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Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

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For Narrators

Voiceover and the Law of Paradoxical Intent

5 April 2009

The numerous new-age, Law of Attraction books that I have read all state that you have to detach from the outcome if you want your desires to be fulfilled. Recently, I read about the Law of Paradoxical Intent and had an epiphany concerning the progress of my voiceover career. In her brilliant, thought-provoking book Secrets […]Read More
My life as a secret agent

28 March 2009

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. — Dr. Seuss This year marks 3 important anniversaries in my life: 10 years as a professional voiceover artist 20+ years as a loving wife to Drew 25+ years as a hard-working employee of […]Read More
Restaurant menus and your voice-over business

25 February 2009

If you follow me on Twitter (and if you don’t, what are you waiting for?), you might have seen these 2 recent tweets about restaurants and not realized they could contain significance to you as a voice-over talent: Drew and I eat out several times a week. When I find something I like at a […]Read More
A mathematical viewpoint for success

4 February 2009

Here is a fun little exercise that someone sent me which contains indisputable mathematical logic. It also made me laugh because it seems true, whether we’re talking about becoming a successful voiceover talent or anything else. Using a strictly mathematical viewpoint, what makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder […]Read More
5 keys to confident cold calling

18 January 2009

A couple of recent newspaper headlines from different cities gleefully state that you can make lots of easy of money as a professional voice talent after taking only a 2-hour introductory group class. According to these articles, a particular group of voice-over teachers seems to be traveling through the country and conducting these “if you […]Read More
Karen Commins is my new brand name

2 January 2009

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. — William Shakespeare True, but would Google and all of the other web search engines be able to find the rose if multiple names for it were used? ******************** This post marks my 100th entry in this […]Read More
Do one thing each day toward voice-over

1 January 2009

Talented and witty UK voice talent Philip Banks posted a blog article yesterday titled Success and the new (or not so new) Voice Actor in which he listed 10 steps for success as a voice actor. I particularly liked #9: You practise failure or success by the day so ensure that you do something every day […]Read More
Creating your roadmap to success

31 December 2008

Future street sign.jpg


In my last blog entry, I wrote about the necessity of envisioning success in voice-over and creating a road map to reach your desired destination. Since it's natural to look toward the future as we change to a new year, I thought you might appreciate 3 ideas that may help you draw your map.

You've already decided on a career in voice-over, but do you know how your voice fits in the industry? Many voice talent try to be all things to all people and end up frustrated by endlessly attending classes, creating new demos, and marketing to potential clients without first thinking of how every action should tie together and lead one closer to one's goals.

You see, I know something about such frustration. Oh, sure, I'm radiating inner peace now (well, most days, anyway!), but I have a journal entry from 1 June 2003 in which I wrote:

Today's word is frustrated. I looked in the dictionary and found the word describes ME.

I even modified the dictionary entry to include my picture and my name in the description. If you can't read the highlighted portion, it says:

1 a: to balk or defeat in an endeavor b: to induce feelings of discouragement in Karen Commins

My voice-over career was the number 1 reason for my frustration that day. I wrote:

I could do so many things to further my voice-over career...I have so many good ideas for marketing and promotion -- so many things I want/need to do, should/could do -- but not enough time. I know I could book more gigs if I could....

You get the drift.

So what changed?


Frustrated -- journal page 6-1-03.jpg

Read More
Podcast — LibriVox Community Podcast #93

23 December 2008

The LibriVox community is a group of volunteers with tremendous talent, enthusiasm and energy. In addition to recording books, poems, short stories, and other literature as free audiobooks, they also create podcasts promoting the site. This week’s podcast had the theme of getting started as a volunteer, so I contributed a segment. The podcast contains […]Read More
Mapping your success by thinking BIG

17 December 2008

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you
Where are you going to?
Do you know...?

Do you get
What you're hoping for
When you look behind you
There's no open doors
What are you hoping for?
Do you know...?


-- Diana Ross when singing the theme from "Mahogany"


Those song lyrics have been floating in my mind after reading another voice-over blog in which the author wrote, "I have no idea where this is going."  While I have taken the writer's words out of context, the face-value of that thought inspires today's post.

Do you know where you're going to in your voice-over career? When planning either a trip or a career in voice-over, it's important to know your desired destination. You don't need to know HOW or WHEN you will get there, but you do have to decide where you want to go. When you make that decision, you might as well decide to have the very best outcome you can possibly imagine.
Read More
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More of My Articles

ACX Blog:
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 1
  • A Narrator’s Look At Audiobook Marketing Part 2
  • How to Act Like An Audiobook Narrator
LinkedIn:
  • Setting Boundaries in Your Voiceover Business
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    Share Your Audible 'Customer Rating'

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