine is 15 years old and it is a paranormal..."

I have enjoyed both Julia Whelan and Sophie Eastlake recently. Ms Eastlake narrated the last Thea Harrison book I listened to and thought it was well done.

Laura (Kyahgirl) wrote: "Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "And another request of a different sort from a second author:

Looking for a narrator of my series - heroine is 15 years old and it is a paranormal..."

I have enjoyed both..."

I love Julia Whelan/Sophie Eastlake (same person by the way). She would be great. I also enjoy listening to Kate Reinders. She narrated J.A. Redmerski's "Darkwoods Trilogy", a YA/paranormal series. I loved Cassandra Morris' narration of Kelley Armstrong's "Darkest Powers" trilogy.

Others that would be great are Tavia Gilbert, Lauren Fortgang, Emma Galvin, Kristine Hvam, Jennifer Ikeda, Amanda Ronconi. And if the character is British, then Fiona Hardingham is terrific.

Oh Angie yay! You gave me a whole pile of narrators to look out for. Bonus.

Christine Lakin narrated The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. The narration was terrific for this YA book.

Angie wrote: "Laura (Kyahgirl) wrote: "Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "And another request of a different sort from a second author:

Looking for a narrator of my series - heroine is 15 years old and it is a paranormal..."

Hey! Thanks! That was a nice morning surprise, to see my name recommended! :)

Thank you for all your help! A new author request:

"I was also wondering if you had any suggestions or recommendations in terms of who might be good for narrating a sweet, small town, contemporary romance with both the male and female point of views. I think I would likely go with a female who can make all the voices and narration sound good or a male who can sound female without making me laugh. ;) From talking with my readers they seem to prefer male voices.

My leads are in their mid-20s, but a few of the males are in their 30s--I'm thinking I'd use the same narrator (if possible) for the 5 book series."

You all are providing invaluable assistance to the authors and this is what we all wish for anyway, isn't it? :) Influence on choice of narrator!

I'm the author who asked Lea for advice on whether listeners prefer a male or female narrator for Scottish historical romances. I just wanted to stop by to say thank you so much for the great advice!

I was inclined to go with a male again, and it appears most of you also prefer to have a male Highlander speaking in your ear. ;) I appreciate the narrator recommendations too. Sadly, Richard Armitage is not available to read my books--sigh--but a couple of the others are. The narrator of my previous audiobooks is Derek Perkins.

Thanks again!
Margaret

Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "Thank you for all your help! A new author request:

"I was also wondering if you had any suggestions or recommendations in terms of who might be good for narrating a sweet, small town, contemporary..."

Well if you go with a male - Dan Bittner, Dan Bittner! He doesn't do enough romance. You can get the best sample of his narrating from Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire. I'm not sure why he isn't being used more in the genre. I mostly see him doing children's books. He is terrific though. I would also recommend MacLeod Andrews and Andrew Eiden.

For female, I would recommend most of the same ones I mentioned in post 17, and add Therese Plummer to the list.

Dan Bittner is fantastic, definitely would love to hear him do more romance.

I edited my original post in this thread to include this:

If you are an author wondering about narrator choices, please message me and I'll place your request on this thread. All three of these requests came to me from social media sites including Facebook and Twitter and by personal email.

I am going to second a comment made by JaneA on this issue. I have many audiobooks, I absolutely refuse to listen to in my library. Most are females who make men sound like constipated laryngitis folks, but those males out there who make a female voice into a high pitched, ear piercing shriek are also on my list. So, to the authors asking for preferences, really we just want to hear a narrator who performs (as opposed to reading) and can make the transition between gender, age and accent seem effortless even though we absolutely know it isn't. But on one issue I am firm...if it is female POV, I want to hear a female and vice versa.

With all the complaints about male narrators not doing female characters well, and female narrators doing an even worse job with male characters, I'm hoping the powers-that-be realize this (and care) and we'll see more audiobooks being narrated by dual-gender narrators.

And I don't mean simply dividing up the chapters between a male and female narrator to read (I listened to one like that but can't remember the title. It was a DNF). I like the dialogue narrated by the relevant gender (as in Jayne Ann Krentz's Soft Focus or Already His by Sandy Raven.

I completely agree...Sandy Raven's The Caversham Chronicles series, narrated by Dennis Kleinman and Victoria J Mayers are fantastic. The narration is logical in that the male does male characters and the female does female characters. But there are narrators who can accomplish both genders well. It is not even just the gender issue. I recently listened to an audio for review. I had a real problem with the narrator's ignorance of how people in the geographic area speak. Accents, or the lack thereof.

