I had the opportunity to catch up with Jeffrey Hutchins this week, for a quick Q&A. You may recall, Jeffrey is the narrator of Scarred: A Civil War Novel of Redemption.
Your voice is the perfect compliment to Scarred, how did you manage to discover my book and what prompted you to audition?
I saw the book listed on ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) and liked the premise of the story. I have a natural southern drawl and thought my voice might be a good fit for the book.
What do you do when you’re not narrating audiobooks—or is this your full time job?
I’ve been co-owner of a multi media production company for over 20 years. I’ve done several voice overs for many of the video projects we produced, including voicing three children’s personalized CDs. I’ve always liked doing the voice over and when a friend told me about ACX I decided to give it a try. This was actually my first book! I just finished my second and have three more authors waiting for me to narrate their books. Looks like this will end up being my full time job. I’m hooked!
How do you prepare for a narrating session? Is there research involved? Is it a straight read from the book?
First I read the book, taking notes as to different characters. Contact the author and find out what they have in mind for different characters, who might play them in a movie. Listen to YouTube videos of different dialects and accents. I also research pronunciation for words I’m not familiar with.
How long, on average, does it take you to complete an audiobook.
The first (Scarred) took about 10 times longer than the second! But it looks like its going to take about 5 – 6 hours of reading, prep, recording and editing to produce one finished hour of the book. Hopefully I can get that time down as I learn more.
What do you find most enjoyable about narrating audiobooks?
Doing the different characters. The first book I auditioned for, I didn’t realize I should even be doing character voices, so I didn’t. Needless to say I didn’t get hired either. Then I listened to a couple of audiobooks (I know I should have done this first), and started getting hired right away.
What do you find least enjoyable about narrating?
Editing, it takes a long time and is very tedious work listening to my mistakes and cutting and pasting the parts together to make it sound both conversational and interesting.
One or two scenes in the book require a Germanic accent, which you do so well. Where did you learn to do the accent? And are there others you do as well?
I hate to say it but (don’t laugh) I though of Hogan’s Heroes, Colonel Klink! Only a little meaner. I never even knew I could do a German accent, so I don’t really know if I can do others. But I hope to try!
Being from Louisville, are you a Civil War buff?
Not really, but I learned quit a bit from narrating Scarred and found it fascinating.
Did you enjoy reading Scarred? Why?
YES! The story was really good. Action, adventure, history, love, loss. . . what else could you ask for!
What piece of advice would you give someone looking to get into audiobook narration?
Check out ACX.com – And listen to an audio book BEFORE you audition for narrating one!
Want to hear more? Check out Jeffrey’s audition submission:
And visit Audible.com to find out how you can get Scarred for free—with a 30 day trial membership.
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