This. So many RUclipsrs waste your time with preamble. It amazes me how much video time they can fill with absolutely useless nothing. Straight to the point styles like this are pure gold.
Two 2.5 hr. audiobooks I did for royalty share have made me over $400 in 6 months. That's about 40% of what I would've gotten if I got paid $200 per finished hour flate rate, $1,000, so they've got a way to go, but I'm looking long-term. If you want to do royalty share audiobooks, before auditioning, you have to look at: 1) Sales rank (the lower the number the better)--anything under 50,000 is pretty good. 2) How many user reviews does the print version of the book have, and are the reviews on average 4-5 star? 3) What is the author doing to advertise/promote their book? The author of the 2 books that have made me $400 so far has been dumping money into advertising, sales rank was under 50,000 and there were at least 30 user reviews per book, averaging 4-5 stars.
Hey I would love to know more about this I am auditioning and getting offers but wanna know More about the experience of others with the platform- I’m juggling a few things and would love to use this for side income
Okay first -- best opening to a video ever. Seriously. Second, one of my first VO jobs in 2019 was an audiobook with a bunch of different character voices and a really really particular author. It took a few months to record a two and a half hour book. It has so far earned me less than $5.
I got wind of ACX early in my VO career and tried a couple of ~30 minute books. I'm so glad that I didn't go big for the larger books. The books were difficult to read because of a poor mastery of English on the authors' part, and my inexperience at the time made it take a ton of time to edit and even with that small project, it was miserable. The whole thing seems like a racket, and you're right, it definitely seems like Amazon is taking advantage of amateurs who don't know any better. But then the fact that they take a whopping 60% of the cut of a sale, I feel like they're taking big advantage of authors, too.
I KNOW!!! I narrated one long book and that was enough for me. I still dabble in ACX but mostly short *fun* stories because the genre pays well. But with that said, it's hard finding good authors who write well in that genre.
This video has been a breathe of fresh air! As a new ACX narrator, I've already spent countless of hours just learning, trying to master audio recording software like Reaper. That has been a task in itself! Having a full time day job, I've contemplated taking on, what I thought would be an exciting and fairly easy project to do as a stage/musical theatre actor, the whole "getting started" process has already been too labor intensive and exhausting and your insight into the industry has just help put things in perspective for me. Great video - very insightful!
You know in a world where everyone is so greedy and cut throat seems to be the name of the business, it is truly a Godsend to find someone like yourself to offer so much information regarding book narration. I am new to the idea of voiceover work. I have researched and am prepared to establish my first sound booth. Being a perfectionist I love the idea of a pseudo name and using a royalty share to establish the guidelines of future book narrations. I have subscribed to your channel and will be paying close attention to ALL videos I can get my hands on! Again thank you for taking the time to create these honest, informative videos. Perhaps one day I will be able to give you a run for your own money, lol.
If I hadn’t noticed who made this silly remark, I’d say it was really lame, but coming from you, it’s hilarious. I checked the doodly do and saw who it doodly was. Branding. Greetings, earthling.
Dude... I can listen to you all day long, your voice is awesome!... You have helped me with my setup for my RUclips Channel and I just want to thank you soo much.
Well said, comprehensive, practical, clear, down to earth experienced advice from a real pro that should be applied to ALL royalty sharing platforms, in ALL media. Great post!
Couldn't agree more, I would never do a royalty share on ACX of any length. The only books that would be worth doing for royalties would go out to casting agencies and have massive publishers anyway. I did do a royalty book, but it was only an hour long, and it was for the credit, not for the money. One of the ways of becoming Audible Approved is to have 25+ credits to your name, so I'm hoping to use very short books like this to boost that number and become Audible Approved.
I just finished reading the Reddit thread as you posted this! Agreed 100%. I did an audiobook (not through ACX) that paid $150 per finished hour and then $1 per sale after the book launched. I was really excited about the potential! In the end, I got $11 in royalties. Lesson learned!
That's good actually. The point is you made $150 per hour. Royalties is like an investment in a new stock within the stock market. You do Royalties in case the book pops off one day. So yeah, you did the right thing, but you got to excited about royalties, which is a gamble.
Can you tell me what the Amazon book ranking was or the audible rank whatever that is and how many comments there were or what are they called reviews that were prior to you recording audition?
I'm an author but I also do voice work as well (not on ACX), mostly private clients. The first time I worked for an actual company - I will tell you that I did NOT negotiate right. It was waaaaaayyyyy more work than I anticipated with being constantly asked to change one word here or there, or telling me at times I didn't sound like the same person, or sending me visual charts and graphs of how my voice went up a little too high on one word in a sentence. I don't know but it was totally discouraging and somewhat of a nightmare - the nitpicking. I'm not sure if this is the norm but it was awful (and I am a super positive person! LOL)
Hi Mike! I found you online via our mutual interest in Reaper (I finished your Setting Up Reaper 6.0 online course--EXCEPTIONAL!) and I love all of your instructional vids here on YT. With that said, I must say that this may be one of the most informative vids I've ever watched, in any field of interest! I am newly retired and have been kicking around the idea of VO work so of course you and your career have been of great interest to me. I've been intimidated by putting up an audition on ACX because I didn't really know what was what, but I feel I do now, thanks to you! Thank you very much for speaking truthfully but respectfully about these topics, whether it is ACX or Amazon or a particular manufacturer of a piece of gear--keep making them, please!
This is valuable info, and I'm grateful that you decided to share these experiences with those of us who are just getting started. I'm definitely one who learns well from others experiences. Thank you.
I am so glad that I stumbled upon this video (and the Booth Junkie site) when I did. I am just starting my home studio, and foray into audiobooks. In this day and age, who can, literally, afford to invest time and money pursuing a potential career and not see any profit from it? I loved the final suggestion of grabbing a book from your own shelf and learning the ropes without the pressure and expectation of "making the grade". I can't wait to deep dive into other Booth Junkie videos.
New guy...thanks for this...I did one so far on ACX and plan to just pick the smallest projects that have been available for several weeks, hoping the author are a bit "eager" to just get it done.....I really appreciate this vid...will be following....
I really appreciate you going over how much time it takes to get a finished hour of audio, as someone who discovered ACX last night, and has never done any narration, seeing that the low end for budgets being 100-200PFH looked really good, I knew that there would be more than an hour of work for a finished hour but I underestimated how much more. Still looks acceptable for starting out knowing that I'll get paid more with more experience, but getting a good understanding of how much my time will be valued starting out is really helpful.