The last request came from an author who is asking for recommendations of a single narrator for a book. Can I hear a few more for a small town romance either male or female?

I'll go with a few off the top of my head:

Eric G. Dove - he did a wonderful job narrating Patricia Ryan's Pure and Simple - one of my top ten audios from last year

Kirby Heyborne - excellent job with Gone Girl

Moira Quirk - love everything she does. Although British, she has been in the States for years and I believe she could pull off whatever is required. After all, she hosted GUTS on Nickleodeon for years. Kristen Callihan books and Elizabeth Hoyt's Princes trilogy

Susannah Jones - Kristen Ashley's Rock Chick books - good younger voices

Michelle Ford - wonderful gentle voice but can sufficiently differentiate males from females. She's British (but on this side of the ocean) but I can see her performing a more Americanized version and since this last author is Canadian, that might be good. Try Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe.

Xe Sands - listen to Kristan Higgins' Catch of the Day. Deeper overall voice but it is beautiful.

Hillary Huber

Julie Whelan - she won an Audie for Nora Roberts' The Witness

Cris Dukehart

I could give many more but this is a start for a small town romance.

i'm listening to James Langford (?) right now and enjoying it - admittedly its a YA book - but he has a good range of characters

Kirby Heyborne for sure

James Langton does a great Scottish male.

"I was also wondering if you had any suggestions or recommendations in terms of who might be good for narrating a sweet, small town, contemporary..."

What about Xe Sands? Wonderfully melodic and engaging.

ElaineY wrote: "I'm hoping the powers-that-be realize this (and care) and we'll see more audiobooks being narrated by dual-gender narrators.

And I don't mean simply dividing up the chapters between a male and female narrator to read...I like the dialogue narrated by the relevant gender"


Greetings, all! I'm a narrator and have been following this discussion with great interest. I can tell you why most books have a solo narrator: COST.

I'm producing and co-narrating the last of a 4-book series (fun, cozy mystery with romantic elements) where I am voicing all of the female parts, and a male actor is voicing all of the male parts. While I love the sound of the finished product and agree that having both genders makes the production so much more interesting, it's a very time-consuming and tedious process to create an audiobook this way.

First, you have to have production rights to even be able to do a multi-voice production. One mid-size publisher told me that we couldn't use 2 voices on a particular book because they didn't have the production rights for it. I guess the production rights allow you to make a play or movie from the book's text and is somehow different than audio rights.

Next, you cast the 2 actors and must coordinate their recording schedules. If I weren't married to my co-star, the scheduling step alone could have derailed the production. The schedule is less of a consideration when the narrators are reading whole chapters.

Once the schedule is worked out, you turn to the cost of studio time, both for the recording and the editing/mastering. The Big 5 publishers can afford real-time studio hours in big cities for their high-profile, bestselling titles. Everyone else -- small and mid-size publishers and indie authors -- usually looks to control costs by casting narrators with home studios. Depending on the project, the editing might be done by the publisher, the narrator, or an editor sub-contracted by the narrator.

Normally, my rule of thumb is that it takes 2 hours in real time to record 1 finished hour and 3 hours in real time to proof/edit/master for 1 finished hour. With this project, we're spending at least an additional hour on both phases. A book that runs 10 hours with 1 narrator (or 2 or more narrators who read different chapters) therefore might require 50 hours in real time to record and edit. The same book with 2 narrators and interspersed dialogue might require 70 hours of production time.

Studio time isn't the only cost consideration. I also have the opportunity cost of other projects or promotion that I can't do because this audiobook is requiring more time than usual to complete.

In this series, I do all of the narrative portions and the female voices. I leave airtime in the dialogue where male characters speak. He mouths his lines and cues me in for my next sentence.

Then, we switch places; I direct him as we record his parts:
-- I cue him by playing my audio in his headphones.
-- I press Record in the software.
-- He delivers his lines. Everything true of solo narration is true here, too, as far as re-recording to fix inflection, accent, flubs, etc. In fact, it may be harder to be the 2nd person because you're kind of coming into the dialogue cold. I think that person has to work harder to connect to the text because they weren't immersed in the story to that point.
-- I stop recording before he speaks over my part. Sometimes we originally left too much time for his parts, sometimes not enough.
-- Sometimes his delivery will cause me go back to my part and re-do it to change some nuance.

