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Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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Books

In the Shadow of Billy the Kid

27 August 2013

You probably have heard the name of Billy the Kid, but have you heard the story behind his fame? Did you know a woman was involved?

William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was a leading participant in a prolonged shoot-out in Lincoln, NM during the late 1870s. The violent episode became known as the Lincoln County War.

While many people know something of this story, few realize that a woman was at the center of it.

She wasn’t Billy’s wife, mother, or sister, yet Billy and his band of “Regulators” were in her house during the conflict.

Who was she, and why was Billy the Kid in her home?

The woman was Susan McSween, the wife of attorney Alexander McSween.

Author Kathleen P. Chamberlain conducted extensive research and wrote a fascinating account of Susan McSween’s life in her book In The Shadow of Billy the Kid: Susan McSween and the Lincoln County War, which was published earlier this year.

You never hear about women when learning about the Wild Wild West. As one who loves to read biographies and learn about history, it was exciting to me to read this well-researched biography of a woman embedded in what is typically man’s story. Billy the Kid may have made Susan McSween famous, but she went on to become the Cattle Queen of New Mexico.

I recorded the 12-hour audiobook for University Press Audiobooks and am honored to bring her story to audio. In doing so, I also conducted extensive research in order to pronounce the Spanish and Native American words found in the text.

The audiobook is now available for immediate purchase and download on Audible.com at this link.

 

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Book Trailers, Books, Narrators, New releases, Videos, Voice-Over Tagged With: audiobook, Billy the Kid, Biography, history, Kathleen P. Chamberlain, Lincoln NM, Susan McSween, University Press Audiobooks, Wild Wild West

Golden Nugget From Pat Fraley’s Pick Up Your Oscar Webinar

28 July 2013

Pat Fraley recently taught a webinar called Pick Up Your Oscar: The Craft of Voice Over Acting. I sign up for just about everything Pat offers because I know I will learn great info that propels my career forward.

This webinar about acting was no exception. In fact, it was more useful to me than much of the voice-over training I have had! In publicizing the event, Pat wrote: “It’s not an MFA for 50 bucks, but it’s the only acting system created to meet the rapid rigors of the voice over world.” He further promised to teach how to:

  1. “Play Actions” not present emotions
  2. “Play the Subtext”
  3. “Raise The Stakes”
  4. Create “Motivated Contrast”

The big golden nugget for me was the fact that you can’t act an emotion. You have to think in terms of the ACTION VERB in order to bring the emotion to the text. You can “up the stakes” by finding a verb that has a different connotation or intensity.

After the webinar concluded, I found this fantastic book ACTIONS: The Actors’ Thesaurus at Amazon, and it already has been extremely useful in creating more evocative auditions.

Actions: An Actor's Thesaurus

The introduction offers this explanation:

If the actor plays a specific and real action on each sentence, then, even though the audience are unlikely to be able to identify the technique or the individual action, the work will be interesting and absolutely watchable because of its precision. Actioning enforces a specificity which can liberate the actor’s performance and ensure a cohesive integrated character with each moment leading naturally onto the next. 

The book also provides an example of finding and using actions in analyzing a commercial script.

During the webinar, Pat coached several people through the process, and I could really hear the difference in their reads. You can order a copy of Pat’s webinar, along with a variety of other programs, at this link.
 

Filed Under: Away From the Mic, Books, Narrators, Voice-Over Tagged With: acting, actions, golden nugget, Pat Fraley, thesaurus, voice-over

Voice-over career requires time and energy

26 July 2009

Karen’s narration of this entry

Nothing lasts forever.
The most unforeseen circumstances will swamp you and baffle the wisest calculations.
Only vitality and plenty of it helps you.

–WASHINGTON A. ROEBLING

Washington Roebling’s name may not be familiar to you. He’s not in the voice-over industry. In fact, he has nothing to do with voice-over or entertainment. However, I recently read about him and his monumental accomplishment, and his quote applies to anyone pursuing a big dream, including a career in voice-over.

You see, Washington Roebling was an engineer — not just any engineer, but the chief engineer behind the famous Brooklyn Bridge. I recently read David McCullough’s fascinating and extremely well-researched novel The Great Bridge, which describes the people, risks, relationships, political environment, and long processes involved to build that bridge. It’s the sort of sweeping, satisfying book that I would love to narrate, but these historical books are usually about men and therefore narrated by men in the audiobook. But I digress …

Part of the story that is so remarkable is that Roebling fell seriously ill and wasn’t even on-site during much of the construction, yet he pressed on until the Brooklyn Bridge was completed and his dream realized. With his wife’s admirable and steadfast assistance, Roebling wrote such an incredible collection of notes and designs that his assistant engineers were able to complete the work to his specifications without his supervision.

