An inside look at the recording booth — for writers who want their words to survive it.

AUDIENCE

Authors, writing groups, libraries, conferences

FORMAT

Zoom or in person

LENGTH

60-90 min with Q&A

What happens in the booth stays in the booth — unless you hear this first.

This isn't a lecture about the audiobook industry. It's craft advice from someone who has written professionally for thirty years and now narrates the work of others — which means she has sat on both sides of the table, and has the scars to prove it.

Dena Kouremetis walks authors through the specific choices that make a manuscript a pleasure to perform, and the common mistakes that quietly drive narrators to despair.

WHAT ATTENDEES WALK AWAY WITH

Practical tools to use before the next handoff.

01‍ ‍Dialogue attribution — what to fix before you hand off your manuscript

02‍ ‍Sentence rhythm as breathing instructions, not grammar

03‍ ‍RS vs. PFH pricing — what each model means for your budget and your narrator

04 ‍ ‍Hiring through ACX — the process, the expectations, the surprises

05‍ ‍Sample approval — why micromanaging after that hurts the final product

06‍ ‍Pronunciation guide template your narrator will actually use

07‍ ‍The Hall of Shame — numbers, floating dialogue, unpronounceable names

08‍ ‍Pre-submission checklist for fiction and non-fiction, before every handoff

ABOUT DENA KOUREMETIS

Thirty years as a working writer — Forbes, the Sacramento Bee, Psychology Today, hundreds of bylined articles and ghostwritten books. In 2023 she added audiobook narration and voice acting, and became one of the only people in the room with a foot planted firmly on both sides of the microphone.

"Because I sit on both sides of the microphone, what I'm about to impart to you isn't theory — it's more like scar tissue."

Based in the Sacramento area. Available via zoom and in person

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

“She reminded us that people are listeners.”

Mary Beth Defer

California Writers Club

“She certainly knows her stuff!”

Rebecca Inch-Partridge

Author & OLLI Writing Instructor

“Trusted, informed and highly recommended.”

James L'Etoile

Award-winning author, Writers Coffeehouse

Bring this talk to your group.

Available to writing groups, author organizations, libraries, and literary conferences — via Zoom or in person. Please include your group's name, size, and preferred format.