We are looking for a variety of audio book narrators for multiple projects to be accomplished in 2022. You will find a description of the various projects at the bottom of this text.
To make your final recordings, you will be working on your own equipment at home. Please note that we only expect raw recordings and you do not need to edit your files in any way. We are still looking for relatively clean files, but we will be doing adjustments and edits to your final submissions.
Please also note that this opportunity is only open to Canadian artists aged 18 and over. Also, according to our policy on equity and diversity, priority across all of these projects will be given to applicants from marginalized communities such as People of Colour, especially those who are Black and Indigenous, people who are disabled, and members of the LGBTQIA2P+ community. For certain projects, we will give priority to certain groups, as they are own-voice projects, and our goal is to make sure every aspect of the work remains own-voice.
ACTRA actors: You are eligible to apply for this opportunity, which uses the Canada Audiobook Agreement.
Please also note that with the exception of the memoirs and possibly of some of the novels, we will hire more than one reader per project, as a variety of voices will be best to represent the variety of voices in the anthologies and some of the novels.
Payment
Hired voice performers will be paid 300CAD per finished hour of audio.
Important dates
Deadline for submissions of auditions is December 31st, 2021, at 11:59 PM.
Hired performers will be expected to begin recording at the end of January 2022, and to be done by end of April 2022 at the very latest.
How to submit your audition
To apply for this opportunity, please send us a short recording of you reading a text (please pick fiction, poetry, or narrative nonfiction) according to the specifications below. You may send your files via email at pressesrenaissancepress (at) gmail (dot) com or via wetransfer, OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Please do not send zip files as these will NOT be opened.
Once your sample is sent, please fill out the information form here: https://forms.gle/nC5Jod2TkPUrT3Mx9. Filling the form is mandatory.
What should my sample be like?
- 60-120 seconds
- Mp3 or WAV file
- Pick something expressive (i.e. poetry or fiction with dialogue) **If you are interested in reading for Ballet Is Not For Muslim Girls, please contact us at pressesrenaissancepress (at) gmail (dot) com and we will send you a specific text to read.
- Relatively free of pauses, false starts and hesitation
- Free of background noise and at a good volume
- Leave about two seconds of room tone at the beginning and at the end of your file
What we are looking for in your recordings
- How well you read, how engaging is your tone, and how you handle variations in tone/voices;
- How much editing we will have to do (are there many pauses, false starts, mouth noises, etc.)
- How well we can hear you, and if there is a lot of background noise or other quality issue that would prevent us from using the recordings
- Please note that some projects require people from certain backgrounds. Please see the “Projects” section below for more information.
Recording recommendations
- You do not have to have a professional-quality microphone, but if you do not, a good quality microphone or headset should be used. The built-in microphone in your laptop is usually not sufficient, though the recorder on your phone could do.
- Listen to your recording before sending it! Make sure it meets the requirements.
- Make sure to drink some water and try not to make mouth noises or to take large audible breaths. Also be conscious of the sound of turning pages or clicking buttons.
- Pick a small room (larger rooms tend to echo) and somewhere where there isn’t a lot of background noise. Make sure to close the windows.
- Record in the same environment you will be using for the recording of our audio books.
Projects
AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets
An anthology of poetry and essays from some of Canada’s most influential dub, page, and spoken word poetic voices and gives them space to speak freely about their personal journeys in piercing verse and unapologetic prose. (Read more about the publication here.)
For this publication, we aim to hire Black readers exclusively. We are also looking for a few voices who can read in French, for a limited number of pieces. Experience reading poetry or performing spoken word is preferable but not necessary.
Ballet is Not for Muslim Girls
A memoir about growing up Pakistani-Canadian in Victoria during the 1960s and 1970s. For this project, we are looking for a higher-register voice, ideally from the Pakistani diaspora, and we need someone who can pronounce Urdu.
Five fiction novels
We also have five novels: a cozy mystery with a lot of humour; a satire with strong themes of social justice and an ensemble cast; a near-future thriller/mystery; a queer urban paranormal romance; and a science-fiction epic set on a remote world which has to contend with its own climate change. We will be looking for all sorts of voices for these, among those, one who can pronounce French and/or speak with a French Canadian accent.
Questions? Concerns?
Please use our contact form or email pressesrenaissancepress (at) gmail (dot) com with any question and we will be happy to answer!
Funding for these project was graciously provided by the Canada Council for the Arts. We gratefully acknowledge their support.
Presses Renaissance Press 