The on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary defines vitality as physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed. I can’t agree too much with Roebling’s assessment that vitality is necessary to accomplish anything of importance, especially a voice-over career.  However, I would also add time to the equation.

Many people jump into voiceovers with the expectation that a lucrative and easy career awaits them. Unlike an engineer, they don’t study the landscape or make calculations about the best way to proceed. They may give up before achieving the level of success that they seek.

I have often heard that entertainers and sports stars who are considered to be an overnight success usually have been working diligently and learning their profession for 10 years or more. This passage in John Maxwell’s book Put Your Dreams to the Test: 10 Questions that Will Help You See It and Seize It better explains that theory:

Author and speaker Jim Rohn points out, “The twin killers of success are impatience and greed.” I believe they are often the killers of dreams as well. Most people want results that are quick and dramatic. However, the reality is that most dreams are achieved very slowly, and the results come about unspectacularly. If you have achieved any major goals in your life, then you already know that realizing goals can be less thrilling than imagining them. That’s why you need to learn to take satisfaction in the journey and find fulfillment in the small steps along the way.
Drew and I visited New York City for the July 4th holiday, and we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Although I’ve seen it many times, I could only fully appreciate its immense size, strength, and beauty while actually standing on it.

Karen Commins at Brooklyn Bridge 7-4-09.jpg

Karen Commins walks across the Brooklyn Bridge 7/4/09
The construction process took 14 years, which was 2-3 times longer and at a far greater cost than the original estimate. Had Roebling not maintained his vitality and persevered through unimaginable obstacles over long stretches of time, this masterpiece of American architecture would not be standing.

I thought again about the time and energy needed to complete a dream while we watched Macy’s July 4th fireworks on the Hudson River. We were treated to a spectacular 30-minute show, but the tremendous planning and coordination, including the actual fireworks manufacture and testing, must have started as soon as the festivities were finished last year, or perhaps even earlier. I created a short video of some highlights from the fireworks and added music from my royalty-free library. I am posting the video here for your viewing pleasure.

[KGVID width=”480″ height=”272″]http://www.karencommins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/NYC-Fireworks-7-4-09.m4v[/KGVID]

Time and vitality have been necessary ingredients in my voice-over business since its inception. Like anyone, I have had and continue to have personal challenges, like the losses of my dad in 2003 and my mother just 2 months ago in May. In the past couple of weeks, Drew and I were shocked to learn that his position as a lead software engineer has been eliminated after 12 years of employment with his company, so we unexpectedly are starting a new chapter of our lives.

I don’t bring up my personal obstacles to gain your sympathy but to point out that vitality is needed to sustain the momentum in my voice-over career while time marches on. You may have noticed that even my blog entries lately required an unusual amount of time and energy to complete. Many days, I have to judge my progress on my voice-over dreams based on incremental forward movement. However, like Roebling and his bridge, I continue to focus on my vision of success, counting my blessings and victories as I go along.

What kind of correlation do you notice between time and energy in pursuing your voice-over goals? I’d love to hear from you with comments on the blog!

 

Filed Under: Away From the Mic, Books, Narrators, Observations, Other Videos, Voice-Over

Reading for success

5 November 2008

If you don’t like to read, voice-over is not the field for you.

In addition to reading, interpreting and performing others’ scripts for pay, I am convinced that the most passionate and successful voice talent seem to have an inherent love of reading. For instance, my friend Bob Souer finds and reads all sorts of interesting things on-line, which he shares with us on his blog. I recently had a discussion with another friend Dave Courvoisier about the merits and pleasures of the Amazon Kindle wireless reading device.

I plan to buy a Kindle for pleasure reading, but I may also use it in the recording booth to perform some auditions and possibly longer material. Since I have remote control of Pro Tools through my handy TranzPort, I’m really thinking of setting up a second computer monitor in the booth…..but I digress.

Any reader of my blog would know that I love words and language. I frequently refer to books that I am reading or have read since they help shape my perspective as a person and voice talent.

“Whatever you want to do or be in life,
you will find the blueprint for success
by carefully reading…”

I have loved books since childhood. I can remember my mother taking me to the library so I could check out armfuls of books. At that time, I could read 50 books in the summer. I still frequently utilize my library card although my time for reading is more limited. These days, I might read 50 books in a year, and I am in the midst of several books at any given time.

