VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Ed Fisher · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 12:58 am Post subject: First try at AUDIO BOOK

If this link actually works...it should take you to the very first Book Reading demo I've ever done IN MY LIFE.

I know it's not great...but...DO I SUCK?

Suggestions?

It seems as though Audio Books are an awful LOT of labor for very little money. (relatively speaking)

http://www.voices.com/demos/Clutter

Thanks.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 1:15 am Post subject:

No, you don't suck. And you've definitely got a voice for a certain style of audiobook. The big thing I would caution you to do is slow down. let it breathe between your characters and the narrator. The listener needs time to mentally change gears and process what one character said before moving on to the next one.

In audiobooks, the white space is part of the story. Let it talk.
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 5:44 am Post subject:

Funny thing is, I didn't see Jeff's reply below your link, so I clicked and listened, and came back to make my response. Then I saw what Jeff wrote and it's about, verbatim, what I was going to say. So............ ditto to Jeff's comments.
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Bruce · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:55 am Post subject:

Concurring here...that demo could be as much as 25% longer using more space between characters and more "time to reflect" on actions or things that were said.

Other notes:

Because this is third person I'd make the father's voice a bit more different than your narration voice. Space between your narration and the father's lines will help, but a little more shading would be nice.

On doing children, I'd recommend taking out more of your lower voice register but not doing a falsetto. More important than the pitch of your voice is recreating the speech patterns of that age child. Avoid being "cutsie". Make your speech patterns as close as possible to that of a child that age and the "cute" will come through on its own. You're in the ball park. Keep it up.

B
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Ed Fisher · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:05 am Post subject:

AHH...there seems to be a consensus.

(how often does this happen?)

Slow the FUDGE down!

Got it.

...and duly noted.

THANK YOU Gentlemen.

cyclometh · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 12:35 pm Post subject:

"Slow down" is the most common advice you hear with audiobooks. I try to slow it down until I'm just barely getting uncomfortable with how slow it feels.

I feel like it's glacial, but then I get reviews saying things like "Snow's fast-paced read..." - I think it's something most narrators grapple with.

My only other note is that the father seemed a bit less developed as a character and in one or two places his inflection seemed a bit awkward. I do a similar thing where I use my own voice for the main character sometimes, even in 3rd person, but it does have to be different in some way to let people hear it.

Good job, keep at it! Smile

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Bish · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 4:37 pm Post subject:

Good Grief... far too much agreement here!

I agree that your voice would work well with the right books... but I just want to expand on the speed thing. Jeff is spot on with his reference to space. I've recently had the same discussion with my editor who's ploughing through a 14-hour book with me.

Let it relax... not just because it's easier for the listener when they have time to absorb, but as a narrator, it leaves you nowhere to go if the pace picks up in a dramatic scene where you need some urgency conveyed.

If you're rattling along at ten, there's nowhere to go except...

Yes! He shoots, he scores... a Spinal Tap reference in an audiobook thread! Laugh

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Ed Fisher · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 6:31 pm Post subject:

Hmmm.

EVERYONE is giving me very valuable insight...and it's MUCH appreciated.

I'm a little surprised at how many here appear to be doing audio books.

I always thought of it as something of a "specialty."

You guys get paid by the hour...finished hour....project?

What is the norm?

And are we also talking residuals...or is that something only reserved for the "top tier" of Book Voice Actors?

cyclometh · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 7:08 pm Post subject:

Two basic ways you get compensated for audiobook work:

Per finished hour. This is the preferred method for every narrator I know, by and large. Rates vary based on publisher, union affiliation and the narrator's experience, but run from $150 per finished hour at the low end to $300 or more at the top. Rates also vary depending on what you're actually doing- just narrating or handling all the editing, proofing, QC and mastering. In the latter case, fees are of course higher.

Revenue share. This is the model a lot of folks run into on ACX, where you get paid half the royalties the book makes for a certain period of time. However, these are almost never a good return on investment, at least financially. They CAN be a good option if you're new to audiobooks and trying to build up a resume, or if it's just a kickass book that you want to read, or if it's going to sell like bananas.

It is something of a specialty, in that few do it full time. Some don't do any audiobooks at all, some take on a project here and there, and some make it their primary thing. But it's not for everyone because you spend SO much time in the studio, and after two weeks of being cooped up in a box reading for six hours a day, you may start to question your sanity. Smile

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vkuehn · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:26 pm Post subject:

I really ought to be asking questions, and not pontificating on the genre as I see it. I'm going to comment on what I see where I sit, but I am not laying out great wisdom.... I am attempting to be the catalyst that causes some more conversation about book narration.

I don't know who else may be a driver in change besides Amazon d/b/a/ ACX but I assume there is an explosion in books that would never have been audibilized just a few years ago.

The latest trend are all these little "booklets".... the little half-hour to one hour jobbies. Is there really market for these, or are specialty writers just as hopeful about new opportunity as some of us over on the narration and production side.

The other trend is not only the home studio origination of book narration, but the fact that people can now have a suitable recording rig for just hundreds of dollars rather than THOUSANDS of dollars.