I'm working on my 3rd and 4th royalty share ACX projects right now. I've used the platform as a method to learn some skills, and it has been very good for that. My first project was a short piece of crap that I basically had to rewrite, the English in it was so poor. The second one was a Vietnam POW's war story which I suspect will have some legs over a long period of time. The two I'm working on now, no clue really, I'm not expecting much. After I wrap these, I'll look into other avenues as well. The POW book was my first "big" one at 13 hours estimated. It was a bit eye opening to realize the amount of the work that really was, but mostly because I do this part time as a side thing, so it took about 6 weeks doing an hour here and an hour there...
I think the coolest thing about this is that it can apply to anything that uses a royalties format for paying you, voice acting, video creation, or even music. Very insightful Mike I sure appreciate it.
Wow, your voice is Brilliant! A friend just suggested this to me and I’m most likely not gonna do it but I could listen to you talk forever!!! ❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💕
In love this and I just did a royalty share… even though i have 11 books on audible/acx. Silly me, you were straight to the point and I appreciate that. No more royalty share.
Great video, thank you for telling the true about all this stuff , as a veteran sound engineer I know very well how long it takes to get a single song or book ready to go public !!! Normal people have no idea of what all this is about !!! I did voice overs years ago and I always got 50% in advance and 50 % when finished , and always for a good amount of money !!! Pro work is never cheap !!! Doing audio books is not an easy task !!! New narrators need someone like you to open their eyes to reality !!! Well done !!!
Thank you Mike. I have been researching and experimenting for the past week trying to wrap my head around what it takes to get into narration, how to meet ACX requirements with the equipment that I already have not to mention how to edit and master a final project. I keep coming back to your insightful posts because you are real and your able to describe tech jargon in a way that brings understanding. After watching this post I will think twice before "volunteering" for a royalty share project. Maybe a very short one. ;)
Man, all your posts are so honest and super helpful. I’m in the research phase of the biz, so I haven’t even tried to audition yet. still getting my gear in order. YOur vids have been some of the best info I’ve seen, and I’ve watched TONS of videos for the past month. Your candid style, and expert opinions are just what I need at this point! Cheers, Alan
Mike, thank you for presenting this message for people learning about the industry, like myself attempting to navigate the industry and all its complexities. You are a voice in the wilderness directing the inexperienced on a path towards knowledge, wisdom and hopeful prosperity. Thank you for all your experience and wisdom. Your experience is valued and noted! Kris
10:36 - a pitfall I fell into early on in my voice career. The worst thing is to call a client and say "I underestimated and I'm gonna need more time."
This video has answered many questions I've had about audio books in general and royalty sharing in particular. I now feel much more informed about aspects of the process that were unapparent before getting this vital information. Thank you Booth Junkie, your video is a genuine public service.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I am wanting to get started in the audiobook industry. I currently work at a call center and I realize that when you sign up for a job as a novice, there is a lot that you don't know.
I should have really paid attention to this video! It was even sent to me by the author who ultimately hired me!! I've been in the voice over biz and legit commercial production field for 25 years but never had done an audio book. I knew I had to work with a good affordable local studio as my presumed tech abilities were limited. That was $35/hr. Then I misunderstood the finished hr. rate. The Audible algorithm being ( atleast }2x production time. As you have indicated it took much longer. The book was a 7 hr read... so at the very least it was a 14 hr generator. The author was paying on the "finished hr" rate. Eeeek!! The first 15 pgs. took me about 3hrs to finished product! It was a non starter. I would have been PAYING to have the work completed and on time, enriching the studio and gifting the author. Anyway thank you Booth junkie!!
I am an audiobook consumer and worked for an edditing house aat some point and I so love that you brought this insight because most of the times pple have no idea abt "how it's made and how much it actually costs in matter of time and effort" for which, btw, no one is repaying back, so...
As an author, I spent $1800 on a seasoned narrator. I was happy with his performance. But it's 5 years later, and I haven't made it back yet. So yes, you're right. Not worth it for narrators OR authors.
Jennifer Moss, I don't believe in giving any money to anyone not even an agent or to a publisher who likes your work. If you do that, you get stuck with doing all the advertising. No way. I could of sold a screenplay to the late Brandon Lee, but he was accidentally killed on the set of THE CROW over 29 years ago. That would have rocketed my writing career that Brandon Lee really liked. I only spoke to Brandon 3 times via phone... Never met him & he said a lot & straightforwardly told me he wanted my script. He said he had just 2 more scenes to do & that afterwards we were to set up plans to meet after he would have gotten married to Eliza.(he invited me to his wedding) He told me that I targeted every age group & called me a genius. He told me he was the boss on the set of THE CROW that would have launched him into great success/ stardom. Too bad he never got to see how successful he would of been. But I didn't care of the money they were going offer me.... (250K). I lost a potential good friend. I spoke to Brandon only 3 times. Late February/March of 1993. He died on March 31st, 1993. When my connection to him got back to me & told me the inauspicious news---I was crushed. I am totally convinced I would have become a successful writer afterwards. He almost mentioned my name in a interview.... Saying, I don't want to mention my next project because he's an unpublished author & some other producer might offer him more... I called him after this & I told him someone else couldn't offer me 14 million because I saw him as the only lead protagonist who could render this project to great success. Brandon Lee could of been another Johnny Depp. Somehow. I believe he was murdered..... After Brandon, I never came so close like that of getting published..... Brandon Lee predicted his own untimely demise. The guy had great wit, a great sense of humor & was very talented. They'll never be... another Brandon Lee.
My experience with ACX royalty share deals has given me a lot more lessons learned than money earned. The last 2 months I did back to back 95,000 word count books.
Did you do it "Per Finsished Hour" rate or "Royalties" rate? How much did you charge/get so far? I'm about to help a friend do about a 69,000 w.c. book.
I've narrated about 36 audio books on ACX. A lot were royalty share. A ton of work, but if you do your research on the author and they have a lot of positive reviews...not just 20 but several hundred you might do ok. I'm still making royalties from years ago. At this point I'm only doing paid per finished hour. Build up a portfolio then go to a place that actually pays you for the hard work an audiobook entails.
I stumbled upon this by accident and I am very grateful to have done so. I am in the process of getting the equipment to start narrating books. My plan was to read my own book first to gain experience before trying to read other authors books. I am excited about this becoming a career and was "pie in the sky" about what it would take and what I was willing to take. Thank you for helping me to level out a bit.
As an XDJ with long gone decades of studio voice work behind me, my age incites me to fortify future income. Thus, the possibility of jumping back in is a sure bet. Mike, I find each and every vid very informative and fun to watch...and of course, listen to. Lol This one has been crucial in staving off my tendency to grow branches though a barbed wire fence, as it were. The stark reality of what you're saying, if it could be translated to other fields, would probably prevent thousands from making bad career choices. Thank you SO much for knowing your gift (obviously from a very young age) and sharing it with the world. Oh, and please thank your wife for putting up with what it takes to let a VERY GIFTED husband fulfill his calling.
