Virtual Book Tours: How You Can Use YouTube and Voice Overs To Sell Your Book
September 25, 2008
Even before your book hits the stores and is placed on the shelves, you can sell it.
Even if you are unable to travel and do the “book tour” thing, you and your book can still tour without leaving your front door!
How is this done?
Notable Narrators - Janice Downes
September 19, 2008
Janice Downes decided to become a member of the Voices.com talent marketplace about a year ago. Only 4 months later, Janice was able to leave her job in sales - she’d hit the ground running with 90% of her voice over work coming through Voices.com.
She’d discovered an invaluable vehicle for achieving success in her voice over career faster than she’d imagined.
I asked Janice what factors she felt were key to her rapid success.
Janice: “I believe my success results from a combination of several factors:
- my faith
- marketing and sales experience
- rate integrity and most importantly
- really keeping it “real”. Real comes from that place where you close your eyes and actually let yourself feel the texture of the words. It’s just me being me without over-thinking what’s coming out.”
Here’s where to read more of Janice’s story…
Notable Narrators - L. Harvey Gold
September 12, 2008
A good audio book needs a good author or script writer for sure, but what is it that makes or breaks the success of the audio-version a novel? The narrator’s voice!
No one wants to be sent to sleep (or perhaps some do!!) listening to a story being told. And if you are anything like me - I listen to audio books on long car journeys - you want the story to help you keep alert as you while away the hours behind the wheel.
But the ability to bring a story to life, enhance the drama, and effectively portray the various characters is a great talent indeed.
Here’s a tribute recently released to one of the great narrator voices - Canadian Promo Voice L. Harvey Gold Goes Platinum at Voices.com
Getting Started in Audiobook Publishing - A Foolproof Guide
August 29, 2008
Recent studies show that audiobooks are a quickly expanding market. In fact, the number of audiobooks recorded yearly is forecast to increase by 500% over the next four years. How do you get into this lucrative market? By becoming an audiobook publisher.
You just need 2 elements:
- a book
- a voice
Finding a voice over artist to work with is made easy with online voice over marketplaces. You can audition multiple voice talent at once, or simply browse, listen to demos, and select a professional voice talent based on their demos.
But what book should you record?
How Many Audiobooks Can Fit in the Average iPod?
August 28, 2008
As computer storage technologies improve and drop in price, it becomes easier and easier for consumers to afford MP3 players and smartphones with storage capacities larger than many home computers. Today, you can buy an
- iPod Shuffle with 2 gigabytes of storage for under $100
- iPod Classic with 160GB of storage space is under $400
Audiophiles can take days and days worth of music with them wherever, whenever…
Question: But how much can a bibliophile take in their portable music player in the form of audiobooks?
What’s Different About a Good Audiobook Narrator?
August 27, 2008
(vs. other voice-over actors)?
Just like a good doctor, a trusted lawyer or an inspirational music teacher, a good audiobook narrator is hard to find.
So what it that makes these “good” narrators so elusive and what makes them any different from the thousands of voice actors listed online?
Simply put, there are a number of elements that go into the preparation and recording of an audiobook - some that are obvious and many that are tucked away between the pages. Audiobook narration is a specialty skill and a herculean effort that comes with a lot of heavy lifting, presenting heightened demands unmatched in other niches of voice acting.
When it comes to narrating audiobooks you need a good storyteller who is…
Will Your Audiobook Go The Distance?
August 26, 2008
Are you planning on publishing an audiobook? When working on an audiobook, there are many things to consider, some more important than others.
One of the most important factors that you should be concerned with is:
Will my audiobook go the distance?
I don’t mean going the distance purely from a revenue point of view, I’m thinking of something much bigger that will help you with getting those bigger rewards in the finance department.
Before your decision to publish a particular audiobook is chiseled in stone, you’ll need to Read more
How Should Audiobook Type Influence My Choice of Narrator Voice Talent?
August 25, 2008
Just like there are different styles and types of movies, books and music, there are different styles, ranges and textures of voice that are best suited to particular roles, including narrative roles.
When picking a voice talent to narrate an audiobook, it is very important that you consider the genre of the story and do some research on the author’s intent before sending out a casting call or contacting a voice talent to record for your project.
Let’s say you have a contract to produce one of the Canadian award-winning author Margaret Atwood’s books and need to pick a voice talent to record for “The Blind Assassin”.
How Much Will a Narrator or Voice Talent Really Cost?
August 22, 2008
This topic has been up in the air for years. Back in Spring, our team collaborated with dozens of professional voice talent to settle the score on acceptable benchmarks for non-union voice-over rates. Download the PDF Voices.com Standard Voice-over Rates here.
Ever wondered how much voice-overs really cost?
Voice talents, as you can well imagine, were quite passionate about this topic, and eager to help ’set the record straight’ on the median fees charged by professionals working in the online voice-over marketplace.
Budgeting for a Narrator Voice Talent - How Do You Do It?
August 21, 2008
When you post a job, you likely have a set amount of money in mind that you are willing to pay for voice talent services.
Are there any variables in your budgeting that are worth more than others?
For instance, when you are hiring a professional, does their talent have more to do with the amount of money you will budget, or is getting a narrator for less money (and potentially, hiring a less qualified person) the deciding factor?