As a result, editing the dialogue is EXTREMELY time-consuming. When I am narrating all voices, as is customary, I normally leave the appropriate amount of time between characters. The editor is not constantly making adjustments on the timing to make the conversations flow smoothly and naturally. In this production with true M/F dialogue, the editor's job is even tougher given the timing issues.

Given the considerable amount of time needed for this kind of production, I don't want to produce another one. Instead, I'm looking for projects with 2-3 1st person POVs (romance or mystery) where each narrator is responsible for entire chapters.

I hope this explanation about the production process is helpful. Thanks for the great discussion!


Cordially,
Karen Commins

Wow Karen. While I anticipated it would be harder, I had no idea how much effort goes into this process. I am sorry you won't be doing more dual narrations, I really do like them. However, as I said before, I am much more critical of narrations where the female grunts the male voice or the male almost shrieks the female. Hope you find the products you are looking for.

My narrator preference really depends on the type of book.
I like Roslyn Landor for Regency romance, of which I have many.
Roger Hampton did a great job with the Grace Burrowes Scottish books. Amanda Ronconi is great with first person singular POV, not so much 3rd person.
I haven't listened to many books narrated by Xe Sands, but what I have, I've enjoyed. I really liked her performance of Never Trust a Pirate by Anne Stuart.
I liked Lorelei King's performance of Darynda Jones' Grim Reaper series which is in first person singular POV.
Nicholas Boulton is up there in my favorites, of course.
Simon Prebble is great with the Stephanie Laurens Cynster series, probably because they are mainly from the man's point view. I first heard him reading Dick Francis books, and it was a bit disconcerting to hear him narrating a romance, but I adjusted.
One of my very favorite narrators is Barbara Rosenblat. She does such a wonderful job with different accents. I mean, she takes into account when a character is from a different place and/or class. Most readers of books set in the US get the different regional accents, but I've only rarely heard it in historicals set in England. Yes, the reader will get Scottish right, and usually Irish, but the English accents lack differentiation. England may be small, but there is a wide variety of regional accents and dialects. Barbara Rosenblat does such a good performance with these differences.
I think first person singular POV is easiest to hear if the reader isn't spectacular at voices. I like Amanda Ronconi's reading of Molly Harper's Jane Jameson series, not so much Better Homes and Hauntings. A good narrator reading a first person POV is like he/she is sitting there telling you the story. There's really no need to differentiate voices, though accents are usually expressed.

Karen wrote: "Greetings, all! I'm a narrator and have been following this discussion with great interest. I can tell you why most books have a solo narrator: COST.

I'm producing and co-narrating the last of a 4-book series (fun, cozy mystery with romantic elements) where I am voicing all of the female parts, and..."

This is very interesting! Thank you for taking time to explain the intricacies of performing a dual narration!

Kym wrote: "I haven't listened to many books narrated by Xe Sands, but what I have, I've enjoyed. I really liked her performance of Never Trust a Pirate by Anne Stuart.."

Thanks so much, Kym. That is amazing company to be in and I'm honored!

Harry_ATL wrote: ""I was also wondering if you had any suggestions or recommendations in terms of who might be good for narrating a sweet, small town, contemporary..."

What about Xe Sands? Wonderfully melodic and ..."

Just seeing these comments...thank you, Harry_ATL!

Lea's Audiobooks wrote: "The last request came from an author who is asking for recommendations of a single narrator for a book. Can I hear a few more for a small town romance either male or female?

I'll go with a few off..."

Aw Lea, thank you!! Hoping to work with Higgins again in the future - a narrator can hope!

I'm the author who originally asked about narrators for Scottish romances. I wanted to ask about a narrator none of you mentioned. Any of you listen to Tim Campbell? He seems to have narrated a lot of books so I thought some of you may be familiar with him and have an opinion.
Thanks so much!
Margaret Mallory

Hi, Margaret, I've listened to Tim Campbell and he didn't provide what I look for in a good narrator. He just reads the text, and flatly at that. Quite honestly, I've been spoiled by the narrators that are actors such as Nicholas Bolton and Barbara Rosenblat.
I listened to my first Rhys Bowen narrated by Kathryn Kellgren and she was wonderful. I do remember a touch of Scottish accent in the book.

I do not care if the narrator is male or female. My only requirement is is that they be good and know what they are doing.

Thanks for the input! I love audiobooks myself, so I am having a great time listening to narrator auditions for my new book. I'm trying men first. I get to listen to men speak in my ear with a Scottish accent and call it work. :) I am limited to narrators who work with amazon's audible.com (ACX), which means that several of the narrators mentioned in the thread aren't available to me.