I narrated my first book for an author I had no knowledge of, for RS, and watched it zoom up to 76 sales in the first week! Then ACX sent a message that there was a copyright issue, that the producer did not have the rights to sell the book! That was that! No further royalties from that book. The next 4 books I narrated sold 1 copy each. Then a woman contacted me through ACX and asked me if I would narrate her book, because she liked my voice. She asked how I wanted to be paid, and I foolishly said RS. I should have asked for a flat fee. That has sold exactly 1 book in the month since I narrated it. So I decided to narrate my own book that I wrote a few years ago, and I sold one so far! I'm not into social media, unfortunately, that is the advice I get about increasing sales. But I'm still writing! Booth Junkie, you are right-on with your advice. (But this video could have been 9 minutes instead of 18... Sorry, just tellin' it like it is!)
Great stuff, Mike! I've had some luck with RS, however I'm hoping to move up to PFH. If an author won't promote their books (or their books suck) you end up subsidizing the author. Think about it: you're doing work that editors charge up to $100 an hour for. That said, everyone has to start somewhere and I feel RS is a great way to get experience. One solution that I've used is to negotiate an editing fee with the author/rights holder. I also try to make sure that I limit myself to shorter projects on RS. Some books are so long you'll never make up the difference.
Thank you, Mike! Very impressed with your obviously comprehensive experience, with a broad variety of aspects on these subjects... and that's after viewing just two of your videos! (ACX royalty share and wind screens). Needless to say, I subscribed right away. Although having done just enough narration and other VO to be dangerous, and despite a subsequent hiatus, I was very fortunate early on, landing the narration of an award-winning sci-fi audiobook w/ full sfx & music, from the author and his contacts, plus a Toyota Corporation project, in which the producer, about the 4th generation of a successful British company, found me online and called me, out of the blue!... among a handful of other nice projects. Although a decade has passed since then, during which life happened, with too much detail to further interrupt your obviously full schedule, I am finally getting back in the saddle, and would be honored to hear from you. Your videos are packed with way more intellectual vitamins than dozens of others I have seen... from some other really good people! Thank you so much, for an approach that is both tremendously informative and very down-to-earth comfortable. If interested, please feel free to look me up, on messenger / Facebook, LinkedIn, voice123, or elsewhere. Please keep up the outstanding work! Looking forward to any more of your videos.
A few points of interests 1 - Regarding sales ranks: I once had an author tell me that a book ranked at 1,000 (which is pretty high) on Amazon will actually translates to about 1 sale a day. 2 - I agree that Royalty share projects are more about the RH (Rights Holder or Author) trying to get a "free narration". 3 - I did a quick search on the number of Royalty Share vs PFH books on my ACX profile. After I filter out certain genres that I will not narrate due to personal preference I found 18 PFH books paying at least $100 PFH vs 967 that are Royalty Share. That is quite a disparity. 4 - Many people are just creating a short book that they can throw out there on Kindle Free Publishing to try to make a quick buck and then think ex post facto - "Hey! I can get this narrated for free". So do your research before accepting any RS project.
Great points! I've as a published author, I've got a few more fun facts: 1) The average new author sells 250 books; that's less than one per day; 2) Many authors on Amazon have NO sales at all; 3) Audiobooks can augment print sales and vice versa; 4) There is no statute of limitations on sales. The author can continue to sell books for years. If he or she ever makes it big, on some later book, then the narrator can make it big--five or ten years down the line. Bottom line: there's not a way to get rich quick, easy and cheap, for VOA--or for fiction authors. 5) The VOA actor can help his or her cause by promoting the books they produce. That's a win-win. Or you can collaborate with the author. Don't hesitate to offer or to share ideas.
This is so great. Loving this content, Mike. Amazon is definitely taking advantage. They cater to the buyers and have no qualms about squeezing the hell out of everyone in the middle. My husband is a third party seller on Amazon and it's the same for them. Amazon pits sellers against each other with software to automatically drop to the cheapest price (and get the Buy box), which drives the price down fast, even PAST the point where they LOSE money in the deal (where they literally PAY to send a product to someone) and there's no feature in the software to protect them against this, or to help bring the price back up to a more sustainable level for sellers. They take advantage of naive newcomers selling on Amazon in numerous ways. My husband just waits for these competitors to go out of business so the price will hopefully go back up to a reasonable place, but there are enough incoming newcomers bringing the price down on products that it makes the whole thing a losing game--FOR EVERYONE.
In other words, you've got to watch your own bottom line, whatever you're doing. Amazon has not designed this process to make you money! They have a lot of systems that benefit the buyer (in terms of low price products) but screw the middle man, so you've really got to be smart if you're dealing with them. They don't make it easy to survive in the business!
Hi Mike. Excellent video. Eyes wide open stuff! You tell it how it is. I think that anyone new to ACX and audiobook work should learn from this video, and the information you’ve provided. Well done.
Thank for this. Im a trained british actor and have only just discovered ACX and thinking about investing in some equipment. This video has given me a lot of insight and things to think about before I take the plunge. Thank you.
Your explanation of things is completely accurate and to the point!! It absolutely is a marathon recording books, doing editing, engineering, and doing quality control. I'm a newer/ narrator and a 3 hour book could easily take me days or weeks depending on the concentration of time I am able to apply. When I first started, I auditioned for a number of books just to get "a catch". At this time, I have auditioned for 12 books. I got 3 new offers on books with Royalty Shares and Royalty Share Plus compensation but, I quickly found out while doing them that I couldn't keep my voices consistent and since I had no real experience with audacity or any other studio software, when I got in a bind or needed to fix something, I didn't know how to despite the countless number of RUclips videos I watched to help myself. At any rate, I am now working on only one book that's about 3 hours long and I'm already on week 2. Doing this though has helped me to see how much work it takes to record audiobooks; it has encouraged me to be persistent in my learning about sound and sound quality, voice practicing and solidification, and a number of other things. At one point, I began to think only people who don't have kids or a family can do this stuff. But, I don't completely believe that's true. I just think maybe it takes more time to master the art. Once you get enough pay coming in though because you have nailed the art, I can see the possibility of doing this full-time. I would totally like that to be me one day. Thanks for the video! I appreciate your brutal honesty!
I am so thankful you're in this world, Mike! Thank you so much for the work that you do. I'm incredibly appreciative and your wisdom has been absolutely invaluable. God bless and keep on recoding amazing things ^_^
Mike, your content and delivery are both educational and entertaining -- in a word: fantastic! I hope you're getting a ton of great jobs, but don't forget to keep the videos coming! ;)
This is a great video and great advice. I found it just as I was about to invest my energy into ACX and I feel you saved me a lot of headache and time. Everything you said made so much sense, thank you!
