Read Time: 4 Minutes
It’s safe to say that Graham Mack knows a thing or two getting people to listen to him. With over 25 years working in broadcasting, he’s a familiar voice you may have listened to any time of the day during breakfast, day, or drive-time on BBC or commercial radio stations. When he’s not chatting with celebrities on the radio or his podcast, he’s narrating audiobooks of any subject under the sun. With a smooth voice honed over a quarter-century on air, you know you’re in good hands if he’s the voice of your book.
M: Graham, with close to 100 audiobooks to your name in a little over a year, you must be one of the hardest working narrators in the business! With so many great choices out there to choose from, what do you find yourself most drawn to? Are there any particular genres you’re fond of narrating?
G: I like to have a go at everything, so don’t have a favourite genre. I’ve done fantasy, sci-fi, thrillers, poetry, biographies, no-fiction, you name it, I’ll narrate it. I’ve done whole books in American, Scottish, Irish and almost every British accent. I’ve even done romance books where I play the male AND the female lovers and effectively end up making out with myself!
M: What do you enjoy the most about narrating audiobooks?
G: The freedom to manage my time on my own schedule. If I get tired, I have a nap, if I want a change of pace, I walk to the shops. If I want a day off, I have a day off. As long as I hit all the deadlines, I can work or not work whenever I want. You can’t do that in a normal job.
M: On the flip side of that question, what’s your least enjoyable part?
D: Getting ripped off by scammers who claim to be the legitimate rights holders. It hasn’t happened to me for a while, but it’s never nice. There are so many titles “accepting auditions” right now on ACX that are fake, maybe even hundreds. Usually they are royalty share deals that have been listed by people who do not own the rights. I’ve been caught out by a couple of those which means you do hours of work, the audiobook gets published then the rights holder finds out and the audiobook gets pulled and you get nothing.
M: What is something authors can do to help narrators deliver the best possible final product?
G: Be really clear about what they want. One author got me to record sample audio for each character and send it to her for approval before I started. That worked out great because she knew exactly how each one would sound before I even started, and I wasn’t second-guessing if I’ve got each accent and character’s vibe right as I went along.
M: When you are narrating, how does a typical day go by for you?
D: I get up at 7am, do an audition then start work on the audiobooks I’m working on. I have up to eight on the go at a time but four is a good number to work with. I’ll do at least one chapter of each, starting with the one with the closest deadline. If that deadline gets closer, I’ll do more chapters on that one than the others. I break for lunch for about half an hour, then keep going until 6pm.
M: When you have finished for the day, how do you like to unwind?
G: I watch a lot of rubbish on YouTube, and if Liverpool (soccer) are on TV, I’ll watch the games live. I’ve been a fan all my life but don’t get to many matches these days. However, I managed to get to the away game on Saturday, and we won 5-0!
M: For a complete change of pace – do you have any pets?
G: My wife and I have two rescued cats, Memphis and Toffee Pop. They keep me company all day (if you can call being ignored company). They both like to check out what’s going on in the recording booth and Toffee Pop likes to sleep on top of it.
M: Final question. Where can people find you or get in touch, and is there anything you want to add or promote?
G: You can find everything you need, including clips from my radio shows, links to audiobooks and interviews with authors I work with at www.GrahamMack.com.
You can find all works narrated by Graham Mack on Audible and Amazon. If you enjoyed something narrated by Graham, be sure to mention that in a review! Reviews help other people like you find the right book. Narrators appreciate the feedback too!
You can follow Graham on Twitter.