Time to make sure your voice is in tip-top shape post Christmas period and because as we go in to 2014, a new year, time for new voice projects, and a number of other pet projects.

There is usually a definite slowdown at Christmas time and as soon as Christmas is over the amount of voice over jobs does not pick up so much because of holiday leave and possibly hangovers and over indulgence (too many parties). Some projects get shelved for a couple of weeks, some just give the client a minor and temporary seasonal bout of Alzheimer. Then as the first few days of January begin the pet projects and the temporary shelved professional voice projects start to get the dust blown off them and get readied for your beautiful voice talent. There is a rapid increase in the amount of work available and the voice artists suddenly begin to feel like their schedules are filling up again. With the workload picking up and everybody starting back refreshed in the new year 2014, all of the same crowd of VA's will be out there looking for jobs as well as yourself, the competition is still high, you still need to hone your skills and you still need to upgrade your equipment if you need to and if you have the budget and work out the formula for staying at the top of your game.

It's important to keep the voice artist to client relationship on a very friendly basis because you don't know who the client who hasn't booked you for a while knows and whoever they know is maybe someone who needs to use you. No-one wants to work with someone who has a chip on their shoulder so always be as nice as pie and contain your thoughts even if a project goes a bit astray because of lack of communication.

"How many of us have been on a project that just seems to go backwards and forwards with communication that doesn't quite communicate fully what the client wants?"

There are always some projects that work out this way but keep your annoyance in check and always play it cool. Many voice projects are easy and the clients you deal with can also be easy going but some jobs just seem to have a complete perfectionist at the other end and nothing ever seems to be right. Bite your tongue, be nice and keep that business relationship well balanced.

With the influx of work and projects that should happen in January 2014 as everyone comes back from their holidays, there should be enough jobs for everyone but you'll still be fishing for jobs by auditioning. New Years Resolution! Let's all learn how to fish better and more efficiently - 2014 is going to be an interesting year!

We all have times when everything doesn't go quite as smoothly as it should. You do a job and complete in the fastest time possible because the job has been marked as urgent. The client says they're happy or maybe vaguely displays their happiness that the job is done and then you wait and no payment.

A few days go by and then a week and then a month and at this stage you are many jobs down the line away from that job, so much so that you can hardly remember anything about it. You realize, "Hang on! I need to do something about this!" You like to be nice to your clients but after anywhere between 5-10 emails of asking politely you start to lose it a little. The emails you have sent have not been working and not been loosening the tight purse strings of your client so you have to be a bit more demanding. The next email after not hearing a word from the client but they have the completed voice file in their editing studio also gets no response. So what can you do?

At this stage the client has all the strings in their hands once the voice file is sent the client that previously was all communicative can be struck dumb and emails and phone calls may not get you any further than just waiting to see if the client does pay up. By contacting them constantly and asking about money owed, what was once a perfect business relationship then becomes a disastrous affair of complaints and the reason they probably don't contact you back is because they may be busy and now feeling like they are dealing with a spoilt VO artist. All voice artists do their jobs to make money but clients generally deal with lots of people and they have their payment times and terms usually of which we are not aware of. So, rather than wait what can you do?

After the voice file has been sent - If you haven't asked for an upfront payment then really there is not much you can do apart from sending the occasional reminder email to try and get paid. The client will after a while get annoyed by your emails and a majority of them pay up because of this annoyance or constant reminding. This tactic can backfire badly if you are constantly hassling your client and don't expect a second job from them. But you need to get paid for work done. Your voice is your work tool. A lumberjack uses a chainsaw, a plumber uses a spanner as a tool and you use your voice to get your work done.

In an ideal world you do the work, the client accepts the work and in return pays for the job then gives you feedback. In the real world it can be much different and although almost all clients do pay and on time, there are times when you come into contact with some clients that are problem payers and bad communicators. The rule of thumb in my book is to be well communicative and to make it clear from the outset how the job is to proceed and if you can get half the money as an advance on the VO job, then this is all the better.

VO artists need to be careful when booking jobs or you could end up doing work for nothing and this will not go down to well with your accountant. Don't be afraid to ask as much information as possible about payment terms and payment days and always always keep the communication flowing and always try to be on good terms with your client.

Many people who voice for either their own audiobook or for an audiobook of another could just run at it quickly, like a bull at a gate, with no exact idea of the content of the book or the plot or in the characters. This can be a good technique for most but you have to ask yourself a question, "Can I really do this book justice if when a character appears I try to pick that character up as I get to them?" In many cases I would say this is the wrong to go about voicing an audio book. You need to know when the plot is going to change, you need to know when to be happy and when to be sad, mood changes are important and you definitely need to know your characters. You need to put in some work before hand to gain this useful information.