Dude, thanks for keeping it real. I related to the part about recording for yourself. I'm new to voice over but not to recording. I record my own music for myself just to get good at it. But I have yet to record myself reading and doing a full production of a book. I'm gonna grab a book of my shelf that I like and try this out. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. I was on the cusp of maybe getting away from my commercial work for a bit because I was offered a narration contract with a publishing house. But they wanted to pay me royalty only with less of a take than ACX offers. I am unfamiliar with the audio book realm of v/o (aside from a terrible first project that turned me away from audio books in the first place long ago) and this video REALLY has helped me. I may be a fighting freelancer just trying to figure out my way here, but I know my worth and this video helped. Thanks, again.
I listened to this as an author with two books on royalty share. I kind of suspected he'd be against it, and I was right. Still, it's an outstanding explanation of ACX for authors and narrators/producers. I agree royalty share is not a good deal for narrators for poor-selling books. (Mine at least has reviews and sales!) But it is a good way to get experience in ACX for authors and narrators and that's how I've used it so far. My narrators (male and female) are professional actors, but novices at ACX. The producer experienced the problems mentioned in the video. I didn't nag him and her over their characterizations--they all matched the voices in my head. I just corrected mistakes I heard. There's definitely a place for royalty share for new authors and new producers. My question is, when do I switch to per hour payment?
I wish I had seen your video (I just subscribed!!) when I was first getting started. Did a young adult audiobook (fiction with tons of characters) 45k words with mastering...and got paid a pittance. Was great experience, but I'm glad I just saw your video now. Got hired to do five more and will definitely make a wiser choice in terms of payment. Thanks for this video!!!
HA! I started reading/narrating one of my books two days ago. Before listening to this. Seemed like the best way to get material with which to learn to speak! One additional bit of advice I'd add to that is to choose a book in the public domain so that you CAN do something with the recording, even if it's to give it away. But talking about marathons... at the moment I'm babysitting 2 additional dogs... getting lots of practice editing out noise!
Excellent and honest advice. However, the Royalty Share PLUS option could be something to explore, where the narrator and rights holder agree to an up front (per finished hour) fee, and a piece of sales.
Editing a chapter right now of my second ACX book, yes, it's a ton of work, I'm going PFH after I finish this one--- it's a lot of friggin work, enjoyable as a side hobby, but damn! --- you ain't kidding ---- I do these on my H5, then export to Audition --- I need a Mac to pull off punch n Roll editing, that's after a few more books--- you are spot on, and crazy helpful, love you and your insights, thank you Mike
Great video AND advice. You delivered the nuts and bolts of the basics of the "business end"of recording work. I am shopping the prospect of getting into it. Thx.
I'm just starting out in VO/narration and I'm so glad I watched this video! Every book past the 2nd page on ACX is royalty share and has probably been sitting there for a while. I've done about 9 auditions, and now I think I'm going to change my game plan.
Thank you for this video! I appreciate the total honestly ESPECIALLY the actual time each task takes. This is the kind of information I needed to hear!!!!
I submitted a couple of demos. I enjoyed interpreting the material, listening to it and becoming a part of the story. I looked for scripts that I thought might be right for me. But we need to make the top dollar whenever possible. Artists do this to make a living, it can't be just for fun.
You remind of Paul Giamati! I think you kind of sound like him! Thank you for the advice! I'm a newbie and I know that this will be challenging but I think I can make something good out of this experience! I have nothing to lose.
Especially love the idea of record a book for yourself! Can't wait for your review of the mic, especially your thoughts on the lack of proximity effect. Thanks for these, they're a huge help!
This is great advice. I'm just beginning my voice over career, auditioning for acx with eyes wide open to all the things you laid out. I just want to get the experience under my belt. I love the pseudonym idea.
Thanks for the tips really useful info! I was downsized from almost 40 years in radio last fall and my wife has been pushing me to do this. I did creative and production so editing skills aren't an issue I have worked in pro tools for 25 years and mastering so that part is easy. But I see the majority of time is definitely on the read and retakes and thanks for the realistic gut check on time it takes to do an 8 hour read. And yes the royalty share is a crap shoot I don't see an upside.
I love how the first word you said was a straight to the point "no."
This. So many RUclipsrs waste your time with preamble. It amazes me how much video time they can fill with absolutely useless nothing. Straight to the point styles like this are pure gold.
@@FulcanMal The music youtuber Adam Neely literally just puts the question as the video title and the answer in the thumbnail
@@FulcanMal More time on they're video gets them more watch time, and gets them more algorithm attention. At least in recent times.
@@legendteller4893 But that only works if you actually watch their videos. If a video wastes my time, I'm not watching more.
Two 2.5 hr. audiobooks I did for royalty share have made me over $400 in 6 months. That's about 40% of what I would've gotten if I got paid $200 per finished hour flate rate, $1,000, so they've got a way to go, but I'm looking long-term.
If you want to do royalty share audiobooks, before auditioning, you have to look at:
1) Sales rank (the lower the number the better)--anything under 50,000 is pretty good.
2) How many user reviews does the print version of the book have, and are the reviews on average 4-5 star?
3) What is the author doing to advertise/promote their book?
The author of the 2 books that have made me $400 so far has been dumping money into advertising, sales rank was under 50,000 and there were at least 30 user reviews per book, averaging 4-5 stars.
I narrate for audible as well... and everything this man is saying is TOTALLY TRUE!
Hey I would love to know more about this I am auditioning and getting offers but wanna know More about the experience of others with the platform- I’m juggling a few things and would love to use this for side income
@@nicoleballantine5171 hey just wanna know how you're doing with the audio books
@Jack Ares sir, would love pointers as am setting up a studio for narration of audiobooks
How many books have you narrated so far? Im thinking about doing it
@Jack Ares nice !! Can u help me w a few questions ?? I just signed up with acx recently
Okay first -- best opening to a video ever. Seriously. Second, one of my first VO jobs in 2019 was an audiobook with a bunch of different character voices and a really really particular author. It took a few months to record a two and a half hour book. It has so far earned me less than $5.
rough !!!! sorry man ! I'm sure you did a killer job !
I've done about twelve audiobooks for ACX, all under Royalty Share, and I only gain about $12-$15 a month. Just saying. Others may be luckier.
Hey , what are you doing here? lol
That's crap huh...
I
Oof
you have to pick the books with a good sales rank
I got wind of ACX early in my VO career and tried a couple of ~30 minute books. I'm so glad that I didn't go big for the larger books. The books were difficult to read because of a poor mastery of English on the authors' part, and my inexperience at the time made it take a ton of time to edit and even with that small project, it was miserable.
