Audiobooks

[unicornmoon]

As a newbie looking into this business, I am looking for an honest opinion on my chances. I am a retired grade school teacher with years of experience in reading to children, and an an avid reader and listener of audio books, I was curious what the chances are to break into a career recording audio books. I don't have any formal training yet, but am willing to take voice lessons if this is a viable career. Also are all of the audio book recording companies studios in large towns or is there a possibility of doing this from a home studio? Where should I start? Radio spots for experience? Any ideas would be very helpful thank you. Also what books do you all recommend as guides for the terminally curious about this business?

Thank you all,
Candy

[Scott Pollak]

Hi Candy, and welcome...

I've recorded one, count 'em, ONE audio 'book' in my long and - ahem - 'storied' career (sorry, couldn't resist). It was really more of an audio 'chapter' as it was only a few thousand words.

The business is very, very hard to break into. That's not to say it's impossible, but go into it knowing that it's an uphill battle. And go into it knowing that it's very hard work and doesn't pay that well.

One of the few companies that I know of that will use you from your home studio is Dreamervision. Their going rate is .03/word. So figure for a 100,000 word novel, or about 10+ hours of FINISHED audio (not even beginning to take into account flubs and retakes), you'd make about $3000. At first that sounds appealing. But here's the truth: To record 10+ hours of really good, usable audio will take you about 3-5 hours of recording, editing, retakes for each hour of good audio. So you're looking at maybe 30-50 hours of work. It's almost impossible to sit and record 6-8 straight hours of audio in a day, so to record 100,000 words will realistically take you several weeks.

Now you may be looking at going into this purely for the enjoyment of it, and that's fine, and the pay will be icing on the cake.

Another thing that I found is hard to do with audio books is multiple characters. If you're reading a story that has a dozen characters, you have to be able to remember each nuance of every voice each day when you come back to it. That's TOUGH, believe me!

I believe the key to getting your foot in the door is being an outstanding storyteller. Your voice must have character to it. You must be able to tell a story in such a way that it draws people in and makes them anxious to hear the next word. Monotone, or nasally, or 'announcery' voices don't work. But based on what you said as being a retired schoolteacher who has read to children and avidly listens to audio books, I have a sneaking suspicion you may have a great voice for it.

So after all of this, if you're still interested, do a Google search for audiobook production companies and definitely consider contacting Dreamervision. You'll need to put together about a 3:00 sample demo to send to them. You can hear demos on their site.

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

[vanessa551]

Hi Candy, Well that was lots of great info from Scott. It is hard but not impossible and the pay is getting better all the time. Also, as a reader/editor you will get better. For me, it takes about 2 hours for 1 hour of audio from my home studio. The many characters seem daunting at first, but you get the hang of it. I did my audiobook demo last July and have done 12 stories and was a 2008 Audie finalist for my first story. I also just got a multi-book deal with McGraw-Hill - so it's possible. I suggest anything from Pat Fraley (he did my demo) for study and I also coach privately. You need to be a member of APA and AudioFile. They both have resources for cold submissions. If there is anything I can do to help - just ask. Please don't let the odds deter you - it's my favorite type of work now. If you love it and work hard on it - the gigs will come. Best of luck and do let us know your progress.

[anumber1]

Jodi Krangle turned me on to a site LibriVox. There is no pay involved, but a good place to practice the craft. Thus far I have only done a few chapters, but an education it has been.

I am finding that I need to change the way I read. For most of my life I have focused on sentences, which causes me to skip or insert words but still get the meaning. I now try to find the rythm of the piece, but narrow my focus to no more then two, perhaps three words as I record which has resulted in fewer edits and retakes.

And Vanessa, How do I join APA and AudioFile?

Thanks,
Mike

[vanessa551]

Hey Mike - That's an excellent point. The narration has to be exact - otherwise you're editor will simply make you re-record until you get it right. There is no margin of error. However, this is the least of the challenges. For APA go to : www.auiopub.org and for AudioFile go to www.audiofilemagazine.com These have both been a huge resource for me. Feel free to ask any other questions, I love to help, if I can. Best of luck -

[spartacus]

Question Scott ....... I went to the Dreamervision website you mentioned and was listening to some of the Demo's ........

What kind of qualifications are needed to be accepted as a VO pro there ???????

I saw some great demos ... like yours and Brad's .... but there were others there ........ one in particular ..... that could be used as "DO NO DO THIS ON YOUR DEMO" examples in VO classes.....

[Scott Pollak]

Spartacus...

I couldn't agree with you more about the wildly varying degrees of demos on the Dreamervision site. I don't really know how much screening they do, but I do know that for casting projects a client can either choose a voice they like or throw out a short snippet to hear demos, then choose.

Again, it's a foot in the door. I'd still recommend contacting them if you want to try to get started in the audiobook business. Look behind every door y'know.

[vanessa551]

Guys - you are all good enough to get paid. I would suggest that you send your demo to everyone that's listed in AudioFile. It's really hard work and it takes a lot of time - get paid. Lots of people I know get stuck in the "reading for the blind", etc. Again, you are all good enought to work and get paid and the business is exploding - come on and get on board.

[anumber1]

Vanessa, thanks for your help here. I'm finding 1000 words are taking me a little over an hour. Here is a sample of some of the stuff I have done so far, all public domain because I have gotten only one small audio book early in my career, and not proud enough of that one to post anywhere.

Here is a small sample. Realize this should be in the demo section, but apreciate any comments here. Thanks,
Mike

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Scott Pollak

Again, it's a foot in the door. I'd still recommend contacting them if you want to try to get started in the audiobook business. Look behind every door y'know.

Behind every door ... under every rug ... open every window ...climb every mountian ..... etc ......