Wisniewski’s reputation spread quickly among litRPG authors and publishers. Royal Guard Publishing praised his work and recommended him within the litRPG community via group chats, his Discord and Facebook pages. [SM1]
Wisniewski then began receiving offers from authors and major audiobook production companies. Sometimes, these are one-book deals, sometimes it is for a series. His offers from Podium Entertainment and Aethon Audio were for contracts and a title of “Audio Collaborator”.[SM2] These contracts mean the company blocks a certain number of hours on Wisniewski’s calendar and then sends him manuscripts to read.
He was recently sent a title that the writer said he wrote with Wisniewski in mind. This means the author wrote the book hearing Wisniewski’s voice in the back of their head and wrote it so he would read it.
A distinction working in Wisniewski’s favor is that he does not only narrate. He acts. Wisniewski uses his IC Musical Theatre degree to perform the books. “Even though people know it’s just me, I want to help them forget that,” he says.
That means creating distinct voices for every character — sometimes dozens within a single book. This differs from simply reading a book through. He has even sung in an audiobook, performing a song in five different parts as five different characters.
The response from listeners? “The book is great, but how did he manage to sing all of the characters so distinctly?”
Wisniewski’s answer is simple: “Musical theatre, baby!”
His Ithaca College training continues to shape his work every day. He records five to six hours daily, a demanding schedule that requires vocal strength and endurance. His theatre education taught him to treat his voice like an instrument—one that requires technique, care, and preparation.
He still uses the same warm-ups he practiced as a student.
“That four years has allowed me to basically feel kind of unstoppable in my job,” he says. “Which is a fantastic testament to the training I received.”
Wisniewski also edits his recordings, an uncommon skill among narrators. Wisniewski’s taught himself. The startup cost wasn’t much, mostly an investment of time. “I started out with a hope, and a prayer, and a sound-dampening blanket over my head, and a decent condenser mic in a Hell's Kitchen apartment,” he recalls.
His advice to students: “You are your only limiter. There is genuinely nothing that you cannot do, as long as there is conscious continuous effort.”
He has been a science fiction and fantasy fan for as long as he can remember—and now he gets to spend his days stepping into those worlds and inviting others along. He can immerse himself in worlds and make them come alive, all day long.
For Wisniewski, it’s about imagination. Anything can happen in fantasy, with amazing, massive stories that require imagination. What does a dragon sound like? He gets to find out.
“I think that an audiobook needs to be as imaginative as the book would be in my own head if I were reading it,” Wisniewski says. “It needs to be that big. It needs to be that colorful. I know it'll never match my imagination, or a reader's imagination, because the imagination is limitless. But if I can capture a little bit of that, that's what I go for.”
And with every story he tells, Wisniewski proves that imagination—like a great performance—has no limits.
