VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Rob Ellis]

I think I'm ready to do one....have heard that it's not as labor -intensive ( in terms of post-production, etc.) as a commercial demo.

Just wondering, those of you who have one, did you do it yourself? Or did you have some direction. What I'm gathering is that once you have selected the right material (for your brand) and prepared yourself properly by reading the book and establishing the characters' voices and then performing basic editing out of mouth noises, etc.....you can simply record a two-minute snippet and be done.

True? Or am I misinformed?

[Jeffrey Kafer]

I would say there's less production involved in an audiobook demo. They are much more dry.

You're going to want several demos. Fiction, non-fiction, etc. Make sure they have solid chucks of dialog, preferably between male and female characters.

Mine are all self-directed, as are the audiobooks I do.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Rob Ellis]

Cool, that's what I thought.

So Jeffrey do you find among most audiobook talents that it is the norm that
they record and self-direct their own demos?

I've gotten so conditioned to not do a "do-it yourself" demo that it's still a bit of a stretch for me to make audiobooks the exception to that rule. But I am ready to make that stretch if conventional wisdom so indicates.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

I can't really say what the norm is. I know mine have worked for me. Might they work better if they were professionally produced? Maybe. But impossible to know.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Lauren McCullough]

Rob,

Pat Fraley has a GREAT free lesson about audiobook demos.
http://patfraley.com/Free/FreeLessons/AudbookDemos.mp3

Some great info to get started on your journey.


Best,
Lauren
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www.LaurenMcCullough.com
The Voice Next Door

[whalewtchr]

Hi Rob. What feels right for you is the right answer. If you feel more comfortable getting direction and advice in an area you are not familiar, then go with your gut. I have discovered that the audiobook world is much different than the VO world, so before venturing in to this new universe, I reached out to get advice from those who have walked those trails successfully. I am still learning. I am not sure there is an easy answer on demos. Every publisher is different, some prefer nothing more than three minutes, others want longer passages and as Jeff pointed out still others might request dialogue to show range. I've encountered a publisher who wanted a completed audiobook to listen to and there are some who will not even consider your talent without a minimum number of books already completed. Good Luck Rob!
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jonahcummings

[cyclometh]

This is quite timely as I'm preparing to cut an audiobook demo. My preferred form of work is long-form narration and I'd love to get into audio books also.

My question is what source do you use for a demo? Something popular or that you enjoy? And length seems to be appropriate at 2 minutes, correct?
_________________
Corey "Vox Man" Snow
http://voxman.net

[COURVO]

1:00 - 1:10 is a good rule of thumb I keep hearing for length of an audiobook demo. That's what Pat Fraley recommends. 'Certainly not more than two mins.

DON'T put together a commercial-style demo with several different reads in one audiofile. The listener needs to get a feel for your rhythm, pacing, and interpretation for each genre.

Jeffrey is right...ideally have several demos from whatever genre you want to work in:
fiction
non-fiction
science fiction
Biography
History
Dialogue
Mystery
Spiritual
How-To
(endless choices, really...think of how many topic listings are on all the shelves in Barnes & Noble).

Also, AudioBook Publishers don't really want to hear that you're a commercial VO person. They like to think they're seeking an actor, not an ex-Radio-DJ. I keep two separate sites: one for commercial VO demos, one for audiobook demos.

CourVO
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Dave Courvoisier - Las Vegas, NV
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CourVO@CourVO.com
Courvo's "Voice Acting in Vegas" Blog: http://www.CourVO.biz
on your phone at courvo.mobi
702.610.6288
"I'm not a news anchor, but I play one on TV."

[Rob Ellis]

Wow, some great input and help, as usual--I truly appreciate it from all of you.

Can anyone else weigh-in on the self-direction vs. being directed question when it comes to audiobook demos. I'm a strong believer in being directed on a commercial, narration, etc. demo.

But as Jeffrey pointed out, many audiobook readers self-direct when recording actual material, so maybe that holds true with producing audiobook demo material?

[bobsouer]

Rob,

I did my audiobook demo as part of one of Pat Fraley's audiobook workshops in 2006. A great experience and the direction from Pat and the other pros he had there that weekend was very much worth the price of admission.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Diane Havens]

Before I did my fiction audiobook demo (self-directed and produced), I'd taken a class with Marc Cashman, and he was kind enough to listen to it and give me some feedback. The audiobook world is very different from the VO one, as people have said -- and I think joining the Audiobook Publishers' Association has been extremely helpful to me in getting to know it. Also, as stated, I've found that different publishers want different lengths and types of demos, so it's nice to know that before submitting.
_________________
Diane


Veni, Vidi, Voci
http://www.dianehavens.com

[whalewtchr]

[TC]

My generic demo was created in the aforementioned Pat Fraley workshop; it was directed by Pat, Hillary Huber, and Stefan Rudnicki.

But the demos I've sent to audio publishers -- all of whom have requested custom demos -- have been self-directed, as have all of the books I've recorded.

I've never had complaints from the publishers on the projects I've recorded for them, but if I could afford to do it, I'd pay somebody to direct me and to be there to prod me when my pacing or volume or energy changed. When I listen back to stuff I've done, I hear variations and I cringe a little. I want my work to be as consistent as possible throughout the entire length of a project. It can be tough to do that on your own across 15 hours of non-fiction recorded over the course of a couple of weeks.

[D Voice]

[Jeffrey Kafer]

each
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com