A storyline of success

Audiobooks are enjoying a blockbuster storyline with explosive growth, especially in the first quarter of 2020, according to a report. During the period, listeners tuned in to an average of 5.6 audiobooks, more than half of the total for last year, according to the report by podcast app Himalaya FM and Xinhua News Agency. Some of the most popular audiobooks, such as the classic novel titled Life by Lu Yao, have been listened to more than 100 million times.

According to another podcast app, Qingting FM, more than 5,000 voice performers have been signed up to read audiobooks.

Some are experienced professionals, but others, like Li Shijin, are people seeking new horizons.

Li, 30, didn't expect to make a living through his voice. A company salesman in Northeast China's Liaoning province, he tried to challenge himself by finding a part-time job as a wedding host to bolster his confidence.

Around Spring Festival in 2014 he had a bit of time on his hands and started listening to audiobooks. After being an avid listener for two years, he decided to give it a try and recorded himself reading books.

He did this for three months. Then, under the online name Shijin, he posted his first audiobook Youth Will Not Return on the online audio platform Qingting in 2016. It was listened to about 20 million times.

A year later, after he had read three audiobooks, he was signed up as a voice performer for Qingting. The platform then recommended books for Li to read. To improve his performance, Li attended a training course at Communication University of China to learn dubbing and how to write a play in 2018.

To date, he has completed nearly 30 works, including audiobooks and radio dramas on the platform.

His income from audiobooks reached 2 million yuan ($282,000) last year.

According to a Qingting listener with the nickname Lynnshi'er987, "Shijin has a good voice, and his reading can quickly take me to the story and make me imagine the scenes."

On the road to success, Li invested much time and effort, practiced repeated reading and conquered the tiredness and boredom.

"Without accumulated practice, one's reading can be littered with problems," he explains, adding that he also tutored some people who wanted to read audiobooks, but many of them gave up halfway because they couldn't bear the monotony.

Moreover, he was under pressure when he was signed by Qingting. "At that time the platform only signed four people for one year to see if we would perform well, and the other three exceeded me a lot in terms of the number of fans, audiobooks and click rates. But I didn't admit defeat," recalls Li. "I worked so hard to read audiobooks and sharpen my ability that I didn't sleep for more than five hours a day during that year. I had better results the following year."

He admits it is a fiercely competitive market and he knows many people who tried to get a foothold but failed.

He says he was fortunate to have an opportunity when the market was growing. "Many people have good qualities, and many work very hard, but not everyone can get a good opportunity. Luckily I got it," Li says.

According to a report released in December by iiMedia Research, a Chinese market consultancy firm, audiobooks help listeners to better use their scattered downtime. The market could hit 8 billion yuan in China in 2020, compared to 2.37 billion yuan in 2016, and the number of audiobook listeners will hit 562 million this year.

Dubbing hobbyist

Different from Li, who entered the audio market on a whim, Bian Ying, another voice performer in her 40s from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, was smitten by the sector early on. Over a dozen years ago, before audiobooks were popular, she formed a group of friends online who shared her passion and practiced dubbing TV series and movies with them.

"Nine years ago, I learned that I could read books and earn money on audio website tingbook.com. I enjoyed reading them very much. It felt like I'm the sole performer in a grand drama where I play all the roles," says Bian, who later used online name Lanyu to perform audiobooks that are available on many platforms, such as ting55.com.

Her hobby has become so successful that in 2012, she quit her job in the clothing business, and signed up with Qingting to be a professional voice performer.

So far, she has read over 300 audiobooks. One of them, Housewives Are Also Crazy, was listened to more than 420 million times. Listeners on Himalaya praised her as "having a good voice", "showing emotions well" and "being good at displaying different characters".

After nearly a decade, Bian remains passionate about her work.

"Doing something I really like keeps me going. From dubbing films to reading audiobooks, I have always been enthusiastic and immersive. Sometimes I immersed myself so deeply into the story that I found it hard to withdraw after I finished the work."

Family support is also important for Bian. "My family, especially my husband, have been very supportive. They know I truly like it," she says. "Sometimes when I was so preoccupied in the story that I forgot to do household chores, my husband just did the chores without complaint."

