[This is a new, short, monthly personal segment I'm adding to my blog, sharing some bite-size pieces of my life so you can get to know me better.]

I’m currently reading the same books I’ve been reading for 2 months now – Sarah Silverman’s “The Bedwetter,” George R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” and Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games.” I know I’m not digging deep to find good books to read, and right now I don’t care. I’m just happy to find any time to read anything for leisure.

My audiobook career is made possible by my husband. Without his support – taking care of the baby while I spend hours a day recording, making sure I eat real food when I take breaks – it would be damn near impossible to complete books on deadline. Also, I’d be terribly malnourished.

My daughter is already 5 1/2 months old. Where has the time gone? She’s so happy and the squeals she makes when we tickle her floor me every time. She also likes to sleep in til 9. We’re totally on the same page.

Have you walked by the spin/cycling room at the gym and seen a skinny blonde woman teaching the class at the front of the room? I was in that class this week. I was terrified when she walked in because I was sure I’d die since it was only my 2nd spin class ever, but I reached my goal of staying for the full 60 minutes. I never thought I’d take a spin class, but it reminds me how much I love biking. It is also a great reminder to try new things, because I might actually like them. Also, I should put air in my tires and take my bike outside, there’s still a few months left for me to hit the greenways in Phoenix without my tires melting.

I’m terrible about seeking out new music. I ask my friends to force it on me, and I hope some of it will stick. I often have VO sessions in a studio about 25 minutes away, and that drive offers me a great time to enjoy new stuff. As a reference, I like rock and indie but not so indie that nobody except the hippest hipsters has heard of it. My to-listen-to list includes ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Florence and the Machine.’ Any other suggestions?

My last blog post was about taking actions for your business before wrapping up the year. My friend, Rachel Fulginiti, wrote a thoughtful post about kicking off a new year by reviewing the previous year’s goals and then setting your intentions for the new year. I couldn’t have said it any better or more succinctly, so Rachel has given me her permission to share that post with you here. Since we’re only 2 weeks into 2012, it’s definitely not too late to create your vision for the year, the worksheet at the bottom is a great guide.
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The start of a new year is always such a great feeling. So much promise, a blank slate, a chance to start again. As humans we measure things in time and it’s such a clear-cut marker of what has transpired and what is possible. I always make it a point to look back and reflect on the year that’s passed and then I love moving on to what I hope to bring in this year. I don’t personally make resolutions but I do definitely set my intentions for the coming year. I believe we are the co-creators of our lives and these days I like to do the creating as consciously as possible.

To that end I’d like to pass along this worksheet that someone graciously sent to me several years ago. It’s definitely thorough. I find it helpful to have a place to write everything down so I can refer to it throughout the year. It helps keep me on track, encourages me get specific and it is amazing to look back in December and see the manifestation.

Wishing everyone a happy healthy and prosperous 2012. It’s a brand new shiny year. Birth your vision!

worksheet courtesy of DAVID BASCH, PCC, CPCC, dwbcoaching.com

Completion/Vision
2011/2012

This is a personal planning tool designed to powerfully support your success in any area of life. Do it in early January and then refer to it at least once a month during the year. For optimum results share it with your coach, consultant or trusted advisor(s) to keep you on track and hold you accountable.

Rachel Fulginiti is a versatile voice actor specializing in commercials and television promos. She has voiced for 100′s of products including Target, McDonalds, Albertsons, eHarmony and many many more.

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Thank you for your insight, Rachel!

With just a few days left in the year, everyone’s looking forward to 2012 and making goals for the new year. Don’t forget that there are a few business days left in 2011, and now’s a great time to double-check that you’ve made the most of this year. Here’s a checklist of things to do so your business is prepared to take on 2012.

• Taxes

Do you know what your tax liability is going to be for 2011? First of all, if you’re brand new to voiceover and had a very modest year, here’s a little help to see if your business is still technically a hobby for this year. For everyone else, we’ve been turning a profit and it’s just a matter of how much taxes we owe the IRS. If you don’t pay quarterly or set aside a percentage of your monthly income, this can be a painful number to hear from your accountant in the spring.

