Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

Business

TDIMH — From panic to planning

This Date in My History — Sunday, 12 January 2003 12:30pm

This morning, I have been wondering “what have I gotten myself into?” I am filled with panic over my audiobook. Casting all of the characters is overwhelming, and the author’s comments have only served to confuse instead of clarify…

Not only am I worried about giving voice to 70 speaking people, I am worried about the actual production. What if the sound quality varies between sessions? How will I get everything done in time, considering that I have a two-month turnaround that puts my due date to be the time I will be in NY? My day job will require a trip the week of Feb. 10 to Ft. Lauderdale, and I hate to think of nights alone in my hotel room of editing this book.

Drew and I talked about it at breakfast, and he reiterated his belief in me that I can do all of this and do it successfully. He promised again to help me in any way possible.

I felt better to come up with an action plan for getting this book done. I realized that if I only work on it (recording/editing) just an hour each night that it would get done in plenty of time.

I have to change my panic into a plan. I will spend this afternoon making casting decisions, and i will do a sound check with several sessions of set-up/take down in between.

This audiobook is a dream come true and just the first of hundreds to follow. I have the talent and skill to do an excellent job on all aspects of the production. I cannot and will not give in to my fears or feelings of being overwhelmed.

Having written all of that, I’d better get started on my plan — I’m burning daylight!

More at 10pm —

I spent about 8 hours (or maybe just 7.5, but still all afternoon) in my room working on character voices for my book. I first listened to the 2nd tape of Pat Fraley’s course on character voices. He described a method of cataloging the voices which I adopted on the book.

After supper, Drew came and listened to me at my request because the process was going slowly for me. I created a database of voice characterizations rather than using individual worksheets like Pat Fraley suggested. I feel more in control of this project with 25 characters in my database and thoughts prepared on a handful of others. I was practicing all afternoon, and am I ever tired!

At some point today, I wondered if I should end my eLance subscription. Is it a sign that I received an invitation to bid tonight on an invite-only project where I was the only person invited? Anyway, I bid on that one and another one tonight; we’ll see what happens.

Today’s Take-aways:

1) When you feel overwhelmed by a task, break it down into small, manageable pieces. Figure out the time required for each piece so that you can meet your deadline.

2) We all need support from others to help us attain our goals. As Barbara Sher says, “isolation is the dream killer”. Barbara notes that sometimes strangers will be less resistant to your ideas and offer you more support than your friends or family. If you are not blessed to have the support of your spouse as I am, reach out to friends or start a meet-up group of other goal-minded people.

3) Always believe in yourself! What you think about your chance of succeeding is perhaps the greatest indicator of your success. To quote Henry Ford:  Whether you think you can or you think you can’t — you’re right.

Where does the time go?

As the excellent voice-over talent says in this Staples commercial, “in a small business, it’s all you.”

I laugh each time I see this ad because I relate a lot to Dave these days!

The past 2 months have been wonderfully busy. I’ve done full production on 3 audiobooks; the finished time of each ranged from 9.5 hours to almost 13 hours. I also worked with my web designer in creating a new audiobooks site to showcase my work in this area.

With all of these big projects, I haven’t had much time to write articles here on the blog.

I am developing several ideas and expect to post a new article in the next week or so.

Thanks for your patience during my absence. I’d love to hear from you about your projects, so please leave a comment on the blog!
 

Are you looking for a mentor in voiceover?

Just about every week, I receive email from someone who is interested in starting a career in voiceover. Lately, I’ve noticed that more and more people are writing to me and asking for a mentor to help them get started.

While it’s certainly a flattering request, whenever the word mentor is mentioned in an introductory email, I am flooded with a torrent of not-so-kind thoughts:

  • It’s all about their wants and not at all about me.
  • They haven’t read a single one of my blog articles (2 good places to start would be So you want to get into voiceovers? and Thinking about starting a voiceover career?).
  • I’m not sure why they think I am the right person to help them.
  • I don’t know why they think I should want to help them.
  • The person has no clue about what is involved in working as a voice talent.
  • They want me to tell them everything I know about working in voiceover as quickly as possible.
  • They expect me to invest my time in furthering their career, with my only form of compensation being my joy in helping them succeed.
  • They want me to introduce or refer them to my contacts and launch their successful career, similar to how a debutante is presented to society.
  • They want validation that they are doing the right thing, and all their dreams really will come true.

In short, the word mentor is so loaded with connotations that it makes me want to run in the opposite direction!

