It was crazy quiet in the booth. Scary quiet. No books in the queue. No client emails asking for availability. The kind of quiet that has weight to it — that oozes into corners and doesn’t leave. I have been a voice actor for thirty+ years. I have narrated more than 350 audiobooks. I have voiced campaigns for Mercedes-Benz, recorded audioguides for the Getty and MoMA, lent my voice to the Bundestag. I built a career across two continents and two languages. And somehow in the

A working narrator's notes on this month's audiobook industry news — Edison Research's 2026 listener survey, 9% sales growth, the YouTube shift, and what it all means for human performance. Every morning, the audiobook industry lands in my inbox. Once a month, I pick the stories that matter — and tell you why I think they do. These are my notes from the booth. Why do listeners choose audiobooks? Edison Research released its 2026 listener survey this month, and one number stan