Should you read your own book as an audio book? I mean–use your own voice to record your own book?
It’s interesting to hear people’s reactions to that question. Some, (like me), say, “Oh no, I would never! Only a trained actor should do that. And my audiobook reader is brilliant!”
Some say: “Well, hmm. I’m a self-published author—so that might be a much less expensive proposition.”
Others say: “I’m a non-fiction author. Reading one’s own non-fiction is done all the time.”
Some say: “I’d love to, but I don’t think they’d let me.”
Most say: “Huh. I never thought about that! Me?”
For those of you in any of those categories, and I’m hoping that’s everyone, Career Authors has a special guest today. David Lawrence XVII is an actor, and has been in Heroes, and Lost, And The Mentalist, and CSI. He also does voiceovers, and performs novels and non-fiction. (He’s also been the on-air announcer on The Price is Right! And so much more. His bio is below.)
When people come to him for advice about reading their own audio book–as they with for others like him who also make voice coaching part of their career–he says there are five mistakes that many would-be readers make. Fear of their own voice is one. Fear of the equipment, and of the unknown. Fear of failure. And fear of success.
I was eager to hear his advice about all of those! And because this is all about recording your voice, we did it in an interview.
Has it ever crossed your mind to read your own audiobook? Let’s talk about it on the Career Authors Facebook page.
After a 30 year career on radio in markets from New York to San Francisco to satellite and network, David H. Lawrence XVII decided to make a drastic change. He hung up his headphones and retired from hosting 3 syndicated radio shows to head to Los Angeles, to concentrate solely on acting in front of the camera, voiceover and mentoring performers. Lawrence is at the forefront of the podcasting revolution, having delivered daily RealAudio and MP3 “podcasts” via email from early 1994. Lawrence counts over 350 Fortune 500 and private companies as podcasting clients, either as a podcast talent, producer, designer or consultant. He is also a voice over/storytelling /audiobook coach.
Each night, he voices over 25 daily podcast episodes for clients.Lawrence makes regular appearances as an industry commentator on G4, CNN, FOX, CBS, MS-NBC, and Tribune broadcasting outlets as well as the CBC and the BBC, where he is a featured tech expert on Radio 5 Live’s Up All Night