Of course, everybody needs help sometimes. It feels good to be able to help someone along the way and make a difference in their lives. I also know first-hand how fantastic it feels to receive key advice from someone whom you admire and respect. However, people are approaching the mentor question way too soon and in the wrong way.

After doing some research, here are 3 things to know about finding a mentor:

1)  You first must assess the kind of help that you need.

In his excellent article for the Huffington Post, Steve Blank points out this important distinction between teachers, coaches, and mentors:

    • If you want to learn a specific subject, find a teacher. 
    • If you want to hone specific skills or reach an exact goal, hire a coach. 
    • If you want to get smarter and better over your career, find someone who cares about you enough to be a mentor [my emphasis].

    When newcomers write to me saying they are looking for a mentor, they really should be looking for a teacher.

    My friend Bob Souer is one person in the voiceover world who is universally admired and respected. He is an exceptional voice talent who is unfailingly kind and generous to each person he meets. Since I knew he occasionally has chosen to mentor some people, I asked him how and why he decided to become a mentor. He quickly responded and graciously gave me permission to quote him here. His comments illustrate Blank’s 3rd point:

    The people I’ve chosen to mentor have each had their own story. 

    Some have been people with whom I had an established friendship, then (when I saw them struggling and thought I might be able to help) I’ve offered that help. For a few others, they’ve approached me with a specific question and after answering that question and after some further conversation, I’ve chosen to continue the relationship in a mentoring capacity for a season.

    Maybe the best way to describe the process for me is that right about the time someone reaches the point that they don’t need my help as much, someone else will come along who does. I have no formally established pattern and don’t plan to make one.

    In the 25+ years that I’ve been doing voiceovers professionally, I’ve been offered help more times than I can count. I feel a strong sense of obligation to provide help to others I encounter along the way, who need it.

    However, it does very little good to approach me and ask me to be a mentor because I turn down most of the people who ask. 

    Blank states that “a mentor relationship is a two-way street. To make it work, you have to bring something to the party… [be] “prepared to give as good as you get.”

    2)  You must identify your weaknesses and then research potential mentors in order to determine the person who is best able to provide the help you seek. 

    Steven K. Scott includes a terrific chapter about recruiting mentors in his book Simple Steps to Impossible Dreams: The 15 Power Secrets of the World’s Most Successful People. He gives a detailed, 10-step strategy for identifying and recruiting mentors. The strategy requires that you thoroughly research the potential mentors and be able to pinpoint qualities that you admire. When you approach the person, you will want to be able to explain how you would like to make their admired qualities a part of your life.

    Yes, finding a good mentor in the traditional sense can be a very time-consuming proposition. However, you can be mentored by many people in a more passive sense. Often, a voiceover teacher or coach may provide informal and occasional mentoring by listening to a demo or answering questions.

    3)  You don’t have to meet or have a conversation with your mentor(s) in order to learn from them.

    This thought may surprise you at first. Scott illustrated this point in a story about a woman who wanted to improve her marriage. She identified family counselor and best-selling author Gary Smalley at the top of her list of perfect mentors:

    She recruited him by reading his books and viewing his tapes…Reading Gary’s books and viewing his tapes was in some ways even better than meeting with him because she could do them at her own pace, taking as much time as she wanted.

    We live in the Information Age. No matter what your interest, at least one on-line forum exists to discuss it. Voice talent can join a plethora of on-line communities dedicated to voice-over, segments of voice work like audiobook narration or character acting, audio engineering, etc. These forums are populated with people having all levels of experience and are great places to sit at the virtual feet of masters.

    If sitting at their virtual feet is good, listening to them is even better. Whatever category of voiceover work (audiobooks, video games, cartoons, telephony, documentary, etc.) mosts interests you, you need to be a listener of that category.

    In her excellent article The Company You Keep, Barbara Winter points out that you should “study those who have done what you want to do” in order to meet with the greatest success. I had an epiphany when reading her wise words and wrote in my journal:

    With that in mind, I realize I need and want to be an active audiobook listener. I think the last one I heard was in Hawaii last year. [I immediately downloaded a book from the library and] will be listening to the phrasing and pauses as much or more than the accent. 

    I will listen to an audiobook every day…It’s another good way to prepare for the audiobook success and constant work that is coming to me. 

    Since that day in May 2011, I have listened to audiobooks while I walk my dog or swim.  I have heard 14 audiobooks and substantial parts of several more. Not only have I been studying and learning from the technical aspects of each narrator and production, but the avid reader in me is thrilled to be even more immersed in books!

