CurrentlyNobody

CurrentlyNobody t1_j21la2p wrote

I basically fell into it really. I mean I knew I wanted to work in publishing to make my English Lit degree make some sense. I just online searched publishers in my state. Discovered my current company exists and applied and interviewed several times. They look for people with college degrees (on any subject as we publish a diverse range of stuff) and a love of reading. My coworkers are all geeks in something or other. It's awesome.

The pay isn't overly awesome though, particularly living in a high cost of living area, but it's full time with generous paid time off and holidays, plus 401K and health benefits. I got to select my own schedule which is super helpful. And since Covid it's basically become fully remote minus 1 day a week. They also announced this year we full timers are now allowed to live outside of the state it's in, which was never allowed since I have been there. Essentially that means I am now hopeful of moving somewhere with a lower cost of living so the pay from this place will stretch further.

Suggest you google audiobook jobs near me as a start.

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CurrentlyNobody t1_j20zgw4 wrote

I follow along with the text and mark a spreadsheet when I find issues in the audio waves. We mark for things such as: Mispronunciations, inconsistencies, misreads, extra words, etc. We also mark or edit out random sounds that can occur, alternate takes, or stuff that doesn't belong, like extra long pauses. The spreadsheet and marked audio waves and book text all get sent back to the narrators for rerecord. Others will perform their magical functions of editing out more challenging things and splicing corrected audio back into the waves and voila, audiobook.

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CurrentlyNobody t1_j20uw14 wrote

Will also add that there's just a plethora of poorly written books out there, likely due at least in part to self publishing, and great narrators can even inject some life into those that wasn't actually there.

Great narrators are Magical Entities!

I proofread audiobooks for a living so am exposed to the difference between readers and narrators on the daily. I do suggest you not to give up entirely on the readers, or those who aren't at their best in one work. Narrating well isn't nearly as effortless as it sounds. Some will improve over time. Some...maybe just belong to non fiction.

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