Disclaimer: I’m not giving professional tax advice, this is just from one voice talent to another. Check with your tax professional before proceeding with any of my suggestions. Do your own research, there’s a lot you can learn on the IRS website about business taxes and deductions.

Before the end of 2011, you’ll want to double check to see what your tax situation will be, because there are a few things you can do for your business right now to help offset what you owe. To get a ballpark estimate, add up what you’ve been paid or expect to receive by 12/31 and find that total in the corresponding chart of tax brackets – tax percentage “x”. When people talk about freely spending money because “it’s a business expense” they may not realize that it’s not a dollar-for-dollar tax credit. It’s actually that “x” percentage that roughly will be the percentage of your legitimate business expenses that comes back as a tax write-off from your total taxes owed. Do you know you need a new computer, upgrades, or other gear in the near future? Consider buying it now and your 2011 tax liability will be decreased by approximately “x” percent of the cost of your gear. If you need a new computer but it hasn’t been released yet (Apple products are perfect examples) but you know about what it’ll cost, buy your business a gift card towards that purchase in this calendar year, even though you’ll buy the computer next year. Use these last few days of 2011 to dig around for donations – send money to your local non-profit food bank, drop off what you can to Goodwill, and request paperwork for all your donations. Some charities work with the state to provide a tax credit, as in a dollar-for-dollar write-down of your tax liability (for federal taxes you’re still working with “x” percentage of that donation amount). Again, check with your accountant now if you’re unsure of what you can or can’t do, this is just my personal experience and not professional advice.

• Managing Client Information

It’s a great time to do a major re-org of your data. If you’re using a backup system (RAID, external harddrives, etc) this will be easier for you. Are there projects you don’t need sitting on your main harddrive anymore? Pop these folders and files on another harddrive (if you don’t have one, buy one this week and do it!) Don’t delete your data because 1) storage is so cheap, 2) you could be surprised that your client lost their original files or 3) the client needs you to reference and match an old read for an update to the project.

Review who you’ve worked with this year and make sure you have their updated contact info in your computer’s address book, your billing software and/or accessible in the ‘cloud’ or on a backup drive in case something happens to your computer.

Do you have previous clients that you didn’t work with at all this year? Make a list and look into contacting them, remind them that you’re around and possibly send updated demo information to refresh their memories.

Is there anyone you don’t want to work with again? Slow payers and no-payers could easily be on the client-cut list. If you still have any outstanding invoices, send another reminder. The only good news I have for you is that if a client never pays, your accountant may include that as a tax write-off for you.

• Mark Important Dates for 2012

Grab your smartphone, sit at your computer, and find a pen and whatever 2012 calendars you received during the holidays and make sure you write down important dates for 2012. Things to note:

– contract renewals – with clients, voiceover pay-to-play sites, etc
– website domain renewals – hosting, domain names, etc
– seasonal clients – any time-specific events that prompt certain clients to call on you
– conferences and workshops – look online and see if there’s anything you’re planning to attend, and mark dates payment is due for registration, if it’s posted
– planned vacations – unless you’re thinking “what is that?” in which case maybe you should start planning a little time off
– automatic payments – advertising, paying off gear, anything that you don’t want to be a surprise to your business account

Now that you’ve gotten all that done, spend some free time (ha!) editing your Facebook timeline. It’s good to do a little maintenance on your social media accounts, make sure your descriptions and details are up to date and update any new skills you have on LinkedIn.

My next blog will likely be the first of 2012, and once we’ve cleared off all these last to-do projects from 2011, it’ll be time for goal setting. Until then, I hope you have a productive last few days of 2011!