To get the important information about the plot, the moods and the characters. You need to put the work as I said above. This could involve you speed reading (scanning) your way through it as quick as you can so you can get down to the nitty gritty and begin to voice those chapters. This may be OK for some but I would say it is much better to read the book as if you are actually reading it. Like a book you've been waiting to appear in your local bookshop and you read cover to cover without going to the toilet or eating. Read the book thoroughly, know your story and then you can voice the audio book and do the read showing it as much justice as your talent accommodates.

There is nothing worse than starting an audio book project and getting no payment up front, even an advance of some kind. Many would be voice over talents go through a whole list of voice over niches and then end up with voicing an audiobook and thinking,  "Great! Long term work, this should tide me over and I can voice other jobs in between!" The thing about voicing an audiobook is that you read the book first in a normal way (takes time!), you then read it again but this time recording (takes more time!) and lastly the editing (unless you have an amazing publisher who doesn't mind what you send them) (takes even more time). How long does it take you to read a book? Is it more tiresome to read aloud than in your head? Reading out loud for 10 hours or maybe more is not easy. Think about your famous well loved singers, do they sing in 10 hour concerts? No! Why? Probably because they haven't got enough content apart from Madonna and Elton John but the other reason is because if they did sing in 10 hour concerts their voices would probably sound awful and then they would not be the stars they are today.

The last thing you need is to underestimate the time involved with voicing an audiobook, the time needed to edit and the pure stamina required to keep it up. It is not an easy task. If it is your own book then sure go for it every time because any profit you make is entirely yours. For those voice over artists looking for a quick book, it isn't in audiobooks, reading for an audiobook is a long hard slog, more like a marathon when a voice over for a commercial is 100 metre sprint. If the terms are not in your favour you could quickly become bored and want to throw in the towel or get so 'P'd off' that you perform in a haphazard way, not only affecting the book itself but also your reputation.

I am not about to tell you what is or isn't good practice because it is a very personal thing. What is good for one is not necessarily good for another. What I can say is, and what works for me, is to read the book thoroughly, know the plot, know the moods, get inside your characters (what makes them tick?). Even if it is quite obvious who each character line is for, go through the script and write next to each line who it is for. This may sound silly but the lines sometimes come so thick and fast when you are reading them that one character can quickly change to a new character and you can end up with your male lead becoming female in character very quickly.

For example: 

Mr Rogers implied that I had to change in to my uniform as quickly as possible. 
"Be quick we have work to do!" , he said.
"I will be quick Mr Rogers, I know we have a busy day to day!" Jayne said.
It had been a particularly sticky and hot day and I always brought a spare bra to change into. Today I could not find it in my bag and didn't fancy wearing my other bra as it was uncomfortable to wear on a hot day. I scoured around in my locker and eventually found my spare bra from yesterday.
"This is my yesterday bra girls, does anyone have a spare one I could borrow, please?" 


The last line in italics is quite obviously for the female role but when reading fast you can inadvertently read this line in a more husky voice believing because of the speed of the read and the way that it comes along that straight after the narration part on the female role the male role could follow. In many books the read can be much like 1 and then 2 and then 1 and then 2 again but sometimes the pace does change and can come in any other combination but after a while of 1 and then 2, 1 and then 2, you can become a little complacent and get so used to it that although it sound silly you end up reading this line as a male deeper tone rather than a female more higher pitched tone and then not find out it is wrong until the editing stage.


Some other things to do is write down the side of the manuscript, mood words like angry, sad, nasty, nice, happy, etc. This allows you time to see it beforehand and get ready for it, so as to have as few mistakes as possible and make the read easier.


Also another thing that could help you with your read is have three separate bull-clipped sets of pages from the manuscript, one for what has been read, one for what has been recorded and the last set of pages for what has been edited and sent to publisher or uploaded to wherever you need to upload it to. These sets of pages will of course change in size as you work your way through the book.


The last thing you will need is a hell of a lot of water. You almost need your own personal waterfall directly pouring straight into your mouth to keep the dry throat at bay. At the very least a one liter bottle of water and a glass so you can keep refilling without having to pop off for more water at too many intervals. And do not drink the water in gulps, just gentle sips of water to keep your mouth moist and your voice usable. Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of voicing an audio book, someone who is currently voicing an audiobook and possibly even someone who has already voiced audio books.


Good luck with your future voicing ventures!