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Like many people during the pandemic, I joined TikTok. Although I mainly use my own account to post information about my Corgis, I have found myself in several sub-communities within the app. My FYP page (for you) looks like an eclectic shelf at an antique road show, from shearing sheep to organizing the kitchen to cosplaying. But between horse shrines and bead making, I started noticing the appearance of audiobook narrators. Naturally, as soon as I followed a narrator, an avalanche of audiobook narrators swept through the app, completely immersing me in all things audiobook.
Being a video-based format, TikTok gives audiobook narrators a whole new set of tools at their disposal. I can hang out with Natalie Naudus live while she records, or I can listen to Kelsey Navarro’s latest set of edits. And don’t even get me started on all the TikToks that cross my feed when audiobook narrators get together — content gold.
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As someone who’s spent my whole life listening to audiobook narrators, I’ve never really gotten to see behind the scenes, and TikTok is giving me a new way to interact with my favorite narrators. I also discovered new narrators for me who made me discover novels that I would never have chosen otherwise.
While audiobook narrators have always been superstars in my mind, seeing them get so much love on TikTok makes my audiobook loving heart so happy. If you want to fall down your own storytelling rabbit hole on TikTok, here are some of my favorite accounts to get you started!
Kelsey Navarro (@kelseydnavarro)
Kelsey Navarro’s TikTok of her corrections for her latest audiobook served as a gateway to all TikTok audiobook narrators. She also has an amazing TikTok of using her customer service voice to narrate a spicy scene — perfection.
Navarro narrated Olivia Dade’s All the Feels, Avery Flynn’s Loud Mouth, Beth McMullen’s Mrs Smith’s Spy School for Girls, and more.
Cindy Kay (@cindykayvo)
Cindy Kay’s TikTok asks the important questions, like, after telling so many perfect dialogues, how are we supposed to speak normally? Plus, his fat bloopers are EVERYTHING.
Kay narrated The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn, Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada (translated by Margaret Mitsutani), These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong, and more.
Michelle Lee (@michelleleevo)
In addition to her long line of voiceover credits, Michelle Lee gives her followers her latest storytelling journeys and a glimpse into her daily life. She once did a TikTok asking her followers to see if they could say, “I came to an abandoned encampment.” I definitely failed that one.
Lee narrated June Hur’s The Red Palace, Mr. Dalto’s Mark of the Empress, Taryn Tyler’s Snow Roses, and more.
Chelsea Stephens (@narratorchelsea)
I found Chelsea through her video of the check-in process. Although I’m the main audience on TikToks like these, I especially loved how she took us behind the scenes of everything she does before she actually walked into the recording booth.
Stephens has narrated Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius by Angeline Stoll Lillard, To Bleed a Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker, and more.
Natalie Naudus (@NatalieNaudus)
Natalie Naudus is hands down one of my all-time favorite storytellers, so when I found her on TikTok, I screamed into my phone, startling my Corgi from her well-deserved nap. Because not only does she perform amazing audiobooks, but she creates amazing TikToks on the moon. Moreover, its installed recording booth is the dream.
Naudus Narrated Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen, Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, and more.
Ronnie Butler Jr (@ronniebutlerjr)
Also known as Ron Butler, Ronnie Butler Jr.’s most famous TikTok is his rewrite of a spicy scene from a romance novel he narrates. He’s fairly new to TikTok, but has already caused a stir.
Butler narrated Peng Shepherd’s The Cartographers, How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? by NK Jemisin, Rebound by Kwame Alexander, etc.
Heath Miller (@vheathmiller)
In 2022 alone, I’ve spent at least three days of my time listening to Heath Miller narrate the He Who Fights with Monsters series. So before I even saw him, I heard his voice and I said to myself, it’s Heath Miller on TikTok! I don’t know what it’s like to watch storytellers having fun in the recording studio, but it’s great content.
Miller recounted Above the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker, The One Who Fights Monsters: A LitRPG Adventure by Shirtaloon, Osmo Unknown and the Eightpenny Woods by Catherine M. Valente, and more.
Rob Brinkmann (@readbyrob)
Brinkmann’s voice is a joy to listen to, which makes for great TikToks. He creates a lot of content around his vocal warm-ups.
Examples of Brinkmann’s work include Kyle West’s The Mages of Starsea, Corey McCullough’s The Fallen Odyssey, Marc Daniel’s The Girl Who Went Nowhere, and more.
Travis Baldree (@travisbaldree)
In addition to telling fantasy novels, Baldree also writes his own! I love seeing behind the scenes from a narrator who also knows what it’s like to write.
In addition to his own book Legends & LattesBaldree narrated David North’s Battlefield Reclaimer, Zogarth’s The Primal Hunter, JR Mathews’ Jake’s Magical Market and more.
Kimberly M. Wetherell (@voxkimberly)
I love Wetherell’s glossy black booth and her sassy TikToks on literary shame where she reads ridiculous passages of men writing female characters. She also gives a shout out to other women in the bookish world.
Wetherell narrated The Kingless Crown by Sarah M. Cradit, Unseen City by Amy Shearn, Love Is a Rebellious Bird by Elayne Klasson, and more.
I wish you good leads as you head down your own delightful rabbit hole of audiobook narrators (thanks, freakishly accurate algorithm). If you want to see even more audiobooks from some of my favorite storytellers, check out 8 Audiobooks Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White, 8 Audiobooks Narrated by Natalie Naudus, and 8 Audiobooks Narrated by Adjoa Andoh.