Margaret

Margaret wrote: "Thanks for the input! I love audiobooks myself, so I am having a great time listening to narrator auditions for my new book. I'm trying men first. I get to listen to men speak in my ear with a Scot..."

Who are the narrators who work with ACX? Do you have a link? I just bought Adrienne Giordano & Misty Evan's Stealing Justice because Adam Hanin is narrating. I've never read any Giordano and have never heard of Misty Evans but I buy just about any romantic suspense if it has a good male narrator.

Margaret wrote: "Thanks for the input! I love audiobooks myself, so I am having a great time listening to narrator auditions for my new book. I'm trying men first. I get to listen to men speak in my ear with a Scot..."

Margaret, just because an actor isn't listed on ACX doesn't necessarily mean you can't work with them. If an actor has a website with contact information available, you might reach out to them to ask if they're interested in auditioning for your project. ACX can be useful as a publishing platform, but you shouldn't feel limited to working with only that voice talent. The voices listed on ACX may be more inclined to working with a royalty share arrangement, but if you can finance an audiobook production, then you can open the field. Good luck!

Margaret - I recently listened to To Marry A Scottish Laird which is narrated by Keiran Elliot - a Scotsman. The story wasn't great, but I'd definitely listen to him again. His English accent needs a bit of work, but he's got potential.

I like the narrator who did Grace Burrowes Scottish trilogy. I think the name was James Langston.

I kind of think the entire issue of whether a male or female narrator is better misses the point. To me, a good narrator is someone with a voice that has a pitch and cadence that is pleasing to the ears, that reads at a pace that is easy to keep up with, who doesn't make frequent noises like loud breathing or excessive swallowing (which they finally seem to be editing out, thank god.) or prolonged or dramatic pauses. And there are both men and women narrators out there with voices who meet that definition. If the narrator has a voice that is easy on my ears, doesn't grate on my nerves and doesn't overwhelm the story itself, then I would rather listen to them read a Scottish character in their normal voice without the burr, then a man or woman who make their voice so thickly "Scottish" that all I can focus on is the voice, not the words being read.

I also read a comment about narrators who "perform" being preferable to those who "read". I think I might disagree with that. To me listening to an audiobook is still "reading". It isn't watching a movie or a play with actors. Even if I am listening to an audiobook rather than reading it myself, I still want to imagine the characters in my head, create faces and voices and characteristics for them myself. So when a narrator gives too much of a "performance", they can skew my internal vision of the character. When a really well known actor or actress narrates a book, I base my opinion on whether to listen to it not based on their acting skills, but whether their voice, which I know from the movies or programs I've seen them in, is pleasant to me. If I think they might be tempted to "act" instead of narrate, I avoid those books.

At the moment, the narrator that most closely passes my litmus test, that I would recommend for any book is probably Bernadette Dunn.

All of this said, I very much agree with comments about Davina Porter and the Outlander series. But I also believe that combination is magic. Something that can likely never be repeated. Certainly an exception to every rule.

Lulu, you had me until you hit the point of not wanting to hear a performance. Then you got me again when you gave the exception to Davina Porter. I am toward the end of a complete re-listen of the Outlander series and I can honestly say that hearing Davina do Lord Lovett with his false teeth out of his mouth is exactly what I am talking about when I say I prefer to hear a performance, not a dry read.

Where I absolutely agree with you is on male vs female narrators. If they can cross gender voices without making my ears scream "NOOO," then I generally have no preference. Some narrators (Anne Flosnik) make me crazy every time i hear them. Some I like some of the time and then there are those I love no matter what they are reading.

Having said all of that, I think we are probably confusing the poor authors more than we are clearing the road for them. I think they will just have to listen to a lot of narrators and choose on their own (but maybe those screeching voices will be avoided).

I'm not naming names, but after listening to an audition by a male who was TERRIBLE with female voices, I decided not to limit myself to men and open it up to female narrators. Oh my ears, he was screechy!

Thanks for the additional comments. I WISH I could get Davina Porter, but I imagine she's nearly impossible to get after Outlander--and probably out of my price range as well. ;) I just listened to samples by James Langton and really liked him. I hope he'll audition for me. I have listened to Keiran Elliott and didn't realize he did an English accent too. In the samples I listened to, he had a good voice, but he did everything--not just the dialogue--with a Scottish accent, which was a bit much.

I'm still looking...or rather, listening. :)

Margaret