I wrote and narrated my own audiobook. Not a manuscript that landed in my inbox — my own words, built around one question: what would actually help somebody fall asleep?

Almost every audiobook I narrate is somebody else's story, usually one designed to keep you awake. A thriller wants you to turn the page. Slumberscapes is the exact opposite job in every way, and it turned out to be one of the most interesting things I've recorded.

What Slumberscapes is

Slumberscapes is a collection of four sleep stories, written and narrated by me, with sound design and music beneath the voice. It runs for one hour and nine minutes, and it is designed to be listened to in the dark at the end of the day, ideally with no intention of ever reaching the end.

There's no plot to follow and nothing to remember in the morning. Each story takes you somewhere specific, describes it gently, and then simply leaves you there:

  • Tropical Tranquility: Waves of Relaxation — a quiet beach, with waves arriving and retreating over the sand.
  • Jungle Dreams: Immersed in Nature's Symphony — a tropical rainforest at night, full of insects, water and leaves moving in the dark.
  • Midnight in the Metropolis: Urban Lullabies — distant traffic and rain against the window, the sound of a city that isn't asking anything of you.
  • Cosmic Serenity: A Journey Through the Stars — drifting outwards, weightless, with the earth getting quieter behind you.

You can listen to Slumberscapes on Audible — it currently sits at 4.9 out of 5 from listener ratings on Audible UK.

Why I made a sleep audiobook

I've struggled with sleep for most of my life. Falling asleep has always been the hard part, and over the years I've built a routine around it: no screens, a dark room, and something soothing to listen to that isn't interesting enough to keep me awake.

That last part is harder to find than you'd think. Plenty of audio is relaxing for ten minutes and then becomes a story you want to follow. So as a voice over artist who spends his working life behind a microphone, it seemed obvious to make the thing I wanted to hear.

There was a practical side to it as well. Clients had started asking me for meditation reads, hypnobirthing tracks and relaxation audio, and I'd learned how different that delivery is from a commercial or a character read. Slumberscapes let me explore that properly, on my own terms.

Writing for someone who is falling asleep

The writing was the hardest part, and it taught me more about narration than some of my paid work has.

In a thriller, every sentence pushes the listener forwards. Here, every sentence has to slow them down. A few rules I ended up working to:

  • Second person, present tense, spoken softly. "You step onto the sand" rather than "he stepped onto the sand".
  • No questions. A question invites an answer, and an answer is a thought, and a thought is the opposite of sleep.
  • Softer consonants as each story goes on. Sentences get a little longer and quieter rather than building to anything.
  • Repetition, used carefully. Returning to the same sounds and phrases is comforting, as long as it never feels like a loop.
  • Nothing to resolve. No reveal, no twist, no last line that makes you want to stay awake to hear what happens next.

Recording and mixing it

I recorded and edited Slumberscapes in my own studio in Cornwall, on an Aston Spirit microphone through a Focusrite Scarlett interface, edited in Adobe Audition.

Sleep audio is mixed differently from anything else I do. A commercial is loud, punchy and tightly compressed so it survives a TV break. Sleep audio has to sit still. The level stays consistent so a near-whisper never disappears, the dynamics stay gentle, and the sound design — waves, rain, insects, music — sits underneath the voice rather than across it. If you notice the production, it has failed.

Who it's for

Slumberscapes works as a general sleep aid, but it's also been picked up by people using it for meditation, for anxiety at bedtime, and for hypnobirthing relaxation. I've had listeners tell me they put it on every night, which is the nicest thing you can hear about a sleep audiobook: nobody is meant to finish it.

Making one for your project

If you're putting together something in this world — a meditation series, a hypnobirthing track, a branded calm-down piece, a podcast wind-down or a full audiobook — this is exactly the kind of work I enjoy most. Have a look at my British audiobook narration or get in touch and tell me what you're making.