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Making audio books great again
Chris Tester
April 16, 2024
OR… knowing when to pivot.
For me, it was a year ago.
That was when I agreed to voice my first book.
Despite being an actor for sixteen years,
I'd passed all audiobook projects until then.
Why?
The short answer is that they're often one of the lowest paid genres of voice work.
It takes me 4 hours to come up with one hour of finished audio.
1 x hour to read 🧐
1 x hour to prep 📝
1 x hour to record 🗣️
1 x hour to edit and master 🎧
So a 'per finished hour' rate of £250 (at the higher end of the UK market),
is actually working for £62.50 per hour.
NOT bad at all...
But when my recording rate for other genres is £250 per HOUR - you might see why it wasn't a priority.
Three things changed.
1️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.
With a following of 500k across socials now, more authors and publishers get in touch directly.
They know what I can do and want to leverage my following for their title.
So - a higher rate becomes more feasible.
2️⃣ 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄
I read the book.
I record the book.
But someone else preps it.
And someone else edits it.
Knowing what can be outsourced to trusted professionals has reduced the workload and stress.
Having a higher rate makes this viable.
3️⃣ 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲.
I love video games.
It's where a lot of the sexy voice work lives.
But it's still rare that you get to go deep with characters in every game.
But if you're narrating the right novels... 🤯
Corporate work is still 40% of my work.
Elearning is still 25% of my work.
Games are still 20% of my work.
But ‘pivoting’ has opened up me up to a whole new rhythm and quality of work that I’d never even imagined. So never rule it out!
Voice Acting tip of the week:
Keep it simple.
All artists are encouraged to keep working on their craft. Indeed it’s essential that we do so. But that doesn’t mean we need to apply all our learning in one go.
In the below video, Robert Downey Jr, Sterling K. Brown and Willem Dafoe all point out that keeping things simple and focusing on the essentials is where the real value lies.
There can be a temptation, especially with high stakes projects and auditions, to SHOW your work. This is a timely reminder that true professionals often learn to forget.
Behind The Scenes project of the week:
One great way to showcasing your skills and what it is you actually do is making case studies.
Not every client understands the entire process. And not every client might be aware of how different projects change that process. So creating step-by-step guides of how finished projects were realised can be educative as well as help build trust.
Below is one of seven case studies that I have on both my website and Youtube channel. Each one covers a different genre of work, explains each project succinctly so as to not outstay its welcome. And most importantly - I use my VOICE to do all this, thus subtly demonstrating my offer throughout.
Media Recommendations:
Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…
Rarely do I just give a shout out to a whole TV series, but the FallOut universe is one of my most treasured gaming memories. So imagine my relief when the new TV adaptation turns out to be really really good…
Dungeons and dragons is riding the wave of massive popularity right now, so why not check out this succinct overview of its origins as laid out in this Guardian article.
Cinematic Insights into the biggest video game of 2024
An in depth step by step breakdown of how the cinematics were constructed for the biggest title of 2023, Baldurs Gate 3.
Favourite Writing of the week: A Pale Blue Dot
This extract from Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot so beautifully captures the totality of human experience. Recommended reading for sure!
@chrisnaturallyrp ‘PALE BLUE DOT’ by Carl Sagan #palebluedot #carlsagan #carlsagantok #carlsaganquotes #philosophy #philosophytok #philosoohytiktok #britishvoiceover
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Thanks again for reading, and until next week Honey and I wish you a wonderful week!
