VOICE ACTING VENTURES: NARRATION
“Voice Acting Ventures” is a blog series written by Voices Carey to provide helpful information for voice actors interested in learning about the voiceover industry.
If you’re interested in narrating audiobooks as a career in voiceover, then there are a few things you should know before getting started.
First of all, what type of narration are you interested in? There are quite a few different categories to consider and while you may be interested in trying them all, you’ll more than likely find your niche and focus on growing specific skills.
Here’s a flashback to English Class: do you remember what fiction and non-fiction books are?
Fiction describes imaginary events and people. Non-Fiction only relays factual information.
You might not think that this would apply to voiceover but here are few things to consider:
Concerning Fiction,
There may be some heavy character acting involved. Think about a story with multiple characters. Do they each have moments of dialogue? If you’re interpreting an entire novel, you’ll need to establish who each of these characters are in your mind so that you can deliver a consistent level of performance. Now, when I mention character acting, do I mean an over-the-top, crazy-accent, super-emotional interpretation?
For most audiobooks, this is not the case.
If you take the time to identify each character’s traits and backstory, you can establish unique physical components that effectively differentiates the characters for the listener.
For example: If the character is a 45-year old man from New Orleans, he may have a slight accent, affectation or texture that implies his age and where he’s located (scratchy, gruff texture to identify age; Southern drawl to identify location).
You’ll want to make sure that these components are extremely pulled-back versions of these characters versus how you would interpret the character on a stage (projecting to an audience at a varied distance). With audiobooks, it’s all about being subtle and intimate. If it helps, imagine that your listener is sitting right next to you so that your performance is geniune.
“That microphone is a person’s ear.” - Bruce Carey
Concerning Non-Fiction,
The name of the game is delivering factual information in a way that’s stimulating for the listener. The material needs to be clearly articulated in order to be easily comprehended and retained by said listener.
A lack of variety (i.e. monotone, robot voice) will leave the listener disinterested, while too much variety is oftentimes distracting.
What do I mean by variety? Your pacing, your inflections, your cadence, your emotional intent - These are all things we can manipulate as narrators to create a healthy amount of variety in our performances, which in turn keeps the listener engaged from Page 1 to Page 3000. Yes, you may be narrating that many pages.
Let’s talk about consistency and stamina for a minute.
Let’s say you are only conveying one character (the narrator, and yes you are STILL a character [even as a narrator]; see this link for examples of ‘character narrators’ https://www.nownovel.com/blog/major-narrator-types/ ). Whatever choices you make about who you are as a narrator, be confident that you can deliver this performance for an extended period of time.
How long does it take on average to record an audiobook?
Depending on the page-length of the book, the amount of time spent completing a project can vary widely. In this field of voice acting, you’ll hear the acronym “PFH” which means “per-finished hour.” On average, one “PFH” equals anywhere from 4-8 hours of actual work recording, editing, or making adjustments (if requested by the client). Keep this information in mind when you take on larger projects.
Companies often take advantage of voice actors who are unaware of the time investment that goes into producing larger projects and offer significantly less money than they probably should. We are not selling bulk items at economy prices. We are performing and spending hours of our time and focused energy. If we value ourselves, companies will recognize our value and pay accordingly.
What should you get paid on average?
First, let’s cover types of payments. You can get paid “PFH” or you can get paid by royalties. I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘royalties’ before (I don’t mean Game of Thrones) and if you don’t know anything about them, let me tell you: it’s a mixed bag.
Royalties mean you get paid beyond your performance and earn a small percentage of each sale of the audiobook you narrated.
Sounds like “the dream”, right? Work once and get paid forever?
That’s because it is only a dream for most actors. Depending on how well-known the author is (and if they’re successful), you may not see a whole lot of money.
If you get paid PFH (which always guarantees payment right away, regardless of the success of the audiobook), there are standard fees that SAG-AFTRA require you to follow in order to qualify for benefits.
“Pay-for-Production projects must be $250 or more per finished hour, and Royalty Share projects must carry a $100 Stipend.”
(Source: https://audible-acx.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6473/kw/cost/related/1)
You’re still a contractor and can negotiate your rates as you see fit, but be mindful of what you can make if you’re a member of SAG-AFTRA.
Where can you find work for audiobooks?
There are a handful of different websites that are dedicated to hiring voice talents for audiobook narration.
ACX.com and Audible.com are two major job sites that you can join if you’re looking for work.
ACX is full of helpful resources and information for getting started in producing audiobooks (https://audible-acx.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6975). This is where most voice actors find narration work.
Audible is partnered with Amazon and the success of your performance may be contingent upon the popularity of the audiobook on Amazon.
Whenever you are auditioning for narration roles for audiobooks, make sure to research the book that you would be working with.
How long is it? What is it about? Is it part of a series? Is the author currently successful?
Be absolutely sure that you are confident in what you’re signing yourself up for because audiobook voiceover can be a serious commitment.
Want to learn how to narrate like a professional?
Sign up for private voice acting classes or group voice acting classes through our professional studio located in Dallas, Texas and learn more about narration.
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