BOUNTIFUL—Ever wonder who the voice is reading that book on Audible? It might be Janae Hoggins, a former Bountiful woman who does voice-overs in a variety of book genres.

“I set up a profile on ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange),” said Hoggins. “You add samples and audition for the author. You read it and record it and submit it to the author to show them what you’ll do with their book. It can be your regular voice or for sci-fi you might do different voices for each character. What they hear can make them decide whether you can do it or not.”

Hoggins started out acting when she was 5 years old. “My mom asked my brother if he wanted to try out to be a lost boy,” she said. “I told her I wanted to try so she started looking for something for a 5-year-old girl. She misread an audition in the paper and took me to the audition but there was no part for a 5-year-old girl. The director let me audition and he loved me so he added a part for a daughter. The acting bug bit me.”

She got her undergrad in theater studies. “I had an agent all through college,” said Hoggins. “But when I had my daughter I stopped acting to raise her. I was a single mom and needed to take care of her.”

Now she’s grown up and on her own, Hoggins said. “So I got back into it. I didn’t know what to do after 20 years, things had changed. I got on Facebook groups about acting, auditioning, YouTube and indie films.”

Then in 2020 the pandemic hit, she said. “I thought, ‘what can I still be doing?’ I thought about voice-over. More at the last of 2020 and into 2021 I found it and I’ve been doing it ever since. It’s been way fun.”

It’s not just reading though, Hoggins said. “I have to set up a microphone and I might have to do sound treatment so the sound doesn’t bounce around. I use DAW software to edit it and if I make a mistake I can say the sentence again and leave what is correct.”

It takes a lot of time, she said. “I have a little voice-over studio. I almost have to learn the technical side of it. It’s a learning curve for me. If the author approves it ACX goes through the technical requirements then it goes on Amazon.”

Her favorite books so far are science fiction, she said. “I really enjoy it. The voices are hard though because they make up words that are not said in the English language. You can send a voice message to the author on how to say the word but it slows down the process.”

Hoggins said she’d love to do a children’s book. “It’s simpler language but I like doing different voices.”

While getting her theater degree she took a class on different accents. “We learned something then we had to perform it in that accent,” she said. “It was crazy hard but crazy fun. I’m getting down a German accent and Cockney and I can do a few more now. If the author doesn’t give you any direction you can do anything you want to try.”

In addition to voice overs, Hoggins has been back into acting. “I’ve done five community theater shows,” she said. “Seussical was a blast. I’ve done a Hallmark Christmas movie that will be coming out and I just got asked to do a southern accent for an indie movie. I’m trying for anything I can possibly get.”

Theater takes a lot of energy but man is it fun, Hoggins said. “I love it, love it, love it.”