Suzanne Elise Freeman
Winner of the 2023 Audie Award for Science Fiction with fellow winner, and husband, Scott Brick.
DOSSIER: Regarding your process for delivering exceptional quality in your audiobook narration, how many times do you read through the book and how much book/author research do you do before you hit that record button?
AN: It depends – if the book is part of a series, I’ll read it once quickly to see if there are any major departures, new characters I should know about, new accents, etc. If it’s not and/or it’s a bigger book (for me), I’ll do the quick once-over to get an idea of the plot, then do a deeper dive to learn the characters a bit better and to see if there’s any research I need to do (or hire someone to do).
Shhh… don’t tell anyone, but when it’s a mystery I skip to the end to see whodunnit. When it’s a romance, I skip to the end to see if they make it (they always do). Knowing the ending helps inform the rest of my storytelling, and I need to make sure the character who did the deed (whichever deed) isn’t obvious from the jump.
Ride that creepy voice
DOSSIER: Although you skillfully craft your narration around your interpretation of each book character, do you have a particular style you save for certain kinds of books or specific authors you work with on a regular basis?
FREEMAN: I tailor my narration around the characters and scenes. If it’s a thriller, there are going to be action and fight scenes, and my narration should increase the tension for the listener. When I narrated the Five Nights at Freddy’s books, there were a lot of really – realllly – creepy scenes, and I had to let that creepiness into my voice and narration so listeners were on the ride with me.
Call me …
DOSSIER: Can authors request that you narrate their book? How would that work?
FREEMAN: Yes! You can request me either through your publisher (if you have approval in your agreement), or (for independent authors) reach out to me directly. My indie authors usually reach out because they see books I’ve narrated in a similar genre to theirs (like the Doc Savage series by James Patterson or the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, for instance). Independent authors can reach out to me directly through my website, suzannefreemanvoice.com, and we can discuss the process from there. I love my indie authors!
Easy for you to say
DOSSIER: What’s the biggest mistake you made in recording an audiobook and how did that work out with the author, producer, and/or audience?
FREEMAN: I wouldn’t say it was a mistake necessarily, but I was hired to narrate a book that was a spin-off of another series. I asked all the usual questions – pronunciations for unusual names or words (the book took place in the post-magical-apocalypse south), any specific character details, etc. It’s never great to take over for another narrator – which I didn’t realize I was doing at the time – but in this case fans were enraged that I pronounced things differently from the other narrator and made different character choices than the other actor. It got to the point where I offered to re-record the book for free and got in touch with the prior narrator to see if I could get all their research and vocal references. The author told me not to worry about it, and even made a blog post on their site telling fans to lay off my narration because, as it turns out, I was pronouncing everything the way it was supposed to be pronounced.
The lesson is to always look up authors to see whether the material I’m narrating is influenced by previous books or series. If I can’t determine that from research, I ask!
These things are key
DOSSIER: When are you at your best in the booth? Morning, afternoon, or night? Do you have a particular routine, requirement, or practice that helps you operate at the top of your game?
FREEMAN: I’m best midday. I’m the opposite of an early bird – sleep is often difficult to come by for me, so if I can sleep in that’s what I need to do. Too late in the day and my near-constant dehydration comes into play and I can’t give my best performance. That doesn’t mean I haven’t worked until the wee hours, but it’s best if I can work earlier. Starting between 11 am-noon is my sweet spot.
Hydration is the biggest key for me. Second is being focused on my work. I’m easily distracted, so when I find my mind wandering while narrating, I stop recording, close my eyes and tune out all the distractions. Most often that’s best achieved by leaving my phone out of the booth. I use it frequently to look up pronunciations and references, but if I need to focus (and ignore whatever I find on my phone’s lock screen) I’ll use my geriatric laptop for that.
Big tip for writers
DOSSIER: Bonus question: What’s the biggest message writers (or listeners) need to hear from audiobook narrators about the whole audiobook process that would help you produce the best possible rendition?
FREEMAN: In what I’m pretty sure will be a repeat from other narrators: read your words aloud! If it’s hard for you to say, it’ll be hard for us to say. English speakers use contractions – without them we sound stiff and unnatural. That style can definitely work for some books and characters, but for a natural and conversational read, use contractions, we beg you.
Also, if you read every word out loud you’ll see any typos and/or missing words. If there are none, great! When we’re copy editing on the fly, or are trying to interpret what you’re trying to say from an unedited sentence or section, that interrupts any flow we might have had and will affect the performance. Help us give you our best performances by giving your best to us.
Discover more about Scott on Instagram | Suzanne Elise Freeman