Voiceover Q&A #001: How to get started in audiobooks?

This is the transcript of Voiceover Q&A with Brian Wiggins, episode #001.

How did you get started in audiobooks? I know that you’ve said you get a lot of work from ACX. I’m auditioning there, but I’m not booking a lot through there…do you exclusively audition through ACX, or are there other sources? I know that a lot of VOs don’t like to share exactly where they are getting their work.

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Okay, we are recording. All right, today's question comes from Steven Myers of Los Angeles California. How did you how did you get started in audio books? I know that you have said, you get a lot of work from a CX, I'm auditioning there, but I'm not booking a lot through there. Do you exclusively audition through a CX or are there other sources? I know that a lot of videos don't like to share exactly where they are getting their work. That is a great question. Steve. Even yeah I know a lot of VoiceOver folks do not like to share this secret of the secret recipe of their sauce. I don't know how I feel about that part of it. I get it that you know, like my mentality. Sometimes it's not sharing is because, yeah. Do you want the crowds going there? You know, if you found, you know, it's almost like when you watch Deadliest Catch and you see, they find their little honey hole, they're not going to tell everyone where,

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where they're fishing, right? So, I kind of get that, but I know, it's also one of the biggest frustrations, right? That I know, it's one of the biggest frustrations that I had When I started was where to find the work, and no one really wanting to say exactly where so. Okay, but how, how did I get started? It was through a CX. I did all my audio. I when I was doing my Google searches, I found a CX and I really liked it. So I started auditioning through there. I know you said, you had to work for me. Six. I'm auditioning there by my booking. A lot through there. Okay. So, First, I got to tell you is do not get frustrated, it doesn't being in voiceover takes patience it just? It's just the way that it works. I was lucky that I got off to a quick or early start but I also made a lot of mistakes right off the bat, but it's not like I started and it was immediately. This was my full-time job. So that's the first thing to keep in mind, don't don't worry about that, but okay, but if you're not, if you're auditioning enough booking, the first thing I would say is look at or listen to your auditions and have someone else listen to your auditions. That's going to be immensely helpful because it's really hard, if you don't know, What you don't know. You can't fix if there's something that's not great about your auditions. Is the sound perfect? Is there something about the way you're narrating or is it just the that you're the wrong voice for the project or not the right voice for the project? Rather? That's the whenever I'm running, whenever I'm doing my private coaching with folks, I'm telling them. There is so much that a subjective about doing voiceover work that we can only We put the odds in our favor. That's the only thing we can do.

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We can limit our exposure to not getting a job by making sure that all the things that might eliminate us. From contention we have, we have gotten rid of So, that means making sure your sound is 100% on point. That's the biggest thing and my sound, I mean, just the quality of your recording are there. External sounds floating around in there are there, can you hear the cars? Driving, by all of that stuff you have? That's the only hard and fast cardinal rule. I think of VoiceOver, but is it that are you narrating to quickly? Are you mispronouncing? Words are things. Not enunciated enough. Are you over enunciate? Are you just not connecting with the material? There's a whole bunch of things that you can do, that'll put the odds in your favor, but I would say, yeah, if you're auditioning one, keep on keep on keeping them in the fact, they're even trying is awesome. But have someone else? Listen to it. Someone who can be objective. So someone is not a friend

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that way they can just be objective and it might just be that there's ever you're doing everything perfectly fine and you just have not been the right voice for the project and if that's the case, just be patient with it. Do I exclusively audition through a CX and trying to get through all the questions here? No, I don't. When I started, yes. I think a CX, is a great place to start for for doing this auditions, for finding projects. I really do. I think it is one of the great site to get started off on and what I especially like is that there's royalty, share that you can use. And I because I felt like the first few that I auditioned for Or were royalty share projects because I felt like if I completely sucked at it and completely borked up the project, at least the author wouldn't be out any money. That's honestly how I looked at it. I felt like I didn't want to have the pressure of accepting money for a project and not having it turn out as a quality thing.

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But yeah once I got around 3:30 or so I'm trying to remember what the number was. I don't honestly I don't remember. It might have been closer to 50 somewhere between the 30 and 50 range of how many books I've done, how many projects had completed. I actually started reaching out to Production Studios to places that do audio book production. Because at that point, I felt like I had worked out all the Kinks of my of my own production process, which is a really important thing for making it Making it sustainable and I had also done enough. I felt that when I reached out to those companies that They knew I had a track record, they knew that authors kept coming back to me. I had a lot of repeat clients so the the pressure was off on them to make that decision to say. Yeah.

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So when I when I got around there and as I said, I was probably closer to 50 books maybe this 40 to 50, I don't know. And I wish I could be more specific, but then I started reaching out to places like tantor and Books media. Those are two that I work with. Now now I will say that the one I got through recorded books was actually I is through networking. It was through actually Sue. It's a funny story it's actually someone I knew. Yeah, okay I've told the story before, but I'll tell it again. So when I got my demos done, when I had my narration and Commercial demos, I knew. Okay, now I could do my full court press. I'm going to go out and Market the hell out of this. And I had seen a video that had a really good idea and it was going to your phone. We text every single person in your contacts and say to them I just started doing voiceover. Do you know of anyone who might need those Services? Right. And it wasn't anything like, oh, do you need my service?

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It was, do, you know of anyone? And one of the people that I texted, I got a bunch of responses, but one of the people that I texted her name was named James or is named James, she still around and she had wrote back to me and we had worked together, man. Many I'd met her many years ago and I worked for a local paper local newspaper. And she had said, yeah, I'll introduce you to this guy. That helped me when I narrated my own audio book when she did her project and she made the introduction. And here the dude that she introduced me to, was someone I knew in middle school, we had gone to middle school together. We were friends, I was at his bar mitzvah. So it was kind of interesting small world that she re introduced me to someone that I hadn't spoken to and man probably 25 years thereabouts, something like that. So that was kind of nice but tantor I had reached out to them on my own so yeah so I don't exclusively do work through a CX at this time

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and I do think it's a good idea to spread the love but yeah that's that's some place you can look at as well there are other places where people are posting audiobook projects you can find them. I'm sure there's As some of the, some of the other gig sites, not a huge fan of them but that's okay. You can find them there. A CX I just found is like the best site for that so but yeah that's that's where I'm, I will gladly share that that is where I'm getting my work and because of my track record now, a lot of times the projects are being not being handed to me. I don't want to admit that sounds really pretentious but because I have a reputation The companies I work with, they'll approach me with projects so that's really nice. Do I still audition? Yeah, yeah, I'll still go on to a CX, I'll see what's on there and I will audition. Do I still do royalty? Share, no,

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I have not done royalty, Sharon some time. Will I do it again? I don't know, maybe I still get royalties on some of those books that I did four years ago. So, when you do the math, I'm actually making more money. Now off of them that I would off of the books, I'm making. Now, the difference is, I I got I'm getting paid over the course of four years as opposed to getting the paycheck up front and I would rather have the check. So but Steven, I hope hope that answers the question. So yeah.

Yeah. Not, but I wish I had better advice for you as far as. Why you might not be booking?

Without more information, it's really tough to give. It's tough to not speak in generalities.

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So I would just say against a patient and talk to a coach talk to a coach, has a lot of them out there. You don't. I mean if you want to go through me go through me, that's great, but Yeah, so good question. No question. Very cool.

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