46. How Audiobooks Are Made with Julia Whelan

Hungry Authors

Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry – meaning there’s more attention now than ever before on what the audio experience of a book is like. So what should authors know about this important medium? This episode with award-winning audiobook narrator Julia Whelan takes you behind the scenes of audiobook production, so you can understand just what goes into it. We talk through questions like, should authors narrate their own audiobooks? Do authors always get to narrate their own books if they want to? How do you integrate audio elements like music? What are the physical demands on your voice, and how do you prepare for studio time? Plus, we’ll hear from Julia about how writing audiobooks impacts her writing process and the launch of her new audio platform, Audiobrary!

Dubbed “The Adele of Audiobooks” by The New Yorker, Julia Whelan is a writer, lifelong actor, and audiobook narrator of over 500 titles. She has won numerous awards, including Audible’s Narrator of the Year and the Best Female Narrator Audie. AudioFile Magazine has given her its lifetime achievement award, a “Golden Voice”, and her performance of her own debut novel, the international bestseller, My Oxford Year, garnered a Society of Voice Arts award. Her latest novel Thank You For Listening was a Best of 2022 pick at Amazon, Audible, and NPR as well as a Goodreads Choice Award nominee. She has just launched a new audio publishing company and app called Audiobrary, which aims to elevate human storytellers and disrupt standard compensation models for authors and narrators alike; her new book, the 8-part audio series, Casanova LLC, will debut on Audiobrary Valentine’s Day, 2024. She has most recently been invited to participate in the 10th annual Rancho Mirage Writer’s Festival. She is also a Grammy-nominated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier.

Learn more about Audiobrary and listen to Casanova, LLC at audiobrary.com.

Connect with Julia @justjuliawhelan on Instagram.