Work-wise, if you’re in radio it’s an all or nothing time of year. From November to December 24th, it’s the busiest time of year. As retail gears up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, broadcast production departments across the country scramble to get everything voiced, written and produced, and a boatload of national and pre-produced spots need to be dubbed into the automation system. Once you hit mid-December, the pace slows ever so slightly and keeps steady until 12/24. This time of the year isn’t Arbitron rated (although I don’t know if the newer PPM system takes the time off) so on-air and sales pretty much vacate the building. As a listener, you’d notice all the part-timers taking over various timeslots on-air, and of course there are music stations that flip to all-Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and may come back as a new format on January 1st.

For all my years in the commercial production department, this time of year also meant that we’d have a bunch of work dumped on us right before or on Christmas Eve. Bah humbug! All the national/regional pre-produced ads that promoted post-holiday sales needed to be ready to run on the 26th so they can clearance out the “Christmas 2011″ ornaments and such. But the gift of the season for production (and traffic, who schedules all the spots) is that when we’d return to the office after Christmas, our schedules would be super-light for the next 2 months. We’d been known to completely goof off (throwing things down the hall, feet on the desks, taking shorter work days) until Spring TV sweeps comes around, or any local sports team gets into a championship bracket and necessitates more ads and specials.

This is the first year that I’m not concerned about getting spots ready for these deadlines, last-minute dubs on Christmas Eve or re-downloading the logs from traffic due to schedule changes with last minute spots. It’s a huge relief to be independent right now! Now that I’m not part of that world anymore, I see the industry slowdown through my producer friends and agents instead. Once the booked sessions and scripts have cleared my calendar and inbox, I can take time off from secondary work (auditions, social media maintenance, blog posts) and actually spend time with my family and friends. I can visit friends who stayed in town and make our famous NY cheesecake for Christmas Eve and Day with our cousins.

With the year coming to a close, it’s also a great time for end-of-year Top 10 lists. If you’re able to slow down and take time away from working, here’s 2 lists you may enjoy checking out for fun.

Ad Week’s Top 10 (TV) Commercials of the Year – Some of these I didn’t catch on TV but I love to share and celebrate the creative work of others!
Top 10 Videos of the Year on YouTube – my 4 month old daughter LOVED the twin babies having a conversation, and I’m still blown away by the clean, word-perfect flow of Karmin covering Busta Rhymes tongue-tying lyrics. That’d be a great exercise for any voice talent.

res·o·lu·tion/ˌrezəˈlo͞oSHən/ A firm decision to do or not to do something

This past year, I’ve had 2 huge milestones: the birth of my daughter and leaving my full-time job in radio commercial production for my voiceover career. With big life events can often come some realizations about life. With that in mind, while I haven’t made New Year’s Resolutions in a few years, I’m making this one because it will have a significant positive impact on my life: I resolve to work less this year.

That doesn’t mean to put less energy into my work, make less money, take on fewer or smaller projects, or put my business focus elsewhere. I mean simply that I want to spend less of my precious time working and more time of it doing everything else. It’s about doing less hustling, and more of what you enjoy.

There are 2 blog posts I want to share that align with this resolution: David Roberts’ essay The Medium Chill. The other is Bob Souer’s blog series called “Invite the Avalanche” (start reading part one here). David poses that if you’re happy with your life, working more isn’t going to make you enjoy your life more. It’s about appreciating what you have and after your needs are met, not sacrificing valuable time for money. Bob’s posts share a mentality that can allow you to do that. By outsourcing what slows you down, you can focus on the work at hand, and set up a system that allows you to handle the avalanche of work that comes in.

This isn’t about settling and shutting down your hopes and dreams. I see the two working together to help me prioritize what things are worth my time, and what things are worth paying someone else for their time to do it for me. It’s not so much that I’m working less, but I’m definitely hustling less. Less auditions for one-time clients, less tracking down payments, less busywork. More of my working time can be spent recording voice overs or corresponding with my clients, and less time doing the impersonal, time-consuming stuff.