The whole thing seems like a racket, and you're right, it definitely seems like Amazon is taking advantage of amateurs who don't know any better. But then the fact that they take a whopping 60% of the cut of a sale, I feel like they're taking big advantage of authors, too.
I KNOW!!! I narrated one long book and that was enough for me. I still dabble in ACX but mostly short *fun* stories because the genre pays well. But with that said, it's hard finding good authors who write well in that genre.
I'm experiencing this right now, I keep reading it wrong because it's just worded slightly differently, then what i'm used to.
As an author, this was so helpful to hear. My son is a sound producer so I know how much work goes into this kind of project. Most authors don't.
This video has been a breathe of fresh air!
As a new ACX narrator, I've already spent countless of hours just learning, trying to master audio recording software like Reaper. That has been a task in itself! Having a full time day job, I've contemplated taking on, what I thought would be an exciting and fairly easy project to do as a stage/musical theatre actor, the whole "getting started" process has already been too labor intensive and exhausting and your insight into the industry has just help put things in perspective for me.
Great video - very insightful!
You know in a world where everyone is so greedy and cut throat seems to be the name of the business, it is truly a Godsend to find someone like yourself to offer so much information regarding book narration. I am new to the idea of voiceover work. I have researched and am prepared to establish my first sound booth. Being a perfectionist I love the idea of a pseudo name and using a royalty share to establish the guidelines of future book narrations. I have subscribed to your channel and will be paying close attention to
ALL videos I can get my hands on! Again thank you for taking the time to create these honest, informative videos. Perhaps one day I will be able to give you a run for your own money, lol.
I have no desire to do audio books, or get into voice acting, but this is such a great video.
I love your channel too!!!
I agree and convince me not to try!
If I hadn’t noticed who made this silly remark, I’d say it was really lame, but coming from you, it’s hilarious. I checked the doodly do and saw who it doodly was. Branding. Greetings, earthling.
You and Mike are the two best sources for audio recording advice that I subscribe to, I don't buy any equipment until I search for your reviews.
Dude... I can listen to you all day long, your voice is awesome!... You have helped me with my setup for my RUclips Channel and I just want to thank you soo much.
Well said, comprehensive, practical, clear, down to earth experienced advice from a real pro that should be applied to ALL royalty sharing platforms, in ALL media. Great post!
Someone tried to recommend me to do an ACX royalty share deal. I am glad I watched your video before doing it. I appreciate you Mike.
Couldn't agree more, I would never do a royalty share on ACX of any length. The only books that would be worth doing for royalties would go out to casting agencies and have massive publishers anyway.
I did do a royalty book, but it was only an hour long, and it was for the credit, not for the money. One of the ways of becoming Audible Approved is to have 25+ credits to your name, so I'm hoping to use very short books like this to boost that number and become Audible Approved.
What is the advantage of becoming "Audible Approved"? I am trying to decide if this is right for me. Just completed my first book. Thanks.
Where was this chunk o' knowledge, when I did my first 57,000 word book. At least I passed all the qualifications. Thanks Mike, great stuff as always.
This saved me from making a big nistake. Thx for the info!
I just finished reading the Reddit thread as you posted this! Agreed 100%. I did an audiobook (not through ACX) that paid $150 per finished hour and then $1 per sale after the book launched. I was really excited about the potential! In the end, I got $11 in royalties. Lesson learned!
That's good actually. The point is you made $150 per hour. Royalties is like an investment in a new stock within the stock market. You do Royalties in case the book pops off one day. So yeah, you did the right thing, but you got to excited about royalties, which is a gamble.
If you don't mind me asking what did you do your audiobook through
Can you tell me what the Amazon book ranking was or the audible rank whatever that is and how many comments there were or what are they called reviews that were prior to you recording audition?
This is one of the most important videos I've seen so far. Thank you.
I'm an author but I also do voice work as well (not on ACX), mostly private clients. The first time I worked for an actual company - I will tell you that I did NOT negotiate right. It was waaaaaayyyyy more work than I anticipated with being constantly asked to change one word here or there, or telling me at times I didn't sound like the same person, or sending me visual charts and graphs of how my voice went up a little too high on one word in a sentence. I don't know but it was totally discouraging and somewhat of a nightmare - the nitpicking. I'm not sure if this is the norm but it was awful (and I am a super positive person! LOL)
yeah that sounds a bit nightmarish, that they have unlimited nitpicking ability
Hi Mike! I found you online via our mutual interest in Reaper (I finished your Setting Up Reaper 6.0 online course--EXCEPTIONAL!) and I love all of your instructional vids here on YT. With that said, I must say that this may be one of the most informative vids I've ever watched, in any field of interest! I am newly retired and have been kicking around the idea of VO work so of course you and your career have been of great interest to me. I've been intimidated by putting up an audition on ACX because I didn't really know what was what, but I feel I do now, thanks to you! Thank you very much for speaking truthfully but respectfully about these topics, whether it is ACX or Amazon or a particular manufacturer of a piece of gear--keep making them, please!
This is valuable info, and I'm grateful that you decided to share these experiences with those of us who are just getting started. I'm definitely one who learns well from others experiences. Thank you.
I am so glad that I stumbled upon this video (and the Booth Junkie site) when I did. I am just starting my home studio, and foray into audiobooks. In this day and age, who can, literally, afford to invest time and money pursuing a potential career and not see any profit from it? I loved the final suggestion of grabbing a book from your own shelf and learning the ropes without the pressure and expectation of "making the grade". I can't wait to deep dive into other Booth Junkie videos.
New guy...thanks for this...I did one so far on ACX and plan to just pick the smallest projects that have been available for several weeks, hoping the author are a bit "eager" to just get it done.....I really appreciate this vid...will be following....
I really appreciate you going over how much time it takes to get a finished hour of audio, as someone who discovered ACX last night, and has never done any narration, seeing that the low end for budgets being 100-200PFH looked really good, I knew that there would be more than an hour of work for a finished hour but I underestimated how much more. Still looks acceptable for starting out knowing that I'll get paid more with more experience, but getting a good understanding of how much my time will be valued starting out is really helpful.
Thank you SO much for this info... I was just about to take the dive into ACX... I'm glad I didn't
So glad I watched this before going down the acx rabbit hole.. I may still do it, but now I feel informed about what to expect. :p
I'm working on my 3rd and 4th royalty share ACX projects right now. I've used the platform as a method to learn some skills, and it has been very good for that. My first project was a short piece of crap that I basically had to rewrite, the English in it was so poor. The second one was a Vietnam POW's war story which I suspect will have some legs over a long period of time. The two I'm working on now, no clue really, I'm not expecting much. After I wrap these, I'll look into other avenues as well. The POW book was my first "big" one at 13 hours estimated. It was a bit eye opening to realize the amount of the work that really was, but mostly because I do this part time as a side thing, so it took about 6 weeks doing an hour here and an hour there...
