Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package
Providing space for Creativity, Business Growth, and Camaraderie for Audiobook Professionals
While attending the Thriving Narrators Retreat in-person is an excellent experience, space limitations mean that not everyone is able to participate. For those who can't be there in person, we are offering the Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package.
Hosted by award-winning narrator and creative entrepreneurship coach Jennifer Jill Araya, the Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package includes hours of workshop and panel recordings that provide you with opportunities for honing your craft, expanding your business, and building relationships within the audiobook community.
The Retreat Replay Package offers access to video recordings of many of the workshops and discussion sessions that take place during the 2026 Thriving Narrators Retreat, as well as recordings of all of the retreat's large panel conversations.
Connect with Your Colleagues
The Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package also includes membership in the Thriving Artists Academy online community.
Just having access to video recordings and online courses isn't enough. You need a community where you can work through these ideas and figure out how to apply them in your own artistic career. That's where the Thriving Artists Academy comes in.
The 2026 Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package includes membership in the Thriving Artists Academy through the end of December 2027 (a $200+ value!), providing you a space where you can collaborate with your fellow narrator business owners to put these ideas into practice.
The video replays provide hours of focused learning opportunities, including workshops, seminars, and masterclasses, and the Thriving Artists Academy offers you the support and accountability you need to make these ideas your own.
Study the Business
Audiobook narration requires balancing the creative and business sides of your work, often a difficult task.
The Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package includes hours of video content to help guide you as you seek to build an audiobook business that works.
Thriving Narrators Retreat Presenters
Jennifer Jill Araya
Award-winning audiobook narrator Jennifer Jill Araya has been listening to audiobooks since she was a young child, and the fact that she now gets to narrate audiobooks for a living is a dream come true. A two-time Audie Award Winner, Earphones Award Recipient, multiple SOVAS Award Winner and Finalist, American Library Association YALSA Amazing Audiobooks Award Winner, and three-time Independent Audiobook Award Finalist, Jennifer has narrated over 500 audiobooks for a variety of publishers and producers, including Penguin Random House Audio, Simon & Schuster Audio, HarperAudio, Blackstone Publishing, and Audible Studios. In addition to narrating books in virtually every genre (and loving every second of it!), Jennifer also coaches other artist business owners, like herself, in creative entrepreneurship within her coaching community, Starving Artist No More. When she’s not narrating, Jennifer can be found hiking, biking, running, or generally exploring her home city of Cincinnati with her husband Arturo (aka “Partner in Crime”).
Vikas Adam
Vikas Adam is a highly sought after genre fluid narrator with over 500 audiobooks to his name. He's a multiple award winner with 25 Earphones, an Audie, a Voice Arts Award, and an inaugural inductee into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. He's faculty at the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television and founding faculty for narrator.life.
Arturo Araya
Arturo has always had dual – sometimes competing, sometimes collaborating – passions in both music and technology. After studying Cello Performance at Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music, and then performing as Principal Cellist of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in Shenzhen, PRC, Arturo's career took him to the technology sector, where he is currently a tech lead for Fifth Third Bank. Arturo still performs music as a tenured member of the Springfield Symphony, and he also nurtures a parallel vocation as audio engineer. He has engineered over 200 audiobooks, with multiple awards nominations. He is also part of the creative teams behind the Crafting Audiobooks and Starving Artist No More podcasts.
Andi Arndt
Andi Arndt is an acclaimed Audiobook Narrator known for her captivating voice and ability to bring stories to life. Hear her award-winning sound across genres, and find Andi in the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. Called "a remarkable narrator" by AudioFile Magazine, Andi is a favorite among listeners, authors, and publishers alike. Her work has earned 3 Audie Awards and 4 Audie Finalist Medallions, 6 AudioFile Earphones Awards, and she's twice been mentioned on AudioFile's list of the Best Voices of the Year.
Almeda Beynon
Almeda Beynon is an award–winning audiobook producer and Director of Audio Production at Sourcebooks Audio, where she leads in-house production across a wide range of genres. Beyond production, she is active in the audiobook community—advocating for creative excellence and collaboration between authors, narrators, and production teams. Almeda holds a master’s degree in sound design from Carnegie Mellon University and has worked across theatre, live events, and recorded audio. When she’s not making audiobooks, Almeda can be found crafting possum themed Mardi Gras throws, keeping the world whimsical for her toddler, and watching the sunset on the bayou.
