Niiiiiiiiice!

Heyǃ It is awesome isn'tǃ There is a Reaper config In the Reference Docs for Voice Over and Narration if you want to give it a tryǃ I love the idea of mapping shortcuts to mouse buttonsǃ I use Touch Portal on my phone and have a bunch of short cuts on there and it works like a dreamǃǃǃǃ

Ohhhhǃ I haven't listened to thisǃ How is the narration?

Eeeeeeeeee!!!! Yay!!! So excited!!! Yeah Adrian is so fun to voice! Have you read Book 2 yet?

Wooooooooo!!! Let me know you fav characters!!!!!

These are alll brilliant ideas!!! Thank you!!! I will get on it!!!!

Well, I guess I will start us off! SURPRISE LAUNCH!!! Get ready everyone! Here is a sneak preview for you! I LOVE THIS SERIES! A Shade of Madness Book 2 of the Ashes of Avarin by Thiago Abdalla https://adbl.co/3KLUyy0 As griffin riders clash against airships above and hordes of madmen below, Lynn finds herself surrounded by enemies. Ones that will test the limits of her faith. To defeat them, she must risk everything...including her sanity. Adrian has lost the Legion, but new magics on foreign shores might be the answer he needs to rebuild his army. His return to the Domain will bring vengeance and the hope that he will finally prove himself to his father. Nasha’s curse has taken on a new, terrifying shape. She dreads it could be just what the dead goddess needs to escape from her prison within the Silent Earth. Will she be strong enough to resist, or will Nasha’s curse give rise to the monster she fears to become? #Audiobook #sample #narrator #audiobooknarrator #audiobooks #release #releaseday #preview #trailer #audible #fantasy #scififantasy #AshesofAvarin

Yay!!!! Of course!!! Very welcome!!!

AMAZING!!!! Yes link everything on your profile so we can all follow you and become massive fans!!!!!!!!!!

That. Is. Nuts. I moved here because my wife is american... and we are bringing our kids up here! WE REALLY DID DO A SWAP!!! We are in Los Angeles, where are you from in the California?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh defo change your rate for post or no post! That is HOURS of work! I would say consider $250 for your full production rate on ACX, if we work together to keep the base pay to SAG standard, it helps everyone! Even if you have the NHS in the UK, you are worth that rate! If I am only narrating Punch and Roll files - $190 to $250 pfh If I am narrating and proofing and editing and mastering! DEFO - $300 pfh. (I out source all that so I can focus on narrating, so I pay my lovely Post-Production chappy $75 pfh, that leaves me $225 for the narration). If someone asked me for my narration only rate I would say $225 pfh, but I would say that I might be flexible depending on the project. I tend to find though that publishers will include the PFH in the audition breakdown, and tend to be grumpy if you negotiate after getting the offer. Better to say as you send in the audition if you would prefer a pay bump. YAY!! Congrats on starting to work with publishers! That is so exciting!!! Kev

Yo yo yo! First up I drink loads of water! If we are dehydrated even if we warm up we could still damage the voice. So I start drinking 3 hours before work, and get 32oz on board before I do anything, and keep drinking throughout the day, I start out with a full body physical warm up to relax and get my breath going (a work out with a cool down if I can, but I have a sixth month old sooooo... mostly just 5 mins of stretching at the mo! Ha ha! Focusing on releasing my diaphram. Then some gentle sirens to get the voice slowly warmed up. Through the full range, and then slowing down and blowing less air at the cracks to smooth them out. Then work on my different resonators and vocal qualities. This is something that may be different to a regular singing warmup. If we are doing different character voices we may want to access different parts of our voice. The Chest voice, The Mask, The Head, Lower larynxs, Vocal Fry etc, so just Maaaaaaaing or vvvvaaaaaaing or jjjjjaaaaaaaaaring with those qualities can help open them up! Lastly some tongue twisters to get the articulators going! I sometimes do this in diffrent accents if I know I've got a tough accent day ahead! And then I'M OFF!!!!! WAHOO!!!! Do we think a 'Vocal Warm Up' article would be good to add to the list? Cheers, Kev

Ok cool!!! I'll add that to the article list!!!! Ohhhh I would love a rec for a full cast too! I haven't listened to one of those yet!!!

THAT SOUNDS SO COOL!!! I don't think I have ever read anything about Philippine mythology! What a brilliant idea!!! Defo link EVEYTHING when it is out so we can support you! Nerd GIFs are how I communicate with most of my mates! Ha ha!

Yay!!! Expats everywhere! I am just the little opposite man, being English and living in the US! Ha ha! Ohhhhhh Have you linked your fantasy books on your profile?! I would love to take a look?!?!?! Cheers, Kev

Totally!!! I would say listening is a good way to start getting an idea, so just start listening and finding the narrators who's work you enjoy! That will help! I think rather than genre, think about the tone of the book! If the book is funny and the characters read quite large on the page GO FOR IT!!! If the book is more of a straight drama, and the tone is more muted I think it would be jarring if you put on a big voice and accent and things like that! So maybe a more gentle touch is better. A lean to the characters rather than a full radio play if that makes sense? You may find that certain genres tend to have similar 'tones', for example Fantasy tends to have larger than life characters, but it is good to follow the book rather than the genre, because I think then you can make more interesting and truthful choices! Overall, read the book and trust your talent. How does it feel? Does it feel it needs a gentle touch for the prose to breathe? Or does the action need to be driven and the characters lifted? You got this!!!! Maybe I should right an article something like "Building Character for Audiobooks" or something? What do you think? Cheers, Kev

No way! I am an English audiobook narrator who lives in the US! We did a swap! Ha ha! Of course! I really want to try and make a place where we can all hang out and feel like we have colleagues when we are stuck in our little boxes! Ha ha! Thanks for joining!!! Feel free to invite anyone who you think would benefit or enjoy the site!! Cheers, Kev

Hey Samantha!!! Thank you for getting the ball rolling and starting the chat! If I am working for publishers and delivering punch and roll files but not doing any other work I find rates range from $190 to $250 pfh. I try not to go bellow $200 if I can, my preferred rate is $225, but get $245 from some places. Direct to the author is almost always full production with editing and mastering but if I were to only narrate I would ask for a similar rate! However, if you are off a platform like ACX or Findaway, SAG min for Narration only is $260 pfh! But if you are on ACX you can charge less. Weird right? Cheers Kev