Cindy-Piller-2018

CINDY PILLER

PLAYS IMPERFECT PEOPLE IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

Samples

Honest and appealing with a touch of grit,

Cindy captures a variety of characters and accents.

She is “narrator of choice”

for a variety of authors.

Born and raised on a Colorado ranch 15 miles from the nearest gas station and 5 miles from the nearest neighbor, Cindy Piller developed a vivid imagination. Independent, determined, and passionate about whatever she does, she fell in love with a microphone at age 6, announced to her family she refused to be average, and never looked back.

She ran national award-winning educational programs and worked as an award-winning journalist. When not speaking publicly or on the radio, she was acting onstage.

With storytelling a family tradition, Cindy’s new love is audiobooks. With technical training, narration coaching, and a professional home studio, her combined talents mesh to bring the words of multiple authors to life and garner regular 5-star performance reviews.

When not prepping for an audiobook, Cindy loves to enjoy her family, music, travel, binge watch the occasional movie or series and, of course, read with her eyes and ears.

Spoken languages:

English, Spanish, German

Accents:

American, Northern
American, Southern
Australian
British
New Zealand
Spanish
German
New York
Boston

Favorite Genres:

Fiction: Thrillers, Mysteries, American Historical Fiction, and Romance
Non-Fiction: Books written for a cause with a little humor

Drum Roll Please

One published statistic says it takes 200 auditions to book an acting job. Of those auditioning, only 10-15% are seriously considered. Don’t kid yourself. Audiobook narration is the most intimate form of acting; it is not reading.  And, it’s hard work.  If a major publisher has a choice between hiring 1) someone that person has worked with or 2) a stranger with fabulous demos and good experience, but otherwise unknown, guess who has the decided edge? COVID has made meeting publishers not quite impossible, but it’s close. And, while the number of audiobooks produced continues to grow by more than 10% every year, the number of folks vying for work has exponentially mushroomed. 

This is not an easy business, but then I’ve never been a big fan of “easy”. I decided 2022 would be “my year” to hit the goal of producing books with major publishers. It happened. I booked a Penguin Random House trio-cast audiobook and three non-fiction books for Rowman and Littlefield. And I did six more books for wonderful Indie authors. It feels great!

While I was lucky enough to get a slot in the Audio Publishers Association speed dating event (no auditions, just connecting with a dozen publishers via the world’s fastest five minutes of elevator speech), success came by submitting to rosters, finding alternate ways to approach producers, and additional training. Treating an old, and unknown to me, vocal chord injury was another game changer. The coaches were right. This business is a marathon, not a sprint, and the winning route is ever-changing. But, I can’t wait for 2023! — Cindy

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While my plan and reservations for this fall’s Northeast Narrator Workshop were nixed due to a nasty, highly contagious virus, I loved participating in six 3 1/2 hour sessions with host and coach P.J. Ochlan, along with producers and casting directors through the Deyan Institute’s Masterclass series. Exceptional supportive and insightful feedback (this one with Bryan Barney, Blackstone Audio) and learning from reads by talented, engaging narrators will have me signing up again the moment reservations are open next year.

Endorsements

Lynn Shannon

Author

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“Cindy is always a joy to work with. Her narration brings the characters to life and the completed audiobooks are high quality. She's timely, responsive to feedback, and creative. A true professional. I highly recommend her!”

Monica Leonelle

Author

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“Although I knew about writing and Maya Goode knew about producing audio from her podcast, we didn’t know much about audiobooks or the audiobook market. We were looking for someone to partner with who could translate what we thought we had to a good listening experience. Cindy Piller is and has been the perfect partner for us, and we’re really happy we all found each other."

Jonnie Jacobs

Author

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"All Cindy’s training and hard work come through in her finished narration. Wish I’d found her sooner.”

Staci Mercado

Author and Educator

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“Oh my gosh, I couldn't wait to listen. I have a thousand papers to grade but curiosity got the better of me. I listened to Tino in chapter six. WOW! I love him! You continue to amaze me. THANK YOU FOR BEING AWESOME! I am an enthusiastic and satisfied customer!”

D.L. Young

Author

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“Very much enjoying what Cindy Piller brought to the story. Her professionalism and flexibility were great. Really like the pace and rhythm she established. She did remarkably well with some of the more knotty sentences.
Color me impressed!”

Lars Emmerich

Author

Lars Square USA Today

“Holy smokes, you've done an amazing job! Fantastic! Thanks so much for your work!”

Jason Mack

Engineer for On the Porch Creative

Jason Mack

Proofed the audiobook of Lars Emmerich’s “The Wrong” narrated by the amazing Cindy Piller. It’s a great book and she really pulls you into the story. I found myself totally immersed as I listened to her.”

Gretchen Steen

Author

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“The reviewer agreed with me, that you were perfect for the story. I’m very glad I waited for you and was able to correctly ‘finish’ the story. Without your help, it wouldn’t have happened.”

K.B. Jensen

Author

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“Thank you for your fantastic work on “Painting with Fire”. I loved how you brought my characters to life off the page and captured the soul of the story.”

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