I can tend to read a lot by one author at a time and/or in a certain category of book. I constantly find myself reading books about marketing, success principles, the Law of Attraction, biographies, spiritual fiction like The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and other fiction and non-fiction.

I also avidly listen to audiobooks, especially for biographies and fiction requiring numerous characterizations. I think everyone who is or wants to be an audiobook narrator should spend time listening to and learning from others. In fact, whatever you want to do or be in life, you will find the blueprint for success by carefully reading, observing, and applying the success stories of those who have achieved your desired status.

I have often sprinkled quotations in these blog essays. Reading quotes from Emerson, Thoreau, and other great thinkers inspires me as I move foward in the life of my dreams. No matter what challenge I face in my voice-over career and life in general, I find encouragement and advice by reading the words of others:

Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve.
He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
— Leonardo da Vinci

Write down the thoughts of the moment.
Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

— Francis Bacon

The world belongs to the energetic.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reading has been the underlying foundation for my every achievement. However, as Seth Godin reminds us in his blog entry describing how to read a business book, achievements also require action.

Godin maintains that business books are 95% motivation and 5% recipes for achieving success. He advises us to read business books with an objective in mind. Actively highlight and write down passages and ideas that inspire you to action toward the changes you wish to make. He states:

If three weeks go by and you haven’t taken action
on what you’ve written down,
you wasted your time.

In your voice-over career, you will spend time every day reading from scripts. I encourage you to read just as much, if not more, for your own improvement and enjoyment, as well as for the improvement of your voice-over business. When you read something that inspires you, write it down and take action toward the life of your dreams!

 

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Away From the Mic, Books, Narrators

Cruising for a competitive advantage

15 June 2008

A new audiobook project and new office furniture have kept me from writing a blog update in the past couple of weeks. Just after posting the last entry, though, Drew and I went on a fabulous Alaskan cruise which left from San Francisco. The scenery in Alaska truly is amazing — one snow-covered mountain peak after another. It’s hard to believe magnificent pristine environments like those we saw still exist when all of the land in Atlanta seems over-developed and commercialized.

Mountain Reflection.jpg

We’ve been on 9 cruises and already have the 10th one scheduled. While on our trip, I was thinking about the overwhelming choices offered by the abundant number of cruise lines. How would a person actually pick the ship and itinerary?

Like those who think all voice-over artists are the same, much about each ship and cruise seems the same. However, the cruise lines distinguish themselves and gain repeat customers through their competitive advantages and marketing strategies. Every business owner, including voice-over actors, would do well to set sail with this philosophy in mind.

A while back, I read a book by Larry Steinmetz and William Brooks titled How to Sell at Margins Higher Than Your Competitors: Winning Every Sale at Full Price, Rate, or Fee. The authors suggest that your competitive advantage boils down to one or a combination of these 5 fundamental attributes:

  • price
  • quality
  • service
  • advertising/promotion/salesmanship
  • delivery

In this eye-opening book, the authors assert that people who make buying decisions solely on the basis of price are not people whom you wish as clients for these compelling reasons:

1) They take all of your sales time.

2) They do all of the complaining.

3) They forget to pay you or are notoriously slow payers. To quote the authors: Anybody to whom money is so important tends not to settle accounts quickly. Anybody who is willing to beat the daylights out of you for an extra one quarter of 1 percent is more than willing to take that extra discount in the form of the time-value of your money by slow pay of your account.

4) They tell your other prospects or customers how little they paid for something. The authors wrote: Bragging about what they’ve bought from you and how little they paid for it, perhaps, is the most debilitating thing that price-buyers can do to you. Not only have they beaten you up on price, but they encourage other prospects to do the same.

In thinking of the many people we have met on cruises, I can testify about the truth of this statement. A cruise line may change prices for the same sailing depending on many factors, including exclusiveness of itinerary, advance bookings and unsold cabins. Some people seemed interested in talking with us only because they wanted to find out how much we paid for our cabin and tell us about the great deal they made.

5) They are not going to buy from you again, anyway.

The authors listed 4 other reasons to avoid price-shoppers, and the entire book is devoted to tactics for selling your services at your stated price. They discuss many techniques that prospects use to get you to cut your price. They also provide you with methods to combat price resistance and finalize the transaction. I cannot recommend it highly enough for any voice talent or other business owner.

If you decide — as I have — that you aren’t going to lower your prices to meet a potential client’s demands, you’ll have to compete on some other basis. The authors list 20 things a buyer would like besides a low price, including:

  • an easy, “no-brainer” relationship
  • total product offerings
  • reliability and dependability
  • breadth and depth of quality
  • knowledge, competence and follow-up

Your voice itself is part of your competitive advantage. We are all unique, and no one thinks or speaks in the same way you do. In Michael Port’s excellent book Book Yourself Solid : The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling, you will find an impressive list of questions that will help you identify other ways that you are unique.

