Lisa Copeland

Lisa Copeland is recording the audio book version of The Sheep Walker’s Daughter. Read about her experience, the recording process, what it takes to succeed at recording books, and hear a sample of her work.

How did you get into recording audio books?

My husband has had a recording studio for years. He made radio and television commercials. After we got married, I started doing voice work for him.

We travel the country in a motor home and were looking for new ways to support our “diesel habit” when a friend suggested we look into recording audio books. We have the studio set up in the motor home, so we can record from anywhere.

What is the process of recording an audio book?

 It’s very helpful to read it all the way through before recording, and chapter by chapter several times to be really familiar with it. We record one chapter at a time. Everyday we edit the chapter we recorded the day before, then record the next chapter.

It helps to hear it fresh the next day. If there are words I’m unfamiliar with, I repeat them aloud until it becomes second nature.

The magic really happens in the editing process. He cleans up the recordings, lengthens or shortens the pauses between sentences, and sometimes re-records a section if it can’t be fixed. Then we upload the chapter to Amazon’s ACX (Audio Creation Exchange).

Is there anything authors can do to ensure their books will sound good?

 Be very specific when listing the book on ACX about the type of voice and delivery you want. You know how it sounds in your head. Try to describe that when you list your book for auditions.

Listen to Lisa read a Basque proverb.

How do you find recording projects?

 ACX  lists of books that are accepting auditions to record audio books. There are thousands of titles to choose from. Titles can be narrowed down to genre, male/female voices, project rate, language, voice age and style, and project length. Once those choices are made, only the books that meet those criteria will pop up.

What are the biggest challenges of recording an audio book?

 Besides trying to keep my voice consistent from day to day, not popping Ps into the microphone, and removing any mouth clicks and smacks from the recording, the biggest challenges are on the technical end. There are certain standards that ACX requires for studio sound quality. They helped us meet those standards.

Another challenge for us is environmental noise. We stay in parks that have a lot of noisy crows. There have been a couple of times we had to stop recording until they moved on.

How do readers choose whether to purchase an audio, print, or e-book?

They each have their place, don’t they? If I don’t have a lot of time to sit down and read, an audio book is great, especially during commute traffic. It’s a very pleasant way to spend that stressful time.

I like the convenience of buying an e-book online when I’ve just finished my last one. I’m a big reader, so that’s important! But I also like to fish around in a print book when I’ve had a light bulb moment and need to go back and find something.

Tell us something about your experience recording The Sheep Walker’s Daughter.

 I have to say that I was totally drawn by the cover to begin with. If I saw that cover on a bookshelf, or on a table in Costco, I absolutely would have picked it up!

I love stories about real life situations, those moments of discovery, good and bad, about ourselves, and how we work through them.

As soon as we all agreed that I would narrate your book, I read it to the end right away. I just loved it! Even if I had not been chosen to narrate it, I would have bought it and read it!

I loved learning about the language and culture of the Basques, and the tradition that still gets passed on today. In our travels, we happened upon a Basque Festival in Winnemucca, NV. We spent the afternoon watching the elders, but especially the younger people, so involved with their traditions. We all had a great time! I wish that I had known then what I know now after reading your wonderful book!

Do you have any advice for people who would like to become recording artists?

 Make sure you have an area to record in that will meet the specifications of everyone involved in this process. Get that worked out before you accept an offer by an author/publisher. ACX is very good about helping.

Enunciate! And make sure you have a GREAT editor/mixer! You can be a wonderful narrator, but the sound quality and editing process is huge!

Hook up with someone who makes you sound great! Listen and listen again. Just when you think you are done, it’s amazing what you’ll hear in wording and pauses.

Pay attention to the time of day when your voice is at its best. Mine happens to be early afternoon, but for my husband, it’s first thing in the morning. Practice with it and you’ll soon figure that out.