I connected with voice talent Jeff Kafer recently and did a Q&A with him about how he got into narration for audio books. Here’s what he said:

TJP: What is Podiobooks.com?

JK: Podiobooks.com is a site that gives away free serialized audiobooks on your schedule. What does that mean? Just like a podcast, you can subscribe to a book in iTunes or via RSS and chapters of that book will be delivered to you as they’re recorded. This means that the author doesn’t need to have the entire book in the can, but may release chapters on a weekly basis. Once a book is completed, listeners have the option of downloading the book in its entirety. It should be noted that all books are completely DRM-free and licensed under Creative Commons. You’ll notice that I’ve said “authors”. While Podiobooks doesn’t frown on using professional voice talent, it really caters to the Do-it-yourself folks and so most books are read by the author. As a matter of fact, I believe I’m the only professional voice talent on the site. You won’t see the likes of John Grisham or Stephen King on Podiobooks, but you will see names like Scott Sigler who is one of the most popular authors in the world of independent publishing.

TJP: How did you get work with Podiobooks?

JK: I didn’t find work directly through Podiobooks, as they are simply a library to house the books. I found work from authors who wanted to publish. I self-published the first 3 books on the site when I was just starting my VO career (and as such wasn’t paid). I found some friends who had short stories written and I offered to narrate them into anthologies. This was a ton of work! However, this turned out to be great advertising and was soon approached to narrate Inside Stories by Michael Yachnik.

That book was completed and even went on to be distributed by Audible.com. I’m in talks to narrate another author’s book once the manuscript is finished. So the initial investment of time and energy has paid off.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow (Friday March 6) when Jeff talks about the recording process, pay rate and his overall experience with this voice over niche.

-Tracy Pattin