Jesse Bickford
Jesse Bickford is the senior producer for Blackstone Publishing, and has been with the company for 17 years. She also moonlights as a narration coach under her company, Book Dragon Coaching. Working in the audiobook industry is a dream come true for Jesse, who is a lifelong lover of books and storytelling. When not audiobooking, Jesse can be found enjoying the offerings around Southern Oregon (so much delicious food and wine!), playing with her unmannerly but adorable dogs, creating elaborate obstacle courses for her tortoise, or just getting cozy with a good book.
Scott Brick
Scott Brick has recorded bestsellers and Pulitzer-Prize winners for every major publisher in every conceivable category, over 1100 titles, including JURASSIC PARK, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, IN COLD BLOOD, BLADERUNNER, and the entire DUNE saga. In addition to over 60 Earphones Awards and two Grammy nominations, he’s also received eight Audie Awards. Scott is both an AudioFile Magazine Golden Voice and an inaugural member of the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame, and his work has been profiled in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES and ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY has twice named him their Audiobook Narrator of the Year. In 2015 Scott began teaching the nation’s first fully-accredited university course in audiobook narration at UCLA.
Michele Cobb
Michele Cobb is a leading expert in the $2.2 billion North American audiobook industry, and over the past decade of digital transformation has been a sought-after speaker at more than 100 conferences in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. A partner at Forté Business Consulting, which specializes in strategic business development for the publishing industry, Michele has held executive leadership positions at five publishing industry associations. Formerly Publisher of AudioFile Magazine, Michele is now Enterprise Advertising Director for Kirkus reviews. Michele is also the publisher of independent audiobook company MMB Media and is Executive Producer of the award-winning Stories of Impact Podcast.
Steven Jay Cohen
Steven has been telling stories his whole life; professionally, since 1991. His guiding principle – in all things, serve the story – tends to make his approach bardic in nature, nurturing the magical moment kindled when words are shared mouth to ear. He studied acting with Uta Hagen and F. Murray Abraham, honed his writing while mentored by Allen Ginsberg and Frank McCourt, and learned the intricacies of recording spoken stories under the direction of Isaiah Sheffer at Symphony Space. A bit of a literary magpie, Steven weaves together these diverse influences and experiences, revealing captivating narratives, awakening audiences to new worlds and points of view.
Khai Dattoli
Khai Dattoli has been an audiobook casting director for the past decade. She's cast projects for the major publishing companies, including Scholastic, HarperCollins, Recorded Books, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette while working with Deyan Audio, the largest audiobook production company on the West Coast. In 2023 she accepted a casting director position with Podium Entertainment, the fastest growing digital-first publisher in North America, where she enjoys working with the leading authors in Genre Fiction and trending Non-Fiction. Favorite projects she's worked on are the "SlappyWorld" series by R.L. Stine, the Randy Savage biography "Macho Man," and the "Dungeon Life" series in the growing sub-genre of LitRPG.
Suzanne Elise Freeman
Suzanne is an Audie Award-winning narrator of over 500 titles for every major publisher, for authors including James Patterson, Justin Cronin and Liv Constantine. Her history as an award-winning broadcast journalist with an inquisitive nature led her to create and host the APA webcast “The Talkback” — with over 75 episodes and counting — and to becoming a regular speaker on the nationwide conference circuit about all things audiobooks. In addition, her background as a contestant on The Bachelor presented her with the unique opportunity to create a niche within the audiobook industry, becoming the go-to narrator for nonfiction titles about reality television such as MOST DRAMATIC EVER: THE HISTORY OF THE BACHELOR and THIS FAR, the harrowing autobiography of a dancer who made her name on So You Think You Can Dance. To quote Ted Lasso, she is curious, not judgmental. She also strives to be a goldfish, and is 100% a lion, not a panda.
Ashley Johnson
Ashley Jay (she/her) is an audiobook producer and director who has worn many hats (and headphones) in the audiobook world since 2022. After nearly a decade in radio with iHeartMedia and Disney ABC Television Group, she pivoted into audiobooks and now produces, directs, and engineers nearly a hundred projects a year as a contractor with Macmillan Audio. She's worked on several Audie-nominated and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning projects, Spotify picks, and a New York Times Audio Bestseller. She works across genres but finds her greatest passion in fiction and nonfiction told by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors and narrators. Ashley has worked with high profile talent including Colin Kaepernick, Brooke Shields, Kenan Thompson, Ziwe, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ibram X. Kendi, Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin, Marin Ireland, and Julia Whelan.
