Who chooses the narrator for an audiobook?

[WildFlowerBees]

Referring to the latest Richard Osman book, this is the second audiobook of his that Fiona Shaw has narrated and it's really awful. Accents are terrible sometimes she does them sometimes not they don't sound like the Welsh or Liverpool they're meant to and her whispery voice just ruins the audio version for me.

The last book she narrated was also awful so who chooses the narrator, is it the author or publishers?

It’s not a job for anyone with claustrophobia is it

Yes that’s the producer’s job though sometimes an author might have a different idea

I absolutely love Stephen Fry as a narrator especially the Harry Potter books. I’ve given up on so many books because the voice jars and just sounds wrong. Some American accents are ok and some are really hard to get on with. I used to love detective novels like Dalziel and Pascoe but there are two narrators and one of them just sends me to sleep.

@HangingByYourFingernails Do you remember the thread with JD Kirk? I love his books! Also like Angus King narration - I think on some of the books it states 'performed by Angus King' which I think is accurate. More of a performance than a narration. He also does some of the Chris Brookymyre ones and I think he's great.

Interesting thread! I listen to quite a lot of audiobooks, generally thrillers, and I am very fussy when it comes to the narrator. I dislike ones that try to add suspense to every sentence or female narrators who are very breathy.

Also annoying when there's mispronunciation and I've often wondered why there isn't someone present to stop them and ask them to do it again.

Also annoying when there's mispronunciation and I've often wondered why there isn't someone present to stop them and ask them to do it again.

I feel much the same way about spelling errors in properly-published (written-word, obviously) books. These days they must use spell-check like everyone else, but that doesn't stop things like "chronical" for "chronicle", which turned up half an hour ago in a library ebook I'm reading. To be clear, I don't give a crap about people's spelling in a text message or a birthday card or a MN post, as long as I can reasonably easily tell what they mean. But in a properly edited, professionally published novel, I feel I should be able to almost forget I'm reading at all, which I generally can, if it's in a version of standard English I'm familiar with.

Errors jolt me right out of that smooth, cognitively-automatic information flow state, reminding me that it's all being mediated by letters printed on a page, written and typeset and copyedited by ordinary, fallible humans. Same with a mispronunciation — it suddenly reminds me I'm listening to an ordinary, fallible human, just reading a book out loud.

For the sake of my pleasure, is perfection really too much to ask?!

Names, though — names are tricky. I've never quite got over the first Harry Potter film coming out, and discovering it wasn't pronounced "Haygrid" 🥲

Danielle Vitalis is perfection as a narrator. Also really enjoy Adjoa Andoh and Angus King.

Very interesting thread, thanks @WildFlowerBees and @Citygirlrurallife

My Mum uses a lot of RNIB Talking Books and she is full of praise for the readers, they have e consistently high standards.

Iirc in the Strike books they cocked up by accidentally changing Ilsa to Isla in one of the book recordings. I have a feeling they corrected it

I find it really annoying too, cheap publishers cutting corners and not paying for directors 😉 I have worked with engineers who will query if they think something has been mispronounced but it’s not their job to do it and they have other stuff they’re supposed to be keeping an eye on

I used to get more annoyed about typos in written text but have had loads of instances where both actor and I only discover a typo when reading aloud, despite a book having gone through multiple editors and then an audio producer and then both myself and the actor reading it before recording!!

I love podcasts, but as soon as the person starts talking, I know if I can listen to it or not. Some have the gift, some don’t. It’s your own personal preference

I find it really annoying too, cheap publishers cutting corners and not paying for directors 😉 I have worked with engineers who will query if they think something has been mispronounced but it’s not their job to do it and they have other stuff they’re supposed to be keeping an eye on

I used to get more annoyed about typos in written text but have had loads of instances where both actor and I only discover a typo when reading aloud, despite a book having gone through multiple editors and then an audio producer and then both myself and the actor reading it before recording!!

You need to keep going with it! That was in reply to the post saying they couldn’t get on with Angus King.

my reply doesn’t work

What I have found annoying recently is when different narrators are used for books in a series, and consequently some characters sound completely different from one book to next.
This was recently the case when I was listening to the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley. The character of CeCe came across sometimes as very annoying, and other times as quite pleasant! It was a bit confusing!

I’m pleased someone has started this thread and I knew before opening exactly what would have prompted it. Fiona Shaw’s scouse accent is truly truly woeful and really dampens my enjoyment of the whole thing. The reason she took over from LM - who I thought did a fabulous job was LM was too busy to fit number 3 in. Disappointed they didn’t go back to her for 4 though. I’ll still listen but I will continue to seethe each time a ‘scouse’ accent is murdered.

"Reply" is a dastardly trick; all it does is take you to the "add post" box.

Assuming you're on the mobile site, you need to click on the three dots at the top right of the person's post and click "quote".

I can't remember what the book was, but one that annoyed me was the narrator pronouncing La Jolla as if it is English - like Jolly

I think I was finding the book boring anyhow, so was probably nitpicking more than usual 😀

I cannot believe no-one has yet mentioned The Gilgamesh experiment (John Finnemore) 😁

Unless there was a version I am not familiar with, this was Adjoa Andoh, previously praised on this thread by @CoolCalmCollected. I agree, I would listen to her read a shopping list. She also narrated ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ I think and ‘Stay with me’ by Ayobami Adebayo.

Now, if only she had read ‘Girl, Woman, Other!’

I thought of it instantly but didn't comment because by its nature it's too difficult to talk about in type.
"there's this best selling author and he insists on doing the audiobook himself but he's got a terrible voice and then he insists on doing all the lady voices and the foreign accents and the director gets more and more concerned.."
doesn't really capture the hilarity.

I listen to quite a lot of non fiction; specifically history books, and quite often the narrator is woeful. Presumably because they don't have the money and not many people buy the audiobooks.

I agree about Jane McDowell and the Wimsey books. She's incredibly flat and bored sounding. Although I'd prefer to have Edward Petherbridge read them . Hes possibly a bit frail now though sadly.

Also Peter Firth beautifully read the Regeneration Trilogy which now no longer seem to be available. Simon Russell Beale has now done them so a bigger name. Peter Firth was beautifully understated.

@Citygirlrurallife Do the publishers have their own in-house recording studios for audiobooks, or do they hire third-party facilities? If they need to find something outside of London where do they look? (I have friends who run recording studios, they'd probably welcome the business.)

@snurtifier PRH has its own studios but often also has to use Independant studios. (The US branch weirdly doesn’t use the studios for the U.K. branch) and as far as I’m aware no other publisher has their own studio

Agreed it's terrible and Bob the Welshman sounds Indian but later on appears to become more West Country. It would have been better if Bob had been written to have FAS.

Narration is very personal it seems, I haven't found many I really like, some are completely monotone. I haven't found a male narrator I like.

Dawn French Ruth Jones and Caroline Quentin I enjoyed.