Here’s 3 tips on how to keep the resolution to work less in 2012:

Remember who and what’s worth not working for. Family, friends, pets, hobbies – there are important things in life that don’t get your time and attention while you’re working. These are the things we work for, but the more you work the less time you have to enjoy them. The more you’re hustling, the less that time spent working feels like it’s been worth it at the end of the day. Make this the year you take back those lost hours and invest them in your life. I intend on keeping my resolution to work less this year, and I think it’s going to be my best year yet.

This blog post celebrates another milestone in my life I’ve recently achieved: I’m happy to say that (officially as of early November) I’m now a full time voice artist + producer.

I don’t suggest anyone decide to quit their job on a whim when becoming fed up with it, or being impatient for a voiceover career to take off. I blogged about having to wait for the right time earlier this year. I’ve had my sights set on an independent career working for myself for quite a while.

Things were looking good business-wise for me, and I had actually hoped to reassess and possibly quit my job for my birthday this year. But, a few days before Christmas 2010 we were thrilled to find out that I was pregnant. This meant the smart thing to do would be to stay at my job as long as possible (making big decisions based on insurance coverage is such a first-world problem!) and take the time I’d have on partially-paid leave to decide if I really could do my part in supporting our family just on my voiceover work. So all this Spring and Summer, I worked extra long hours doing the footwork: building and working on the machine that is my business. I started my leave a few days after my due date in August. 11 days after my due date, we welcomed our daughter Amaya into the world.

Pretty quickly during my leave, the Universe sent me all the evidence and signs I needed to decide to quit my job and be a full time voiceover talent. The scales had tipped, and the income from my job didn’t balance out for the 40 hours it took away from my freelance and everything else. I’m so thankful that Andy and I unanimously decided this is what’s best for our family.

This is the life I’ve been working toward all these years. I didn’t want to have to choose to have either a career or a family. I have the joy of raising my daughter with my husband, both of us working from home for our own businesses. We get to show her by example that you really can be anything you want if you’re willing to work hard for it, and wait until the time is right. With Thanksgiving a couple days away, I have a lot to be thankful for this year.

I wanted to provide an honest look at what new audiobook narrators should expect, especially before they invest money in an audiobook workshop. This is info you’ll get once you’ve already paid to take a workshop but I feel that you should have it before you commit financially, to see if it’s really for you. I’ve also been inspired to write this by hearing many bad audiobook demos from talent who don’t have a studio suitable for recording books and – based on their performance – they haven’t had any training on how to properly approach this unique genre. I can hear it, so the casting director can certainly hear it. First things first – part 1 starts with your foundation, if you missed it, read here. Thanks for joining me for part 2.

As I’ll break down for you in the next section, you’re going to spend a lot of time in the studio recording. Since you’re running a business, and especially if you’re a full-time voiceover talent who depends on this income to pay your bills, you’re trying to maximize your working hours for profit. Let’s go over how you’re paid to do books. There are some publishing companies that work on the royalty payscale model. This means no money upfront, no money on completion, but all your money is made on the backend when (or if) listeners buy the audiobook. In general it’s either a flat percentage, a percentage until an equivalent PFH rate or total has been met and then a lower percentage from that point onward, or a structured percentage range. For example, ACX’s rates on their Royalty Share titles start at 25% of Audible’s net sales per title, and can go as high as 45% if the book sells over 20,010 copies. This can be a lucrative payment model if you’ve recorded a great title or a book with a built-in devoted fanbase.

Being paid through royalties of course isn’t your only option, but it’s the most widely available option for the brand new narrator. Most companies aren’t enthusiastic about being your “first,” so a pay-based-on-sales option works for them. Just because you’re not paid a set rate upon completion doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. Maybe it just needs the right narrator (you?) and good promotion, and then you’ve got a nice little income stream going.

The gold standard for audiobook payments is by PFH – per finished hour. If the book is 10 hours long and your finished hour rate is $200, you’ll make $2000 upon completing the book, no matter how long it takes you to complete it. Unless you’re working directly with an author or bidding on a pay-to-play site, for the most part it’s the publishing company who’s going to tell you what they intend to pay you PFH. There may be room to negotiate, or maybe even try to get a small royalty percentage on the backend, but good luck trying to call the shots before you’ve done a few notable titles or received positive industry reviews.

