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AUDIOBOOK CAREER: PART 2 Is Audiobook Narration The Right Fit For You? Five More Career Tips  By Tom JordanIn Part 1 of this series
I discussed the first five points that I use to help set expectations for VO
folks looking to get into audiobook narration. Let's continue with this list
and then I'll share some final thoughts.
6. Plan to spend money on
narration coaching. It doesn't matter how "good" or successful you are as a VO talent,
you'll want to seek coaching that's specific to audiobook narration. You might
be able to deliver the best 30-second commercial read in the industry, but the
ability to tell a story and keep the listener engaged and entertained
throughout an entire book will task new, undeveloped skills. You'll want the
expert guidance of a professional narrator/coach who has the experience and
industry wisdom to help you along your path. Luckily, there are several quality
coaches from which to choose. I'm not going to call out the coaches by name
here, but can certainly provide their names and contact info to you if you
email me. There are coaches for non-fiction, fiction, dialects and accents,
character development, audiobook business skills, home studio setup, recording
software (DAWs), and more. Please don't try to narrate an audiobook without
working with a coach. Think long-term when approaching this career and
understand that the benefits of starting off on the right foot as opposed to
"fake it 'till you make it" are numerous. In fact, if you ever come upon
someone who claims you don't need audiobook narration coaching, turn on your
heels and walk briskly in the opposite direction. That's how serious this
is.
7. If you're planning on doing royalty
share projects, you may benefit from learning how to market your audiobooks. I
have narrator friends who don't place a lot of value on marketing; believing
that the audiobooks will either sell or they won't and they would rather
channel their energy into the next project rather than spend time marketing
their last one. I like marketing, so I do spend some time marketing the royalty
share project I do. When you enter into a contract for a royalty share audiobook
in ACX (www.acx.com),
you're partnering with the rights holder - usually an independent author, but
sometimes an independent publishing house for seven years. As part of this
agreement, you'll share the profits for each audiobook sold; so, ideally, you
and the rights holder can work together to promote your audiobook and reap the
rewards of your marketing efforts. This doesn't require a lot of money, but it
can take a little time. There are online marketing sites that cater
specifically to audiobook promotion. AudiobookBoom.com is probably the most popular one. There are numerous Facebook groups
that will help you promote your projects, as well. Again, there's way too much about this
to condense into a single paragraph, but feel free to contact me and I can
point you in the right direction.
8. Learn to budget your time and you'll
find that you can probably keep one foot in both the VO and audiobook worlds. I
still have a VO agent and continue to audition for VO gigs. One thing I've
found is that I need to set realistic deadlines with my audiobook rights
holders so that I'm not forced to deliver my projects late. If I build out a
calendar where I'm recording two chapters per day, and I get an onslaught of VO
auditions that belay my audiobook recording plans, then I have a buffer built
into my schedule so I can still finish the audiobook on time. Although a bit
off-topic, this goes the same for allowing for illness (you can't record with a
head cold or chest congestion); so create a schedule that you and your rights
holder can agree to that won't leave you stressed if you fall behind.
9. Yes, you can produce audiobooks while
keeping your day job (See #1 in Part 1). I have a full-time job as a marketing
copywriter, which keeps me out of the house for 10.5 hours a day Monday to Friday. I've
always been an early riser, so getting up at 4:45 AM and recording by 5 AM isn't
an issue for me. I go to bed early, wake up early, knock out an hour of audiobook
production, then do 30 to 60 minutes more each night. On the weekends, I put in
about six hours of production. This yields, on average, one completed
eight-hour audiobook per month - extrapolate book length and time commitment
from there, but you get the idea. I'm looking forward to retiring some day and
being able to invest more time in narration. Crazy as it sounds, that's how
much I love audiobook narration. I want to retire so I can work more… go
figure. I guess Mark Twain was right again:
10. Be prepared to be part of the best
artistic community you can imagine. I've saved the best for last. For the two
of you who have made it this far without being discouraged or cheesed off that
I'm being so damn pragmatic in my attempts to set expectations, please know
this: The audiobook narration community, much like the VO community, is a
wonderful thing to be a part of. The narrators I've come to know and call my
friends are smart, gracious, hilarious people with incredibly generous spirits. We meet online, at conferences, workshops, industry mixers, and always have
fantastic times together. Narration is challenging work, but the amount of
support is heartwarming. With these friends by my side, I'm reminded every day
that I may narrate in a small, dimly-lit space, but my colleagues are always
here for me with a light to help guide the way.
If you've made it this far and want to
give audiobook narration a try, then maybe it IS the right fit. 'TANGIBLE EVIDENCE' OF HARD WORK I'll leave you
with this - and it's something I share with the VO people I consult when they
ask why I love audiobook narration. When I was putting more time into VO work,
I'd wake up before the sun and submit audition after audition while maybe landing
one job out of one hundred. With audiobook narration, every morning I'm
building an audiobook, chapter by chapter. Within a few weeks or so, people
will be listening to it. Maybe they'll like it, maybe they won't, but at least
it's out there, and stands as tangible evidence of all my hard work in my
little predawn world where stories come to life.
I have so much more to share and,
luckily, I'll get the chance to do so this coming March at the ENVISION VO Atlanta 2020 conference.
I'll be part of the regular VO conference (where I can talk to VO folks, like
you, thinking about audiobook narration), not the Audiobook Academy section. I'll
expand on all of these items in an interactive presentation that I'll open up
for discussion early-on, so we're sure to get all your questions answered and
have a rousing good time! :) Hope to see
you there.
In the meantime, I'd like to direct you
to a great website that helps answer many questions about audiobook narration and
provides valuable best practices for the beginner. Karen Commins does a great
job in her Narrators Roadmap. ------------------ ABOUT TOM Tom Jordan is an award-winning audiobook narrator and Audible Approved
Producer who
entered the world of professional voice acting in 1994. He has worked for
hundreds of clients in a broad variety of voice-over genres from commercials to
E-learning, and everything in between. A few years back, Tom steered his
talents toward audiobook narration and has found his true calling with this
creative and infinitely-rewarding endeavor. Tom is a 2018 RONE Audiobook Award
Finalist and 2019 Independent Audiobook Award winner for his performance of Gutter Medicine: Twenty-six Years
as a Firefighter Paramedic, by Roger Huder. He will also be speaking on audiobooks at the ENVISION VO Atlanta 2020 conference in March. Email: tom@tomvoiceover.com Web: www.tomvoiceover.com |
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Since you mentioned marketing, I want to point out that the author has the fans and should be doing the heavy lifting of marketing for sales. A narrator's goal in promoting a title is to market ourselves and showcase our work to attract future clients. Authors and narrators will find a wide variety of marketing ideas and tactics on my Audiobook Marketing Cheat Sheet".
Thanks again, and I look forward to meeting you at VOAtlanta!
Cordially,
Karen Commins