Over the years, Bian has witnessed changes in the industry. "At the beginning, it was mainly biographies, but now the audio market caters to different and widespread tastes," she says.

Contents vary

Yu Datou, previously a senior executive, is a podcast host.

The talkative 40-year-old once impressed his friend, a cultural company owner, when they discussed hot social issues. He was persuaded by the friend to run a podcast in 2018.

As a businessman, he realized that merchants were generally regarded by many people unfairly as "profiteers". Many merchants, as he knew, were honest and hardworking people who contributed to society.

"I wanted to be a voice for the group, to help people know more about them. Besides, it is an era of business startups, so I decided to open a program to tell stories of entrepreneurs in China, providing a reference to those who want to start a business," says Yu.

"We try to keep a relatively positive standpoint, to salute the successful entrepreneurs, to understand and sympathize with the unsuccessful ones, instead of lavishing praise or demeaning someone, and to show the humanity and emotions behind commerce."

Sina Weibo user Liangshuang Xiaofengle was impressed by the personality of Tao Huabi, founder of the Lao Gan Ma chili sauce brand, and Ren Zhengfei, founder of telecom giant Huawei, after listening to Yu's podcast. The comment reads: "They both experienced many setbacks in their early lives, but developed their business step by step with patience, trying to make their products as top-quality as possible. They seem to stick to something like craftsmanship all their life, being neither conceited nor rash, and that gave me a lesson."

Yu's podcast was named Datou Kanren, meaning "Yu talking about people". The first episode was released in 2018 in which he talked about the story of Chinese internet company LeEco's founder, Jia Yueting. Now he posts four free episodes every week and each lasts for 40 to 70 minutes.

Many people are impressed by Yu's storytelling. According to Silent Wind, a user on Jianshu, a creative writing social media platform, "Yu's storytelling is attractive since he clarifies the entrepreneurs' experience from their birth to their success, with his vision and humor. I learned that the business giants met with difficulties and were as confused and helpless as us ordinary people. He urges us to consider what success is and shows us what qualities enable them to succeed."

After a year, Yu resigned from his job to devote more time to his podcasts. His audio career developed rapidly. He was chosen as the most popular voice anchor at Qingting in 2018, and 300 days after he started, his programs have been listened to over 100 million times.

The podcast was originally available on many platforms, including Himalaya, but now it's updated exclusively on Qingting. According to the statistics provided by the latter, 70 percent of Yu's listeners are male. Young people born in the 1980s and 1990s account for 76 percent.

A tool for expression

Besides numerous voice performers and podcasters who have aimed at achieving success in the prosperous audio market, there are also established voices who tested the waters for other reasons.

One of them is businessman Li Miao, 38, who entered the audio market in 2017 when he was invited by podcast provider BB Park to tell stories orally.

He had been well-known for writing articles analyzing famous foreign criminal cases on online message board Zhihu, building up a fan base of more than 1 million.

Li Miao liked reading detective literature since childhood. He lived in Japan for 10 years, and developed an interest in analyzing criminal cases. He was invited to work as a long-term host, talking about issues related to Japanese culture and criminal cases on two free programs: BB Park and BB Story, which are available on platforms, such as Himalaya, Lizhi FM and NetEase Cloud Music.

He also runs a paid program talking about criminal cases exclusively on Qingting in which he systematically combs through famous cases. Listeners can pay 99 yuan to listen to the program which contains over 100 episodes, each lasting for about 10 minutes.

Besides writing articles and hosting audio programs, Li Miao also makes videos. He says he simply wants to express his ideas and opinions, and share his thoughts.

Similar podcasts analyzing criminal cases have been popular all around the world, including Serial produced by WBEZ Chicago and Atlanta Monster produced by US podcast platform Tenderfoot. Hosts search information, organize clues in well-structured ways and tell the story to the audience.

According to Li Miao, such podcasts are popular because of host originality. "Everyone has thoughts on a case. Some care about how the murderer grew up, while some care about what social environment has led them to end up in jail. The individual thoughts are always appealing."

For people who want to join in the audio revolution, either as a talk-show host, a podcast host or other type of voice performer, Li Miao reminds them to create valuable original content.

"If you want to enter the industry, polishing your content is vital. Copying others will hurt yourself and the whole industry," says Li Miao.