VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:11 pm Post subject: Not holding my breath on this one

A couple of times a week I'll hit the ACX site to see if there's anything worth auditioning for. Typically I look either for a decent pay-for-production rate (which are getting awfully slim these days) and/or a good title carrying a stipend.

And while looking, I often see titles that look awfully familiar to me and then I realize "Oh yeah, I auditioned for that one quite a while back." Until recently, I didn't realize HOW much of a while back on some of them. One title I just looked at - still apparently open and, I guess, accepting auditions (?) - was originally posted on ACX on Sept. 27, 2012!

Another one I auditioned for first hit the ACX site on Jan. 11, 2013. And there are a handful others that are going on about a year+ of having sat, languishing, on the ACX site.

Sheesh. If they're not going to produce 'em, then pull 'em off the site for pete's sake.
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Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

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Bruce · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:42 am Post subject:

But having lots of books "available" makes them look like a bigger deal than they are. When I looked for stipends recently there were absolutely none.

It looks like it's time to move on from them.

B
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 3:22 pm Post subject:

Bruce, there are still a fair amount of stipends out there. Be sure you haven't also checked one of the pay-for-production boxes when you're doing your search. That will give you zero results in the stipends category. I'm working on a 12 hour book right now that has a stipend attached and I just landed it about 2 weeks ago.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Todd Ethridge · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:06 pm Post subject:

I auditioned for one book on ACX and got the job.

Then I waited for the book. Then I waited some more. I finally reached out to the author's publicist and she assured me it was on it's way.

Never got it.

After talking with another VO talent friend, then reading the other ACX thread, I don't think I'll bother with it again.
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:57 pm Post subject:

Well, Todd, I believe ACX is exactly like the P2P sites: Hit and miss; mostly miss.

I'm on something like my 25th audiobook narration now, of which maybe 15 or so have come through ACX. But as mentioned above, JUST LIKE on the P2P sites, pickins' are getting slimmer.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

ccpetersen · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 5:18 pm Post subject:

I have auditioned for five now, been rejected for three, and haven't heard on the other two. It's only been a couple of weeks on those two, but the three rejections took a month or more. Is that "normal" for responses?
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:14 am Post subject:

There is no "normal". Is it common? Yeah, it happens, especially for the titles that have been there for a long time. I think the publishers have all but forgotten them.

But let's not poo-poo ACX. I'm booked up solid until June with just ACX books. And they are NOT royalty share. Like anything, ACX Is just a tool you need to know how to use.
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:06 pm Post subject:

Well, Jeff, ACX has been fairly good to me., too, although I don't stay as busy with it as you do. Due in part to my other work (mainly non-stop e-learning). But something interesting I've noticed recently is I'm getting contacted more and more out of the blue by authors who want me to narrate, or at the very least, audition for, their pieces. Often it's royalty-only, but I've even taken a few of those simply because they've done well on Amazon and have high ratings, plus the subject matter is one that interests me. Next up for me is the true story of a Traumatic Brain Injury survivor that is an amazing story, and it's one of those in which the author sought me out. So that IS definitely one of the upsides of ACX that I'm seeing more of now.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

whalewtchr · Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 3:03 pm Post subject:

The value of ACX is distribution. As Kafer noted, it can be a useful platform. The best formula might be for narrators/producers to search out the "right" authors and sell them on using you to produce and narrate their audiobook(s) through ACX. If you see ACX as a place to find unlimited authors with money, it is slim pickins. ACX seems to be mostly populated with independents who have little or no resources and depend on royalty share to get it done. It can be a decent matchmaker for those narrators who choose to do royalty share.

In the end, Amazon is the winner because they control pricing, reach and distribution. They get what they need at little or no cost to them, brilliant.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:50 pm Post subject:

Jeffrey, thanks. I am pretty much in the "audition, send, and forget it" mode. Just happened that I was on there the other day looking around for other books, and had messages about the three. I don't get my hopes up and that way I'm not disappointed if I don't hear anything or get the proverbial, "we went with someone else" response on any audition I do.
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