Jessica Kaye
Publishing and entertainment lawyer Jessica Kaye has produced/directed multiple Grammy Award-winning audiobooks. She has served on the boards of Audio Publishers Association, Mystery Writers of America and is on the board of Screamfest Film Festival. Jessica co-owns audiobook production company Curated Audio LLC and owns audiobook distribution company Big Happy Family. She authored THE GUIDE TO PUBLISHING AUDIOBOOKS (Writers Digest Books, 2019), created MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER (anthology, BloomsburyUSA, 2005) and contributed to CULPRITS (Datura, 2024) and OCCUPIED EARTH (Polis Books, 2015). CULPRITS is a limited series for DISNEY+, streaming on Hulu in the US.
Kat Littrell
Kat Littrell is a Knight-Thompson Speechwork trained dialect coach, and an experienced actor and audiobook narrator. She loves nothing more than geeking about voice and speech. Kat has an internationally trained ear, and has studied and worked across Australia, the US and the UK. She is part of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music as an adjunct faculty member in the Acting and Voice Departments. She is also currently completing her MFA in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Carol Monda
Carol began her audiobook career in 1998, and has worked for nearly every major publisher since. She has taught Acting, VO, Audiobook Narration and Voice and Speech. Her past teaching credits include the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, NYU Digital Design and Film School, Roundhouse Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, The Theatre Lab and The Voice Shop NYC. She has also coached, presented and paneled at VO Atlanta, VO Mastery, New Orleans Romance Conference, The New England Narrator Retreat, Audiobookin’ in Andover and Audiobooks at Sea. Carol has been a professional union actor since 1988 and has appeared on such stages as The Kennedy Center, Ford’s Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company, Roundhouse Theatre Olney Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Charles Playhouse in Boston, and New York City’s Manhattan Theatre Club, The Houseman, Ensemble Studio Theatre, American Opera Projects and Emerging Artists Theatre Company, among others. Carol brings big ears to her coaching practice, both privately and at workshops. This retreat will be her first, and she’s very excited to hear all of you!
Soneela Nankani
Soneela has been a book nerd for as long as she can remember. Add to that her multicultural upbringing, her extensive travels and her MFA in Acting from Columbia and it’s no wonder she’s now an award-winning narrator with over 500 titles, a deep love of storytelling and a facility with languages and dialects. Over her 15-year narrating career, her audiobooks have been featured in Best Audiobooks lists by The New York Times, AudioFile Magazine, Audible and The Washington Post and she has been awarded AudioFile magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. She is also a doting mom of 2, a novice knitter, an avid tennis player and a member of PANA, APA and SAG-AFTRA.
Mandi Ogle
Mandi Ogle is an award-winning audiobook producer and director at HarperCollins Publishers. She has produced titles in nearly every genre, including the multicast production of The Last Dream by Pedro Almodovar, Kelsey Grammer's heartbreaking memoir, Karen: A Brother Remembers, and children's titles including Clydeo Takes a Bite out of Life by Jennifer Aniston. One of Mandi's passions is directing memoirs and children's books. She has also produced audiobooks by renowned HarperCollins authors including Zora Neale Hurston, Shel Silverstein, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Elmore Leonard. Mandi has built strong relationships with colleagues across the audiobook industry and served as both a panelist and co-chair at the Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC). Before working at HarperCollins, Mandi was a production coordinator at Penguin Random House Audio and an independent producer and narrator.
Shannon Parks
Shannon Parks (aka Marguerite Gavin) has been a professional audiobook narrator, actor, and performance coach for over 20 years with over 600 titles, numerous Audie nominations and Earphones awards, and a devoted fan following. She is also a seasoned theater veteran, acting and directing and hundreds of professional productions. A highly respected acting teacher and narration performance coach, she was on the graduate Acting faculty at Catholic University of America, directed children of all ages in Shakespeare for many years, and now coaches narrators in the art of acting the audiobook She is the lucky mom of two grown children, and is blessed to live at the Delaware beach, where she can usually be found in her recording booth, at the theater, or playing by the sea.