Mudflap1974 how has it so far with narration?
I think the coolest thing about this is that it can apply to anything that uses a royalties format for paying you, voice acting, video creation, or even music. Very insightful Mike I sure appreciate it.
Wow, your voice is Brilliant! A friend just suggested this to me and I’m most likely not gonna do it but I could listen to you talk forever!!! ❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💕
In love this and I just did a royalty share… even though i have 11 books on audible/acx. Silly me, you were straight to the point and I appreciate that. No more royalty share.
Great video, thank you for telling the true about all this stuff , as a veteran sound engineer I know very well how long it takes to get a single song or book ready to go public !!! Normal people have no idea of what all this is about !!! I did voice overs years ago and I always got 50% in advance and 50 % when finished , and always for a good amount of money !!! Pro work is never cheap !!! Doing audio books is not an easy task !!! New narrators need someone like you to open their eyes to reality !!! Well done !!!
Thank you Mike. I have been researching and experimenting for the past week trying to wrap my head around what it takes to get into narration, how to meet ACX requirements with the equipment that I already have not to mention how to edit and master a final project. I keep coming back to your insightful posts because you are real and your able to describe tech jargon in a way that brings understanding. After watching this post I will think twice before "volunteering" for a royalty share project. Maybe a very short one. ;)
I had no idea the involvement and depth of skill it take for narration production. Great informative video.
Man, all your posts are so honest and super helpful. I’m in the research phase of the biz, so I haven’t even tried to audition yet. still getting my gear in order. YOur vids have been some of the best info I’ve seen, and I’ve watched TONS of videos for the past month. Your candid style, and expert opinions are just what I need at this point! Cheers, Alan
Mike, thank you for presenting this message for people learning about the industry, like myself attempting to navigate the industry and all its complexities. You are a voice in the wilderness directing the inexperienced on a path towards knowledge, wisdom and hopeful prosperity. Thank you for all your experience and wisdom. Your experience is valued and noted!
Kris
10:36 - a pitfall I fell into early on in my voice career. The worst thing is to call a client and say "I underestimated and I'm gonna need more time."
This video has answered many questions I've had about audio books in general and royalty sharing in particular. I now feel much more informed about aspects of the process that were unapparent before getting this vital information. Thank you Booth Junkie, your video is a genuine public service.
This was much more thorough than Earl Halls video on ACX and helped my decision making easier. Well done.
MrSilksoul what did you decide ?
You are SUCH an amazingly honest and helpful resource for those of us working the booth. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I am wanting to get started in the audiobook industry. I currently work at a call center and I realize that when you sign up for a job as a novice, there is a lot that you don't know.
I should have really paid attention to this video! It was even sent to me by the author who ultimately hired me!! I've been in the voice over biz and legit commercial production field for 25 years but never had done an audio book. I knew I had to work with a good affordable local studio as my presumed tech abilities were limited. That was $35/hr. Then I misunderstood the finished hr. rate. The Audible algorithm being ( atleast }2x production
time. As you have indicated it took much longer. The book was a 7 hr read... so at the very least it was a 14 hr generator. The author was paying on the "finished hr" rate. Eeeek!! The first 15 pgs. took me about 3hrs to finished product! It was a non starter. I would have been PAYING to have the work completed and on time, enriching the studio and gifting the author. Anyway thank you Booth junkie!!
I've done a couple of RS projects, one which was like the one he described in this video. I have since learned my lesson.
You are such a great speaker! You had my attention the entire video. Thank you.
Very well spoken. The way you speak and deliver information is truly an art form 🙏🏻
I loved your honest opinion and your advice! You absolutely have a great voice! Thank you for this video!
I am an audiobook consumer and worked for an edditing house aat some point and I so love that you brought this insight because most of the times pple have no idea abt "how it's made and how much it actually costs in matter of time and effort" for which, btw, no one is repaying back, so...
I don't want to narrate a book, I just watched for this dude. 🤙
Interesting. I realize that this is from about 5 years ago. It popped up in my videos as I researched work in Voice Overs and Audio Books . Thanks.
As an author, I spent $1800 on a seasoned narrator. I was happy with his performance. But it's 5 years later, and I haven't made it back yet. So yes, you're right. Not worth it for narrators OR authors.
Jennifer Moss, I don't believe in giving any money to anyone not even an agent or to a publisher who likes your work. If you do that, you get stuck with doing all the advertising. No way. I could of sold a screenplay to the late Brandon Lee, but he was accidentally killed on the set of THE CROW over 29 years ago. That would have rocketed my writing career that Brandon Lee really liked. I only spoke to Brandon 3 times via phone... Never met him & he said a lot & straightforwardly told me he wanted my script. He said he had just 2 more scenes to do & that afterwards we were to set up plans to meet after he would have gotten married to Eliza.(he invited me to his wedding) He told me that I targeted every age group & called me a genius. He told me he was the boss on the set of THE CROW that would have launched him into great success/ stardom. Too bad he never got to see how successful he would of been. But I didn't care of the money they were going offer me.... (250K). I lost a potential good friend. I spoke to Brandon only 3 times. Late February/March of 1993. He died on March 31st, 1993. When my connection to him got back to me & told me the inauspicious news---I was crushed. I am totally convinced I would have become a successful writer afterwards. He almost mentioned my name in a interview.... Saying, I don't want to mention my next project because he's an unpublished author & some other producer might offer him more... I called him after this & I told him someone else couldn't offer me 14 million because I saw him as the only lead protagonist who could render this project to great success. Brandon Lee could of been another Johnny Depp. Somehow. I believe he was murdered..... After Brandon, I never came so close like that of getting published..... Brandon Lee predicted his own untimely demise. The guy had great wit, a great sense of humor & was very talented. They'll never be... another Brandon Lee.
have you been pretty thorough in marketing/editing your book ?
I have been addicted to watching your videos lately. Keep up the good work! :D
My experience with ACX royalty share deals has given me a lot more lessons learned than money earned. The last 2 months I did back to back 95,000 word count books.
Did you do it "Per Finsished Hour" rate or "Royalties" rate? How much did you charge/get so far? I'm about to help a friend do about a 69,000 w.c. book.
Yup, one month per 60K-80K words--- that's where I'm at doing it part time--- you are wayyy spot on Mike!!
I've narrated about 36 audio books on ACX. A lot were royalty share. A ton of work, but if you do your research on the author and they have a lot of positive reviews...not just 20 but several hundred you might do ok. I'm still making royalties from years ago. At this point I'm only doing paid per finished hour. Build up a portfolio then go to a place that actually pays you for the hard work an audiobook entails.
