Marnye, tell us about your business.
I am an audiobook narrator. I'm currently working on:
How did you get started in this business?
When my identical twins were born 9 weeks early I knew that I did not want to leave them. I wanted a job that would allow me to stay home with them and when a friend told me I had a great voice for audiobooks and should think about setting up a home studio, I jumped at the chance.
As a Yale MFA grad and SAG AFTRA voice, stage, and screen actor, I could literally eat my cake and have it too. I had done one audiobook about 7 years prior and fell in love with it. Not only did I get to voice all of these different people but I could wear sweat pants and a tshirt doing it. I would be with my twins during the day and record at night.My friend was an invaluable resource in learning the ins and outs of the audiobook world and continues to be. The rest I just winged. Seriously. If I didn’t know something I would ask a veteran narrator or just google it. I put my profile on Amazon’s ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), threw up a few samples of different genres and different accents, and started auditioning. I landed my first book within a week and the rest is history.
What's your biggest challenge as a small business owner?
Competition. Yes I did say that. I think the market is flooded with narrators right now especially female narrators and the challenge is how do I set myself apart from them. In my opinion there is not enough work to go around and I know that in some situations authors have listened to 60 different narrators and sometimes more. Much like acting LOL! I just moved from one extremely competitive business to another. To a lesser degree but also a challenge: how can I do the work I want to do but still manage to provide another income for my family.
Share a story with us about a specific moment in your business that changed you, or made a difference somehow in what you do?
The Game Changer for me was when I auditioned for a gritty southern romance by USA Today Bestselling author M. Robinson at the very start of my career. I ended up getting the book and that birthed the beginning of a beautiful friendship and business relationship. I didn’t realize I was actually auditioning for a producer with an agency called Silverton Agency. He liked my work so much that he took me on as one of his narrators. Here I was two books in I think (both ended up being bestsellers) and I was already recording for a USA Today bestselling author. I couldn’t believe my luck. Silverton Agency remains one of my strongest business relationships while I have simultaneously developed my expanding client base.
Connect with Marnye on the web:
Marnye Young - website
Marnye Young, Narrator - Facebook
Marnye Young - ACX (includes samples)
About the Entrepreneur:
Marnye Young is an award winning narrator for NY Times and USA Today bestselling authors. She is a Yale MFA grad SAG-AFTRA voice stage and screen actor who has spent her life in the South, Midwest and North. She has been reviewed for her impeccable comic timing as well as her ability to make you cry and do accents. When she isn’t narrating she's writing a comical blog about her identical twins, fishing, following NASCAR, volunteering (CRIS radio and TIC) , running a small playreading group in NYC and of course “mom”ing. Her favorite literary character is Sherlock Holmes.
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