Daily Projects

Daily - home studio required (see home studio guidelines).

Narrators will record a collection of articles from several news publications and periodicals on a daily basis. Content will cover a variety of subjects, from politics to arts and entertainment. The finished product will range 20 - 40 minutes and will be paid out at $2.00 per finished-minute. As runtimes vary we estimate readers will make anywhere from $33.00-$50.00 per hour on this project. Morning and evening sessions are available, and may run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ET) or 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. (ET).

Example Evening Schedule (all times in ET)

  • 5:30 p.m.: Scripts will be sent so you may begin prepping pronunciations.
  • 7:00 p.m.: Begin punch record. As each article is completed it should be sent to the assigned editor before the next recording begins.
  • 10:00 p.m.: Initial recording should be complete. Remain available for any required corrections.
  • 11:00 p.m.: The editor will deliver the finished product to the client. 

 

Requirements for position:

  • A quality home studio or recording studio access (see guidelines).
  • High-speed Internet connection (25+ mbps).
  • Due to time constraints, you must be able to do a punch record. Learn about punch record.
  • Experience with Pro-Tools is preferable.

 

Audition Guidelines:

  • The microphone should be no more than 6 inches away from the reader.
  • Pop filters are required.
  • All auditions should be recorded as 16 bit, 44.1kHz WAV files. (NO MP3s!)
  • No noise gating or noise reduction.
  • The only acceptable processing is compression with a fast attack, fast release, a ratio of no higher than 3:1, and no more than 2-3 dB of gain reduction.
  • RMS levels should be averaging around -27 to -25 dB. Anything above -23 dB is undesirable.
  • Please submit the raw recording with no processing, including (but not limited to) gating, noise reduction, normalization, limiting, etc.
  • For each audition, please read the entire article
  • Please record at least 30 seconds of clean room tone and attach it to the end of the file.
  • Make sure to include a top slate (at the very beginning) in your audition saying the publication and your name. Example: "Newspaper read by Joe Smith".
  • If your audition does not meet these requirements, we cannot consider your submission. If you have any questions or are unsure how to properly prepare your audition, please contact us before submitting any files. auditions@listenupaudiobooks.com.
  • The correct labeling for each file is listed at the bottom of each article.

 

Type of performance we are looking for:

  • Male and Female auditions requested.
  • Voices that are engaging and conversational with a fresh sound.
  • For some news publications we need voices that carry the proper gravitas for appropriate tone.
  • For other publications such as the online magazines a lighter tone is preferred.
  • Dialogue/Quotes in Text – Please no character voices. A different emphasis/intensity on dialogue/quotes is acceptable. Please do not change pitch or create a character voice for the content.
  • For the generic INTROS, i.e. [“Article Name”, by [Author], From [Source], please be sure to read these with just as much interest and enthusiasm as the articles. It is the first thing a listener hears and we want to draw the listener into the content. This goes for all projects content - newspapers, magazines, etc.
  • Make sure to pay attention to your pacing and do not rush your reading. Pacing should sound natural to the listener’s ear. Appropriate pacing is necessary to let the listener digest and enjoy the content.
  • Please be sure pronunciations for names, places, and terms are researched and pronounced correctly. Auditions where names, places, and terms are pronounced incorrectly will be removed from consideration.

 

Things to watch out for when recording

  • High noise floor.
  • Environmental noise-cars, cooling/heating system, noisy neighbors, etc.
  • Excessive movement on mic-body movement and placement on mic.
  • Plosives throughout record.

   

To apply:

  • Submit an audition to auditions@listenupaudiobooks.com
  • You may not get a response as we are inundated with submissions however your audition will be reviewed for submission. Thank you in advance for your patience.
  • Make sure to include which publication for which you are auditioning.
  • Please choose ONE article from the audition copy for submission and read entire article.

​Click here for the Audition Copy (choose ONE)