That's so weird. You always show up just when I am questioning what you show up to answer. Thank you, hero.
I stumbled upon this by accident and I am very grateful to have done so. I am in the process of getting the equipment to start narrating books. My plan was to read my own book first to gain experience before trying to read other authors books. I am excited about this becoming a career and was "pie in the sky" about what it would take and what I was willing to take. Thank you for helping me to level out a bit.
As an XDJ with long gone decades of studio voice work behind me, my age incites me to fortify future income. Thus, the possibility of jumping back in is a sure bet.
Mike, I find each and every vid very informative and fun to watch...and of course, listen to. Lol
This one has been crucial in staving off my tendency to grow branches though a barbed wire fence, as it were. The stark reality of what you're saying, if it could be translated to other fields, would probably prevent thousands from making bad career choices.
Thank you SO much for knowing your gift (obviously from a very young age) and sharing it with the world.
Oh, and please thank your wife for putting up with what it takes to let a VERY GIFTED husband fulfill his calling.
I narrated my first book for an author I had no knowledge of, for RS, and watched it zoom up to 76 sales in the first week! Then ACX sent a message that there was a copyright issue, that the producer did not have the rights to sell the book! That was that! No further royalties from that book. The next 4 books I narrated sold 1 copy each. Then a woman contacted me through ACX and asked me if I would narrate her book, because she liked my voice. She asked how I wanted to be paid, and I foolishly said RS. I should have asked for a flat fee. That has sold exactly 1 book in the month since I narrated it. So I decided to narrate my own book that I wrote a few years ago, and I sold one so far! I'm not into social media, unfortunately, that is the advice I get about increasing sales. But I'm still writing! Booth Junkie, you are right-on with your advice. (But this video could have been 9 minutes instead of 18... Sorry, just tellin' it like it is!)
Love the sense of humor! Draws me in. Great advice for beginners also. thank you!
Great stuff, Mike! I've had some luck with RS, however I'm hoping to move up to PFH. If an author won't promote their books (or their books suck) you end up subsidizing the author. Think about it: you're doing work that editors charge up to $100 an hour for. That said, everyone has to start somewhere and I feel RS is a great way to get experience. One solution that I've used is to negotiate an editing fee with the author/rights holder. I also try to make sure that I limit myself to shorter projects on RS. Some books are so long you'll never make up the difference.
Thank you, Mike! Very impressed with your obviously comprehensive experience, with a broad variety of aspects on these subjects... and that's after viewing just two of your videos! (ACX royalty share and wind screens). Needless to say, I subscribed right away.
Although having done just enough narration and other VO to be dangerous, and despite a subsequent hiatus, I was very fortunate early on, landing the narration of an award-winning sci-fi audiobook w/ full sfx & music, from the author and his contacts, plus a Toyota Corporation project, in which the producer, about the 4th generation of a successful British company, found me online and called me, out of the blue!... among a handful of other nice projects.
Although a decade has passed since then, during which life happened, with too much detail to further interrupt your obviously full schedule, I am finally getting back in the saddle, and would be honored to hear from you. Your videos are packed with way more intellectual vitamins than dozens of others I have seen... from some other really good people! Thank you so much, for an approach that is both tremendously informative and very down-to-earth comfortable.
If interested, please feel free to look me up, on messenger / Facebook, LinkedIn, voice123, or elsewhere.
Please keep up the outstanding work! Looking forward to any more of your videos.
A few points of interests
1 - Regarding sales ranks: I once had an author tell me that a book ranked at 1,000 (which is pretty high) on Amazon will actually translates to about 1 sale a day.
2 - I agree that Royalty share projects are more about the RH (Rights Holder or Author) trying to get a "free narration".
3 - I did a quick search on the number of Royalty Share vs PFH books on my ACX profile. After I filter out certain genres that I will not narrate due to personal preference I found 18 PFH books paying at least $100 PFH vs 967 that are Royalty Share. That is quite a disparity.
4 - Many people are just creating a short book that they can throw out there on Kindle Free Publishing to try to make a quick buck and then think ex post facto - "Hey! I can get this narrated for free". So do your research before accepting any RS project.
Great points! I've as a published author, I've got a few more fun facts:
1) The average new author sells 250 books; that's less than one per day;
2) Many authors on Amazon have NO sales at all;
3) Audiobooks can augment print sales and vice versa;
4) There is no statute of limitations on sales. The author can continue to sell books for years. If he or she ever makes it big, on some later book, then the narrator can make it big--five or ten years down the line. Bottom line: there's not a way to get rich quick, easy and cheap, for VOA--or for fiction authors.
5) The VOA actor can help his or her cause by promoting the books they produce. That's a win-win. Or you can collaborate with the author. Don't hesitate to offer or to share ideas.
This is so great. Loving this content, Mike.
Amazon is definitely taking advantage. They cater to the buyers and have no qualms about squeezing the hell out of everyone in the middle. My husband is a third party seller on Amazon and it's the same for them. Amazon pits sellers against each other with software to automatically drop to the cheapest price (and get the Buy box), which drives the price down fast, even PAST the point where they LOSE money in the deal (where they literally PAY to send a product to someone) and there's no feature in the software to protect them against this, or to help bring the price back up to a more sustainable level for sellers. They take advantage of naive newcomers selling on Amazon in numerous ways. My husband just waits for these competitors to go out of business so the price will hopefully go back up to a reasonable place, but there are enough incoming newcomers bringing the price down on products that it makes the whole thing a losing game--FOR EVERYONE.
In other words, you've got to watch your own bottom line, whatever you're doing. Amazon has not designed this process to make you money! They have a lot of systems that benefit the buyer (in terms of low price products) but screw the middle man, so you've really got to be smart if you're dealing with them. They don't make it easy to survive in the business!
Oh wow. TFS.
This is super helpful, thank you! I'm absolutely selecting "pay for production" with ACX.
Hi Mike. Excellent video. Eyes wide open stuff! You tell it how it is. I think that anyone new to ACX and audiobook work should learn from this video, and the information you’ve provided. Well done.
Thank for this. Im a trained british actor and have only just discovered ACX and thinking about investing in some equipment. This video has given me a lot of insight and things to think about before I take the plunge. Thank you.