Once you have defined your unique offerings, Port steps you through defining a target and niche market based on your unique attributes and the types of clients that you want to attract.

To continue the analogy with the cruise lines, we could argue that the cruise lines seem to offer similar service, quality and delivery. Their competitive advantage seems to be in their advertising, promotion and salesmanship. Each line has defined a target market and then advertises to that market. Norwegian Cruise Lines appeals to the non-conformists. (Those who know me could readily guess that NCL is my favorite cruise line.) Royal Caribbean shows ads featuring families with diverse interests. Princess Cruises aims to lure the couples wanting a romantic getaway. Carnival Cruises attracts a younger crowd seeking sun and fun.

As a voice-over artist, I specialize in audiobooks, narrations and podcasts. Sure, I enjoy creating character voices and would love to be the next big star in a hot animated movie. After going through the exercises in Port’s book, though, I determined that my marketing efforts are better suited toward e-learning modules, corporate narrations, etc.

Having a MS degree in computer information systems and over 20 years of experience working in IT positions doesn’t really help me in landing roles as a character voice actor. However, these same attributes become huge competitive advantages when marketing to an e-learning target market and information technology niche market. By taking the time to assess my strengths and build marketing tactics around them, I can steer my voice-over career to exciting new places and heights.

 

Filed Under: Books, Marketing, Narrators

Michael Palin’s thoughts on integrity

1 January 2008

Happy new year! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and are enjoying this day. Each New Year’s Day, I strive to engage in activities that I want to occur all through the year. Symbolically and realistically, I can start the new year by focusing attention on things that matter to me. For instance, I went to the gym first thing this morning, and now I’m writing a blog entry before recording a script.

In mid- to late December, Drew and I took a holiday trip, which may provide musings for future blog entries. During the trip and in recent days, I have been catching up on some reading for pleasure. While I encouraged you on this day one year ago to look forward, today I want to tell you about a commercial script that was written almost 30 years ago.

The commercial in question wasn’t mine, but rather one for Michael Palin, member of the hilarious Monty Python team, fantastic travel writer, and charming TV documentary host. As a longtime fan of Monty Python and avid journal writer, I was excited to start reading Palin’s Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years. In numerous entries, he has mentioned various voice-over roles. Palin does not indicate whether the commercial discussed in his entry transcribed below was for voice-over or on-camera work, but I certainly admire his refusal to perform it.

Wednesday, April 19th [1978]

Arrival of the Pascall Bon-Bon script over breakfast. I read it and straightaway felt slightly nauseous. Jill had mentioned a figure exceeding 20,000 for this commercial, or possibly two, and what I had just read was a 30-second piece of trivia — worthless, unoriginal and banal. It looked as though it had been written in four minutes after a drunken lunch. Yet again my mind boggles at the huge discrepancy between money and talent.

I could so easily pick up the phone to Jill and say yes. Yes, I will ignore all my creative and artistic instincts. I will get an injection from the doctor on the morning of the commercial which will render me intellectually numb for the period of a day — at the end of which I will have done the horrendous deed, and be thousands of pounds better off.

Quite a temptation. But I realise that if I did this script I would be committing a crime against all the principles that concern me — honesty, value, integrity — all would be totally compromised. Helen read the script and agrees. So I have to phone Jill and withdraw my toe from the seductive waters of advertising yet again.

Fortunately Jill has seen a script and is equally unimpressed, so the problem of hurting her doesn’t arise. She phones the agency. An hour later the director calls back and asks if I would still be interested if the script were entirely rewritten.

While you may think that Michael Palin is a big name who can afford to make a decision to turn down a lucrative offer, the power to say NO rests with each of us. Palin wrote in his 4/13/78 entry some words that I hope will give you pause throughout this coming year and throughout your voice-over career:

So John has polarised his life into earning (routine, no great pleasure) and non-earning (creative and artistically satisfying). A dangerous set-up, I would say. I believe the only sane and satisfying way to live is to fuse the two and avoid, wherever possible, cheapening yourself for money. In that way talent gets eradicated.

I write in my journal almost every day, but I can only wish I had written something so profound. By sharing his journals with all of us, Michael Palin is a teacher to voice-over artists and performers everywhere.

In 2008 and beyond, may your every voice-over job and your entire life bring you artistic fulfillment, prosperity and happiness!

 

Filed Under: Books, Narrators, Observations

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