    Whether you’re new to voiceover or have been in the industry for years, I hope these 3 tips will help you find the people who can help you move toward your destiny! I’d love to get your thoughts about the mentors you have had, so please leave a comment on the blog.

    Photo:  iStockPhoto/Shane O’Brien
     

To voice Royalty-Share Audiobooks… or not. That is the question.

Many new audiobook publishers are only offering a royalty-share model of payment. In this model, the narrator is not paid anything up front and is instead paid a percentage of royalties based on the sales of the audiobook.

Is a 50-50 split on royalties right for you?

 
Some people would get irate at the very idea of doing any work without guaranteed payment. They would rant and rave that taking a royalty-share deal makes one a low-baller, someone who is selfishly going to destroy the whole voiceover industry by not charging the appropriate rate.

I’ve seen these kinds of arguments in on-line voiceover forums so many times, and I’m not looking to start one here! It’s my intention to present reasons on both sides of the table to help you make an informed decision.

Many voice talent are understandably reluctant to undertake this kind of work due to the tremendous amount of time required to produce a quality audiobook.

I can think of 4 other big reasons not to accept a royalty-share agreement:

1) The material doesn’t interest me.

I am very selective about the scripts I perform, especially when it comes to an audiobook. Since you aren’t guaranteed to make any money, the book can truly be considered a labor of love. Still, I want my audiobooks to emphasize the LOVE part and not the LABOR!

Although I didn’t know it when I accepted the projects, the first 2 audiobooks I performed were thinly veiled religious sermons. They also contained about 80% dialogue with a lot of “walk-on” characters whose sole purpose was to advance the plot. I truly struggled in my motivation to finish the books.

After those experiences, I know to use the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon to see how the book flows. If the book looks unappealing, it’s not worth it to me to spend my time on it, regardless of whether I’m paid per finished hour or on a royalty-share basis.

2) The material is not suited for audio.

Point number 3 in this article will give you an idea of the kinds of books that wouldn’t make good audiobooks.

3) The audio publisher has limited distribution methods.

I have accepted royalty-share agreements on ACX.com because Audible.com is the undisputed leader of audiobook distribution. I know my audiobooks will be distributed on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. I also can have faith in Audible’s accounting and payment processes.

I have passed on royalty-share agreements offered by new publishers with no track record.

4) You have responsibility for all of the roles: narrator, audio engineer, producer, director, pronunciation researcher, quality control listener, and marketer. If you can’t outsource some of the functions, do you have the time and are you comfortable in performing all of them? 

On the other hand, I can also think of 5 good reasons to accept a royalty-share narration:

1) You can create something of permanence that will be enjoyed for years to come. 

Not only are the listeners able to enjoy your audiobook, but you may find that you enjoy a recurring, passive income stream from its sales.

2) It’s a great way to improve your workflow and become a specialist.

You also can explore new genres to see how well you like the material.

3) Productivity equals success. 

According to Lee Tobin McClain in her article The Key to Success: Write More!: Artistic and scientific achievers from Picasso to Da Vinci didn’t succeed more, percentage-wise, than other now-unknown creators of their eras; they simply produced more, and thus had more successes. 

She goes on to offer 8 ways to increase your productivity. While her tips are aimed at writers, voice talent can extrapolate from them and apply the ideas to our businesses.

For instance, you can build an expectant audience (i.e., a fan base) with a royalty-share book. I actually did this with a book I performed for LibriVox. I’ve seen reviews of the book and even received fan mail!

4) What you put out in the world comes back to you.

I gave that LibriVox audiobook to the world after reading the advice of Eckhart Tolle. I’ve decided that I would rather get a commercial credit on a royalty-share audiobook than produce another book for the public domain. I have seen my LibriVox audiobook for sale on eBay, but that point doesn’t trouble me.

The commercial credits are important so that I can become an Audible Approved Producer and meet membership requirements for The Recording Academy. Nobody cares how or when I was paid for my commercial credits.

5) You’re planting seeds for a future harvest. You never know where the decision will lead.

In his wonderful autobiography Up Till Now, William Shatner wasn’t talking about audiobooks when he wrote these compelling words, yet his wisdom about taking risks certainly applies to this situation:

In 1968 Decca Records asked me if I was interested in doing an album. I hesitated, I wasn’t a singer — but then it was pointed out to me that the first note in the musical scale is do… 

What I decided to was find a selection of beautiful writing and use that as a lead-in to a song that complemented it…Apparently it was a bit obtuse…for most people…. 