Jonathan Pennock
Jonathan Pennock is an award-winning Audiobook Producer and Director for Brilliance Publishing with over 10 years of experience across all levels of production. Starting out as an engineer recording some of the top voices in the industry, Jonathan grew to love the process and was determined to get more involved with directing, casting, and production. He has worked with a wide range of talent from novice to celebrity, and has experience coaching and directing authors for narration. He has a passion for collaborating with authors and performers to help tell the best possible story in audio. When he’s not absorbed in a gritty Southern Gothic, he loves spending time with his wife, 2 dogs, and his distressing hockey teams.
Melanie Schmidt
Melanie Schmidt is a Senior Producer with Hachette Audio. She began directing audiobooks in 2017, and joined the Hachette Audio team as a producer in 2022. She works across genres, and specializes in complex multicasts. She has worked with numerous high-profile authors and narrators, including Neko Case, Mark Ronson, Peter Wolf, Donna Tartt, Joshua Jackson, Aja Naomi King, Chris Pine, and Reese Witherspoon.
Megan Tusing
Megan is an award-winning audiobook narrator, producer and coach raised in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, now based in Brooklyn. She has recorded over 400 audiobooks with such publishers as Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Harper Collins, and Macmillan, as well as indie authors. She is also the owner of the audio production company, Little But Fierce Productions®. She has numerous credits in stage, film, and television and is a proud Theatre alumni of James Madison University. When not on stage or in the booth, she can be found knitting or in the company of good friends.
The Details
Recordings & Content:
The Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package includes video recordings of all large panel conversations that take place during the 2026 Thriving Narrators Retreat, which is scheduled for August 27-30, 2026.
The Replay Package also includes video recordings of many of the workshops and session conversations from the retreat. (Some workshops / sessions are formatted in such a way that they will not transfer appropriately to a video recording format, and those sessions will not be included in the replay package.)
Workshop topics that will be part of the replay package include:
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Diversifying Your Income
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Creating Your Audiobook Community
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A Casting Director's Guide to Demos and Auditions
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World-Building with Accents
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Online Marketing for Audiobook Narrators
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Demystifying Audiobook Post-Production
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Taking Your Business to the Next Level
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What Narrators Need to Know About Working with Publishers
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Reach-Outs: The Humans Behind the Emails
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Pay Yourself First: Managing Your Business Finances
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Character Differentiation Workshop
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Ask for What You Need: Clear Communication in the Audiobook Industry
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The Craft of Audiobook Narration
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Handling Feedback
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and so many more!
Recording Availability:
The recordings for the 2026 Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package will be available for viewing no later than September 30, 2026. Purchasers will have access to the replay recordings until December 31, 2029.
Thriving Artists Academy Membership:
The 2026 Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package includes membership in the Thriving Artists Academy, from the time of purchase through December 31, 2027. The Thriving Artists Academy includes weekly Book Club meetings and monthly Academy Classes and Academy Chat group coaching conversations. Academy membership also provides access to hundreds of hours of past classes, workshops, and book club meetings. For more information about the Thriving Artists Academy, click here.
Retreat Presenters:
The Thriving Narrators Retreat Presenters are an accomplished group of audiobook narrators, coaches, and casting professionals. We are all excited to share our time and expertise with you!
The Presenters for 2026 include Jennifer Jill Araya, Vikas Adam, Arturo Araya, Andi Arndt, Almeda Beynon, Jesse Bickford, Scott Brick, Michele Cobb, Steven Jay Cohen, Khai Datolli, Suzanne Elise Freeman, Ashley Johnson, Jessica Kaye, Kat Littrell, Soneela Nankani, Mandi Ogle, Shannon Parks, Jonathan Pennock, Melanie Schmidt, and Megan Tusing.
Retreat Replay Package Cost:
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$447 - if purchased on or before August 26, 2026
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$597 - if purchased on or after August 27, 2026
Cancellation & Refund Policy: Due to the nature of replay access, the Thriving Narrators Retreat Replay Package is non-refundable. Replays are a free extra for registered attendees at the Thriving Narrators Retreat, and replay recordings are sold "as is." We make a best effort to record the sessions with the highest audio and video quality possible, but the nature of live events means that unexpected mishaps may occur. The Replay Package includes video recordings of most, but not all, of the workshops and session conversations from the in-person Thriving Narrators Retreat, and it includes video recordings of all of the retreat's large panel discussions. The content of the Replay Package is for purchasers' personal educational use only and may not be shared or distributed in any way. All rights reserved.
