VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Neil K. Hess · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:57 pm Post subject: Proof reading

On long form narration, what is your proofreading routine like? Do you break it down into chunks, do it all at one time? Some other technique? I just had someone send me back a long form with like 4 things that I had missed even after I proofread it and I feel like an idiot. Just looking to fix the problem and wondering how you all go about it.
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Bruce · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:59 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the "idiot" club. I think I'm super careful at catching errors when I edit, but the QC editors prove me wrong. My last book was one of my least error filled, but I still racked up about 3 errors per hour of edited reading.

It happens. We're human.

B
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Bish · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 3:46 pm Post subject:

Taking a lesson from other businesses... you should never verify your own data. It's easy to pick up on simple mistakes, but if your mistake is because of your own propensity to make a particular error, then you are wired to make that same idiosyncratic mistake when you proof read.

A simple example... the words "toward" and "towards" are effectively interchangeable... some authors use one, some the other. I tend to favour "towards". If it's important to the customer for me to use "toward"... then I'm screwed, because three hours into proofing an audiobook, it's doubtful that I'll spot if I've slipped in a "towards" by mistake.

However, as a direct answer to your specific question... I find the smaller the chunks, the more accurate my proofing is. It avoids the narcoleptic effect of listening to my own voice for an extended period and things slipping by unnoticed as I drift off into oblivion... zzzzzzzzz.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Jason Huggins · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:55 pm Post subject:

Hire somebody...you can make more if you are narrating and someone else is proofing. You will make more per hour of narration than you save by proofing your own stuff...especially if you miss stuff and have to go back and fix it.

ccpetersen · Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:27 pm Post subject:

This clearly means that accepting "royalty only" gigs is not going to help pay an outside editor...
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melissa eX · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 6:46 am Post subject:

No one should be accepting royalty only gigs anyway. If the author doesn't have any skin in the game he's not going to promote the book anywhere near as effectively as he would if he's got something to lose.

Drew · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:25 am Post subject:

My MIL died last Wednesday. Early Thursday morning we were on the road for the two day journey to northern Indiana. I keep my road gear packed and ready to go at all times.
While in Indiana I set up my usual "huttie tent" in the motel room and in between the various services and family functions I hammered out 75 pages for an eLearner.

Upon my return late Wed. night a pickup script was waiting for me. Despite my own QA efforts, there were 19 errors I had to fix. The client knew my situation and still thought the work was, in his words, "awesome".
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ccpetersen · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:38 am Post subject:

Melissa, there's no emoticon for sarcasm. Wink

But yeah, I agree.
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Bish · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:57 am Post subject:

I've done a number of royalty share deals and some have been low-performers... and some have been just plain dead in the water. Jeff will tell us that you can increase you chances with research... but it's still very speculative.

If I were to take on another royalty share (unlikely), I would make sure that the rights holder/author was responsible for the proofing. Working on the principle that you should never proof yourself and there's no way I'm laying out my own money to have it done... get them to put some skin in the game (as per Melissa's observation).

Now, there are some politics here... most of my books get proof read by the client anyway (especially if the author is involved rather than the publisher)... but if you're presenting a finished product, then errors are seen as failures. If you're presenting the work as un-proofed, then you've saved time/money, and there's no stigma with a bucketful of errors (well, no one wants them, but it's understood that they're going to be there).

... and if they don't want to do it, I'd have no problem suggesting that they pay some cash to have it proofed by a third party... to ensure a professional job.

As for the whole royalty share thing... There are sometimes projects you just want to do... sometimes your research says it may be worth it... sometimes it's a way of opening a door... sometimes it's practice to see if you can do it... and sometimes it's, "OK, I'm done with that now".

CC... a sarcasm emoticon would be nice, but I generally find my signature serves the same purpose.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Lee Gordon · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:30 am Post subject:

Jason Huggins · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:41 am Post subject:

Someone needs to make a Llama eating some chocolate Emoticon....that'd be cool.

ccpetersen · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:44 am Post subject:

Perhaps I was aiming more for "sardonic". Still no emoticon for that, either.

;p

I haven't auditioned for a royalty-share book yet. Skin in the game is important, and it shouldn't always been the VO's skin...
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whalewtchr · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:48 pm Post subject:

Bish is spot on about proofing. Never proof your own narration as you will never pick up everything for the reasons Bish mentioned.

Agree with Melissa on Royalty Share.

Keep in mind when you attempt to do your own proofing you are adding hours to the PFH ratio and that means less dollars per hour for your efforts.
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Neil K. Hess · Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:02 pm Post subject:

What's the going rate for proofing and where would be a good place to find one?
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 3:09 pm Post subject:

Proofing is about $25 per finished hour.

And you can make money doing royalty share, but it's a bit like playing the stock market. You gotta know what you're doing and know how to pick the right ones. I've sold just under 8000 units.
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