Your explanation of things is completely accurate and to the point!! It absolutely is a marathon recording books, doing editing, engineering, and doing quality control. I'm a newer/ narrator and a 3 hour book could easily take me days or weeks depending on the concentration of time I am able to apply. When I first started, I auditioned for a number of books just to get "a catch". At this time, I have auditioned for 12 books. I got 3 new offers on books with Royalty Shares and Royalty Share Plus compensation but, I quickly found out while doing them that I couldn't keep my voices consistent and since I had no real experience with audacity or any other studio software, when I got in a bind or needed to fix something, I didn't know how to despite the countless number of RUclips videos I watched to help myself. At any rate, I am now working on only one book that's about 3 hours long and I'm already on week 2. Doing this though has helped me to see how much work it takes to record audiobooks; it has encouraged me to be persistent in my learning about sound and sound quality, voice practicing and solidification, and a number of other things. At one point, I began to think only people who don't have kids or a family can do this stuff. But, I don't completely believe that's true. I just think maybe it takes more time to master the art. Once you get enough pay coming in though because you have nailed the art, I can see the possibility of doing this full-time. I would totally like that to be me one day. Thanks for the video! I appreciate your brutal honesty!
I am so thankful you're in this world, Mike! Thank you so much for the work that you do. I'm incredibly appreciative and your wisdom has been absolutely invaluable. God bless and keep on recoding amazing things ^_^
Mike, your content and delivery are both educational and entertaining -- in a word: fantastic! I hope you're getting a ton of great jobs, but don't forget to keep the videos coming! ;)
As a writer that was considering ACX this was great to hear...
I just created an ACX account and have never done this before, so this was a huge help. Thanks!
This is a great video and great advice. I found it just as I was about to invest my energy into ACX and I feel you saved me a lot of headache and time. Everything you said made so much sense, thank you!
Gold. Pure gold. Looking at getting into the engineering side of ACX and this was SUPER helpful to learn the other pieces.
Dude, thanks for keeping it real. I related to the part about recording for yourself. I'm new to voice over but not to recording. I record my own music for myself just to get good at it. But I have yet to record myself reading and doing a full production of a book. I'm gonna grab a book of my shelf that I like and try this out. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this. I was on the cusp of maybe getting away from my commercial work for a bit because I was offered a narration contract with a publishing house. But they wanted to pay me royalty only with less of a take than ACX offers. I am unfamiliar with the audio book realm of v/o (aside from a terrible first project that turned me away from audio books in the first place long ago) and this video REALLY has helped me. I may be a fighting freelancer just trying to figure out my way here, but I know my worth and this video helped. Thanks, again.
I listened to this as an author with two books on royalty share. I kind of suspected he'd be against it, and I was right. Still, it's an outstanding explanation of ACX for authors and narrators/producers.
I agree royalty share is not a good deal for narrators for poor-selling books. (Mine at least has reviews and sales!) But it is a good way to get experience in ACX for authors and narrators and that's how I've used it so far.
My narrators (male and female) are professional actors, but novices at ACX. The producer experienced the problems mentioned in the video. I didn't nag him and her over their characterizations--they all matched the voices in my head. I just corrected mistakes I heard.
There's definitely a place for royalty share for new authors and new producers. My question is, when do I switch to per hour payment?
I wish I had seen your video (I just subscribed!!) when I was first getting started. Did a young adult audiobook (fiction with tons of characters) 45k words with mastering...and got paid a pittance. Was great experience, but I'm glad I just saw your video now. Got hired to do five more and will definitely make a wiser choice in terms of payment. Thanks for this video!!!
HA! I started reading/narrating one of my books two days ago. Before listening to this. Seemed like the best way to get material with which to learn to speak! One additional bit of advice I'd add to that is to choose a book in the public domain so that you CAN do something with the recording, even if it's to give it away.
But talking about marathons... at the moment I'm babysitting 2 additional dogs... getting lots of practice editing out noise!
Mike! Best description video about ACX
This post in particular convinced me of your honesty and value as a youtube publisher. Kudos.
YES. THANK YOU. FOR YOUR EFFORT. I appreciate your loving time
Excellent and honest advice. However, the Royalty Share PLUS option could be something to explore, where the narrator and rights holder agree to an up front (per finished hour) fee, and a piece of sales.
Editing a chapter right now of my second ACX book, yes, it's a ton of work, I'm going PFH after I finish this one--- it's a lot of friggin work, enjoyable as a side hobby, but damn! --- you ain't kidding ---- I do these on my H5, then export to Audition --- I need a Mac to pull off punch n Roll editing, that's after a few more books--- you are spot on, and crazy helpful, love you and your insights, thank you Mike
Thanks for the honesty. I learned the hard way, but was willing to take the chance. Just finishing my first book now. We shall see how it does.
So… What happened?
Excellent advice, consistent with what I have heard on a couple of other reputable youtube channels
Great video AND advice. You delivered the nuts and bolts of the basics of the "business end"of recording work. I am shopping the prospect of getting into it. Thx.
I'm just starting out in VO/narration and I'm so glad I watched this video! Every book past the 2nd page on ACX is royalty share and has probably been sitting there for a while. I've done about 9 auditions, and now I think I'm going to change my game plan.
Thank you for this video! I appreciate the total honestly ESPECIALLY the actual time each task takes. This is the kind of information I needed to hear!!!!
Agreed, that was my biggest take away from this video too.
I totally LOVE your speaking style! and NOW you say you don't narrate audiobooks!
Superb analysis! I learned a whole lot by watching this video!
This was incredibly helpful. I just agreed to a Royalty share on ACX for a novice author, but will be more careful in the future. Thank you!
I submitted a couple of demos. I enjoyed interpreting the material, listening to it and becoming a part of the story. I looked for scripts that I thought might be right for me. But we need to make the top dollar whenever possible. Artists do this to make a living, it can't be just for fun.
You remind of Paul Giamati! I think you kind of sound like him! Thank you for the advice! I'm a newbie and I know that this will be challenging but I think I can make something good out of this experience! I have nothing to lose.
Especially love the idea of record a book for yourself!
Can't wait for your review of the mic, especially your thoughts on the lack of proximity effect.
Thanks for these, they're a huge help!
Dude thank you. You inspired me to do a narration out of love of the art.
Great video! Good insight and advice especially for the newcomers in voice work. You are a delight to listen to!
You've cured me of that thought! Thank you.
I appreciate the no BS approach. Straight to the point! I've been thinking about doing this... I guess at some point I could...
This is great advice. I'm just beginning my voice over career, auditioning for acx with eyes wide open to all the things you laid out. I just want to get the experience under my belt. I love the pseudonym idea.
Thanks for the tips really useful info! I was downsized from almost 40 years in radio last fall and my wife has been pushing me to do this. I did creative and production so editing skills aren't an issue I have worked in pro tools for 25 years and mastering so that part is easy.
But I see the majority of time is definitely on the read and retakes and thanks for the realistic gut check on time it takes to do an 8 hour read. And yes the royalty share is a crap shoot I don't see an upside.
Really solid points. Great video and good wisdom for new narrators getting into the business