I’d taken a creative risk. I’d tried to do something unique, something very different. And I’d learned very early in my acting career that you can’t improve without taking risks… 

Decades later, my debut album “The Transformed Man” would lead directly to one of the most successful commercial ventures of my career — and another album!… 

It turned out that the copywriter on the [Priceline] account, Ernest Lupinacci, was a big fan of my 1968 album “The Transformed Man”. 

I am absolutely fascinated as I look over my shoulder at my past at how the simplest decisions I’ve made have had the most complex reactions. A career is a series of connected events. So when I turned down an offer, I wasn’t simply rejecting a job and paycheck, I was completely eliminating the possibility that it might lead to something else. When you turn down an opportunity to work, you’re also turning down an experience, maybe even an adventure, and a universe of possibilities.

Two footnotes on Shatner’s story:

  • I recommend that you listen to his audiobook rather than read the book. Hearing him tell his story in his often-imitated but imcomparable style is a true pleasure!
  • That fabulous gig as Priceline’s spokesperson is about to end, but it lasted for 14 YEARS! Think how much money he made just from that one enterprise! And he never would have had it if he hadn’t taken a risk.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t expect payment up-front for an audiobook. I am simply encouraging you to explore the possibility of narrating a book on a royalty-share agreement. Only you can decide how best to build your business. You may find that doing one or more royalty-share audiobooks is a better building block than you had imagined!

Have you done any audiobooks on royalty-share agreements? I’d love to get your comments on the blog!

Photo:  iStockPhoto/LockieCurrie
 

8 Things I Learned About Voiceover From Ted Williams

At the end of each year, I review my journals to see what I accomplished. In doing this exercise for 2011, I found some comments that I want to share with you.

Just over a year ago, the media was in a feeding frenzy with news about a voiceover talent who seemingly became an overnight success.

You may remember the story of Ted Williams. In one day, he went from being a homeless person to someone who was overwhelmed with lucrative offers from the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NFL, MTV, Kraft, and other companies.

I might have been the only voice talent in America who didn’t write publicly about this story at the time, with the exception of this comment I left on fellow voice talent David Houston’s blog:

I am sooo glad to see you make the point that we shouldn’t spend time worrying about any voiceover career outside of our own! 

I haven’t commented on anything to do with this story until now. I am amazed at the time and energy that some voice talent have used this week in all the blog posts, forum comments, social media updates, etc. that they have devoted to this one topic.

The reaction in the v-o community has become like the people who sit around and endlessly discuss any TV contest reality show, particularly American Idol.

I choose to put my spare time and energy into the pursuit of my own goals and dreams rather than waste it thinking and talking about those of someone else.

However, I did write about the story in my journal. I was extremely irritated that so many companies wanted to attach their names to the story AFTER Ted’s balloon soared. Of course, they all had to send out a press release to tout their benevolence in making offers of voiceover work to Ted.

More importantly, and the reason for this post today, is that my journal entry included 8 positive things I learned from watching the video of Ted and witnessing the reaction:

1.  You have to believe in yourself and your talent before anyone else will.

2.  You have to ask for what you want.

3.  You have to persist and persevere through the bad times.

4.  Chance or luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

5.  You can’t be denied the good things that are meant for you.

6.  The power of video is an incredible tool for reaching your prospects.

7.  People who are labeled as an overnight success generally have been working diligently for years to achieve their new success.

8.  You can’t sit on your past accomplishments and expect to continue receiving offers.

Although celebrated voiceover coach Marice Tobias did not mention Ted Williams in her recent blog entry titled Moving Forward, her words seem like a fitting postscript to this entry:

Good grief.

Enough railing about the business. It is what it is.

Concentrate on what you can actually do something about.

Your delivery.

Too many reads just don’t hit the mark. Make sure what you are turning in will indeed stop people in their tracks.

 

5 Quick Tips for Following Your Dreams

Every script I’ve voiced, from the shortest audition to the longest audiobook…

Every call I’ve made…

Every email I’ve sent…

Every postcard I’ve mailed…

Every marketing campaign I’ve devised…

Every web site I’ve launched…

Every blog post I’ve written…

Every social media update I’ve made…

Every voiceover class or conference in which I’ve participated…

Every professional association meeting that I’ve attended…

…occurred while I worked a demanding, 40-hour-and-sometimes-more-a-week job.

After 12 years of concurrently working in a full-time job and a part-time voiceover business, it’s time for a change.

