A friend asked me this question a couple of years ago. I replied that I do have a face for radio. She laughed. Well, I like to think she laughed. Okay, she didn't react. Oh well. Let's get on with this post.
During the pandemic, one thing I noticed I am missing out on is audiobooks. I'm missing out, not only as a reader, but as an author. Since my yet to be published books are on hold for the moment, thanks to my day job, why not explore the idea of narrating my own audiobooks?
This is not a new idea. I have been doing either goofy voices or recording voice mail (answering machine) messages since the 1990's. When I was a store manager with a major electronics retailer, one of the most surprising requests I got was to record answering machine messages for elderly women. They told me if they recorded their own messages, that would make them magnets for scammers, so they asked me to record them. I agreed, thinking it was good for business, which was correct...at least for elderly women who wanted me to record answering machine messages for them.
Back to the present. After my friend suggested I do something with my voice a couple of years ago (yes, Valerie, I'm talking about you), the pandemic brought that idea back to the front of my mind. I binge watched YouTube videos of Bill DeWees and Anthony Pica (A VO's Journey) and am now binge listening to Pica's podcasts. I want to be armed with as much information as possible. Before I go on, I must give a shout-out to VoiceOverAngela, because her videos have also been helpful.
Here's a fact about my venture into voice-over: I'm not an actor. Never have been. The comforting thing is that I don't have to be an actor. Tonight, I signed up in LibreVox to do narration for them. What better place to hone my narration chops and get public domain books into the audiobook world. I look forward to narrating Book 1. When I become comfortable with the process, then my ebook, The Hunted, will be my first commercial audiobook.
Now does this mean I will stop writing stories and be a voice-over artist? Absolutely not! My jobs are, my day job, author, then voice-over artist. I want to do voice-over as a side gig, not as a full time job. What brought me here is that I have had problems finding an editor at a rate I can afford. So far, no luck. Most good editors want a high three or low four-figured fee. I can't afford that right now. If my venture into voice-over is a success, then that will pay for the editor, as well as improving my voice over business.
I'll keep you posted. Have a great day!
