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?

@Citygirlrurallife do authors ever listen to their own book think it's awful and ask for a change of narrator after the whole book has been narrated?

Kobna is one of my all-time favourite narrators. I’ve heard about Ben Aaronovich giving him more and more difficult accents to do too.

I did notice at the start of the most recent one Kobna changed how he pronounced Aaronovich, which seems really weird after all these books. Surely if it was wrong you’d have corrected it after book one. And if it’s not wrong why change it now?

The Rivers of London audiobooks narrated by others really haven’t grabbed me the way that the originals have. Kobna is just so good. He’s also the prison warden in Paddington 2 (took me a while to work out why his voice was so familiar yet I didn’t recognise his face - sorry Kobna!)

@PricklyWhenWet FYI, I’m not sure whether they’re available in the UK, but Jim Dale narrated the Harry Potter series for the US market and he’s fantastic, I mean really off the scale differentiating between the character’s voices. He won multiple awards for his renditions.

We can get them on Audible in the States and they’ve got us through many long car journeys, my teenagers started listening to them again this summer at 18 and 15. 😂

Also wizard lizard in Superworm is kobna HS :D

I totally agree biscuitcat
He's absolutely brilliant! Perfect for those books.

I've just downloaded Stranger Times thank you @biscuitcat

Oh can't a bad narrator totally ruin a book? I've had to stop listening to some simply because I couldn't bear the voice.

It can't just be me, surely?

Not just you, I've not got past the sample on more books than I've actually listened to.

Not in my direct experience! But who knows….

This thread was good timing because I returned the audio book of The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish to the library yesterday because it just wasn't engaging me.

It wasn't the reason I returned it but there are so many complaints in the reviews about being able to hear the narrator swallowing and mouth noises and I was wondering how it all worked and how no one had picked up on it before it got released? Especially when it's quite a big name author and popular book.

I was also wondering how the wrong name being repeated lots of times in the Stike novels was missed especially as it was a few books along and not the first one. Surely JKR would have a top team doing her books?

Jodi Taylor has Zara ramm nareator her books. Best narrator I have listened to. And I listen to hundreds a year.

I bet the day will come when AI synthetic voices have added mouth noises for authenticity 🤢

Fascinating thread, thanks @WildFlowerBees for answering the question and @Citygirlrurallife for sharing so much information.

That’s really bad - that’s the editor’s job to remove all the clicks and plosives and mouth noise. If the actor has a director and/or sound engineer they should be warning them about it but if it’s a self record then the editor edits what they can out and they make the actor do pick ups where it’s not editable.

same for inconsistency with pronunciation. Honestly a lot of audio studios just cut so many corners and I agree it spoils the listener experience - especially when those of us who work in the industry are absolutely fastidious about this sort of thing. I’m currently prepping a book set in the medieval ages so am taking great to care to make sure the Latin is all
pronounced classically, and I just finished a book that had loads of academics quoted who aren’t online anywhere saying their names so I literally called round the universities they worked in to make sure we were saying their names right.

I know of one studio that doesn’t even use proper editors but just an editing program that therefore doesn’t pick up all the inconsistencies or mispronunciations or mouth noise

Another question for you @Citygirlrurallife do those that have narrated ever look at the book reviews do you know? I wonder if any of them take on the listeners feedback or simply narrate get paid and move on.

Thanks for that answer @Citygirlrurallife!
It's all really interesting! Your job sounds great. Does it ever ruin the stories for you though? Do you have to read/ listen to the same bits over again?
You must have to edit stories you don't like or you think are rubbish 😆

Agree with previously mentioned
John Lee
Davina Porter
Julia Whelan

Also Saskia Maarleveld who narrates most/all of Kate Quinn's books is amazing.

I was really disappointed with Roy Dotrice's narration of the Game of Thrones books but it's a pretty massive challenge to do them so not sure anyone could do any better

The ones I’ve worked with (the prolific narrators who do it more or less full time) certainly do. In fact almost every actor I know reads their reviews!! So do I in fact, and I take on any feedback that’s relevant and useful

Mmm doesn’t really ruin the stories for me but I def can’t prep a book in the same way as just reading a book for fun because I have to look out for so much, but then the process of listening to the performer is lovely because you rediscover it in another way, although I’m reading along with them so I have to keep hyper focused too.

I do find if I do too many audiobooks back to back it then spoils reading for pleasure because I’m mentally taking notes as though I’m prepping

yes I have def worked on books I don’t like (my second book was 700 dry academic pages on neurobiology!) but these days I get to be a bit pickier rather than having to take any job that comes my way and I’ve worked on some AMAZING books