I’m thrilled to announce that I was offered an early retirement from my day job and will be doing voiceover work full-time beginning 1 January 2012! YAY!!

However, as excited as I am to start a wonderful new phase in my life, this post isn’t about me and my career plans. It’s about you.

I want to encourage you to follow your dreams and give you 5 quick tips to help you do it.

  

1) Make a list of what you WANT.

A list helps you stay focused and fight discouragement. It also is the foundation to manifesting your desires. If you don’t know what you want, how do you expect to get it?

If you don’t do anything else, I advise you to RUN, do not walk, to buy the IT WORKS booklet and then follow Brad Jensen’s extensive, amazing, and generous advice about using it.

As an example from my life, I made a list with attributes that I wanted in a job, like a certain income level, the ability to do voiceover work, and a private office with a door and window. I deliberately made the attributes a little more generic so that the list would cover my day job and my voiceover business. I reviewed this list frequently and added criteria over time, especially as I checked off attributes that were met.

Your results when working your list probably will turn out better than you could imagine. When I wrote that I wanted a private office with a door and window, I envisioned an office cubicle facing a window with tall walls on the other 3 sides. Of course, I would still be able to hear everyone around me in an open office concept.

What I got, though, was the ability to work in my gorgeous home office, which happens to have a solid wood door and 2 windows. It also has a TV, an iPod stereo, and a reasonable proximity to the refrigerator downstairs.

In another example, I wrote a new life list in September and included the fact that I want to be contracted at least once a month to voice an audiobook. I faithfully have reviewed my list, taken the actions suggested by the creative genie, and received 3 audiobook contracts since then, almost as if on schedule!

2) Think about WHY you want it.

I diligently worked in IT for over 25 years. I always knew that I was trading short-term creativity and gratification for long-term security.

However, having the day job didn’t mean I should put my dreams on hold….and neither should you!

So many people say things like “I’ll travel when I’m retired” or “I’ll start that business once the kids are out of school.”

If it’s your calling — as voiceover is to me — you want and need to do it to feed your soul. The only moment you know you have is this one, so why not be doing something because it makes you happy?

Yes, working full-time for an employer and part-time as an entrepreneur has its challenges. I would say it’s a challenge to pursue any calling when you don’t have unlimited time, money, and opportunity for it. The joy you get in pursuing your passion spills over into every other aspect of your life. Note that every passion does not lead to a career choice.

Also, since I mentioned the day job, let me just reiterate that having one can bankroll many of your dreams. You just have to change your perspective about it and know why you do what you do.

Knowing why you want something also helps you to prioritize the time, money, and opportunities that you have.

3) Don’t think about HOW you’re going to fulfill your dreams.

If you read any material on the Law of Attraction, the first thing you learn is to forget the HOWs. The forces of the Universe will conspire to bring about the changes you want when the time is right.

The only HOW to remember is this HOWEVER — the root word of Attraction is ACT. You can’t just think things and have them come true. You have to do your part to take ACTION. The forces of the Universe need your consistent thought and action, or no change is possible.

By constantly thinking of what you want and why you want it, the actions you need to take will be revealed to you over time.

4) Find a role model, and follow in their footsteps.

At the beginning of this article, I listed 10 things I consistently did for 12 years to build my voiceover business while still employed at a full-time job. I’m not saying I’m a role model, but think about it this way: If I did it, so can you.

Whatever your dream is, chances are good that someone else has done it. We live in the Information Age, with much of the world’s knowledge just a few keystrokes away. You can read about success stories and get ideas to advance your own dream.

5) Help other people achieve their dreams.

Your reality is the mirror of the thoughts and words you’ve been saying and the actions you’ve been taking.

To paraphrase Wayne Dyer, if you only focus on what you want, you’re essentially saying to the Universe “gimme, gimme, gimme”. The Universe then mirrors that line back to you, making you feel that you are, using Dyer’s words, always striving and never arriving.

On the other hand, if your thoughts, words, and actions are saying “how may I serve?”, the Universe mirrors that line back to you.

What you put out in the world comes back to you, in a way and from a source that you probably wouldn’t expect. If you are giving of time, attention, energy, and money to help other people, those things will come back to you.

As an example of this logic, a big reason that I write this blog is because I have a true desire to help other people. Because I write this blog, the Universe has sent that help back to me in the form of clients who find me because of my blog.

Retiring early from my day job and working as a full-time voice talent is definitely a dream come true! And yes….it was actually on my list!

Have you started writing your list? I’d love to get your comments on the blog!

Photo: iStockPhoto/ErikReis