Okay… so how much am I going to make and how much time will I invest producing an audiobook? What’s fair to expect? I’m going to answer that based on the cumulative experiences of myself, friends who’ve shared their recording stats and other websites that suggest timeframes for the work.

This example is based on a 10 hour fiction audiobook where the narrator is responsible for providing clean, edited, proofed and totally complete audio for the book. Here’s where your time goes:

Reading the book

5 hours – If it takes 10 hours to listen to it, we’ll go with 5 hours to read, take notes on plot, characters and items that require further research, along with marking up the script anywhere something might be confusing (long sections of dialogue without he said/she said, for example).

Research

5 hours – There’s a huge range on this depending on content, accents required, unfamiliar words, cities and names to pronounce, or questions you need to ask the author or publisher and how long you spend preparing your characters (if any time at all). A few publishers even do the majority of the research for you! You can also ask the publisher if they have anyone available to help even just for a few hours. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and it would get the book completed a little faster.

Recording the book

30 hours – This is a conservative estimate, assuming a 3:1 ratio of studio time to completed hours. It assumes you’re adept with your software, you use punch-and-roll recording, you’re a very accurate sight-reader, and you are confident in your choices through each scene and don’t stop to revisit much. You could just as easily be at a 5:1 ratio, or 50 hours, just to record, if you’re not up to speed with these tasks.

Recording corrections and editing

30 hours – This is a somewhat arbitrary estimate, it depends on how the publisher wants corrections handled and how many corrections there are. It also depends on how you followed your recording guidelines from the publisher while recording in regard to breath preferences and pauses, and if the publisher has editors or someone to compile and master the audio in-house. As for the corrections themselves, no matter how accurate you felt you were, there will be transposed and misread words over the course of 88,000 words in 10 hours. ACX suggests that it takes 2-4 hours to edit each finished hour of audio to their standards (the standards for Audible.com). I’m rolling all studio work after the original recording into this one total and assuming 3 times the finished length should get all your corrections edited back in to the audio.

Proofing

20 hours – Of course, the only way to find corrections is for someone to listen to the book with the script in front of them. Sometimes that’s the company or author you’re working for, and sometimes that will be you (or a very kind friend.) If you’re proofing efficiently, add in twice the time of the finished book to your total – here, another 20 hours.

Total hypothetical time on a 10 hour audiobook: 70 hours (90 if you’re proofing, as well)

As a new narrator producing from home, if you opt for a PFH rate and not payment based on royalties, you’re looking at making $100-$175 per finished hour of the actual audiobook. You’ll make between $1000-$1750 for around 70 (or 90) hours of work. So on the low end that breaks down to $14.28 (with proofing, $11.11) per finished hour; on the high end – $25 (or $19.44) pfh.

I’m certainly not saying you couldn’t do a great job faster. If you’ve never recorded an audiobook before and are trying to enter the field, this is a reality check, but each person’s speed varies and each book will offer unique challenges. Sure, you could make the same money with a few short narration gigs or a couple local commercials and it would take a fraction of the time. You can’t pursue this line of work if you’re thinking that you’re going to make money hand over fist – that’s not how the industry is structured. PFH rates have only gone down the past few years as publishers lean on digital distribution and can’t keep up with the rates they were charging for selling CDs in bookstores. But also consider that you’re not going to be giving up your other (higher paying) work to work solely in audiobooks. Only the top names in audiobooks don’t have to supplement with commercial work, and they command very different arrangements with the publishers. Those of us who won’t be getting $500/pfh and upward really need to be better with managing our time so we can find a couple hours a day to work on audiobooks.

If after reading this you’ve decided that this is far more involved than you’d like, then put audiobooks on the back burner and come back to the idea in a few months, or a year. If you’re not terrified of all the hours involved, congratulations. You’ve got the heart and guts (and I hope time management skills) to become an audiobook narrator.