VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Adam Verner · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:43 am Post subject:

Oh yes indeed, Nikki, the audio book industry is booming, and rates for us narrators are plummeting. A few months ago I took a workshop with audio book guru Paul Ruben, and he brought in 5 or 6 well narrators to speak on a panel. These were people that have done hundreds and hundreds of books apiece, and they lamented the fact that even their rates are going down.

I've done over 3 dozen books now for many different producers, and I'm getting paid less than I was when I first started 5 years ago. (in most industries, the more years experience and more skills you have, you get paid more... Smile

In regards to your editing questions, in my experience most producers that will hire remote narrators want "punch and roll" edited audio...meaning your stop-and-starts taken out, not "full" editing.
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Nikki · Contributor II Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 50

Thanks for giving me a glimpse into your new world, Jeff. Sounds like an interesting endeavor to follow to see how it develops from the ground up.

And Dummkopf, that is great insight. I appreciate your candor and it sounds similar to what I'm hearing. Boom market, plummeting narration rates. But good to know on the editing, the 'stops and finish' sound like a learning curve I can manage easier as I practice.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

Jeff,

The lack of interested authors may because often the audio rights are tied with the book's original publisher and the author doesn't control them. My wife writes children's books and her contracts are written that way. She gets paid for audiobooks at whatever rate is set in the contract but the publisher actually controls the production.

Bob
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 2:20 pm Post subject:

Most of the authors we've been targetting have been indie self-published so that doesn't really apply. However, it does explain why they still can't scrape up even the bare-bones upfront fee we ask for.
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bransom · DC Joined: 06 Nov 2008 Posts: 650 Location: St. Louis, MO

They may not understand how much an audiobook can legitimize a self-published project. Helps make it into a "real book."
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Bob Ransom
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audiomark · Joined: 17 Mar 2010 Posts: 3

Hi all, I have done quite a few audiobooks, and some of them were done with a royalties deal. I just want to let everyone kno that I have yet to see a single cent in roylaties from any of them.

My thought- don't do ANY work on spec in today's day and age, unless it's for your own artistic reasons or for a registered charity.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 4:54 pm Post subject:

There's always that risk, especially if the books you're reading are crap. It's important to choose carefully the projects you do on royalty.
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