The process of hiring a professional Voice Over Artist, or Children's Audiobook Narrator, may seem daunting at first, especially if this is your first project. What qualifications should you be looking for? What questions should you ask? What should you expect to pay?
Let's cover all of those topics! And even better... let's cover the ones you may not have even thought of yet...
I'm Kitty Jay. I'm a professional VO Artist. And yes, I have voiced many children's projects. Audiobooks, Learning Apps and Websites, Video Games, Animation, Talking Toys and more. But this isn't about me! it's about you... and your project.
What will it cost?
Most Voice Over Artists set their own fees. Unless you find them through an agency, a VO Artist will be giving you a quote for your project, based on a few factors:
The time your project will take to complete
The word count of your project or manuscript
The amount of editing your project requires (for example, if you want to publish your project to Audible, your VO will need to edit to ACX specs)
Extras, like SFX or music added
The usage of your project. An experienced VO Artist will have different fees for the "rights" to use their voice in TV, radio, or internet advertising, or on a website, app, game or social media campaign. Purchasing a Voice Over audio file/s does not grant you the rights to use that file wherever you wish. The usage is negotiated with your VO Artist.
Many Voice Talents use the GVAA Rate Guide to set their prices. Check it out to get an idea of the range of pricing for your project. Each VO Artist's price will fluctuate depending on their experience level, expertise, reputation, resume, training, demand, and home studio attributes.
For audiobooks, you may hear the term "PFH". It stands for Per Finished Hour. One hour of audiobook audio can take anywhere between 3 and 6 hours to actually narrate, edit and master. A VO Artist's "PFH" rate is the fee they charge for a fully narrated, edited, and mastered hour of audio. Audiobooks of less than an hour in length are typically billed at a flat fee, rather than PFH.
How can I find a VO Artist or Narrator for my project?
Most reputable Voice Actors and Narrators will have their own websites where they feature info about themselves, their studio, clients they've worked with, and, most importantly, voice demos you can listen to. You can always do a quick search and see who comes up.
Voice Over Artists may also advertise their services on freelancer platforms like UpWork, or Fiverr. There you can choose to search and peruse many VO Artists at once.
There are other sites that are Voice Over specific, like Voice123, Voices, Voice Realm, or VO Planet. These sites will require you to join, for a fee, and advertise the job you are offering. Here you can post details of what you need, and request auditions from interested Voice Over Artists.
You could also search for a children's Audiobook Narrator on the ACX website, where you also have the option of choosing a Royalty Share method of payment. This means that instead of paying the VO Artist a flat fee, or PFH rate, you agree to split the royalties from the Audible sales of your audiobook.
What should I be looking for in a VO Artist or Children's Audiobook Narrator?
Obviously, you want to find someone who has a voice that you like, and the talents and skills to deliver the performance you envision for your children's book or project. This may mean that you need a VO Artist who excels in character voices and children's voices. For educational books and K-12 elearning projects, you may be seeking a voice that is easy to listen to for long periods of time.
You also want to consider the following things:
Does this VO Artist match your projected budget?
Does the quality of their audio sound crisp and clean?
Are they available to provide music or SFX, if you want them?
Are they available long-term, if you would like to continue with them past this first project?
Do they have solid reviews and ratings from past clients?
If they are new to the business, do they seem confident in their ability to meet the technical requirements of the job?
Are they experienced in editing and mastering in ACX standards, for Audible projects?
Do they run their business in a professional manner?
Do you think you will enjoy working with them?
What is their revision policy? What do they charge for extra revisions?
Can they meet your timeline for the project? How quickly will they deliver finished work?
Will they provide you with a short sample of your project, to help you make your decision?
Am I ready to hire a VO Artist or Narrator?
I get it. You are super-pumped about your new project or children's book, and you can't wait to get the ball rolling with finding the perfect VO Artist... even though you haven't finished your script or manuscript yet.
If that's the case, you aren't quite ready yet. The perfect time to approach a VO Artist is when you have a finished manuscript. Why is that? A VO Artist is only going to offer you a certain number of revisions before they start charging you for any further changes you want to make. Keep in mind, what may seem like a small change to you may take quite a bit of time for your Narrator to record and edit into an already mastered audio file. They may also need to record more of the script again, in order for your changes to blend seamlessly into the audio.
It's also important that your VO Artist knows the intended usage of the audio they are providing to you, before they begin recording. Audiobooks for Audible/ACX require very specific recording and editing parameters, some of which cannot be applied onto an already finished file that was not originally recorded for that purpose.
What about typos, or grammatical errors? A VO Artist is expecting to work with a fully edited, fully proofread manuscript. Some VO's offer proofreading, at an extra fee. But remember - A VO's job is to read the manuscript they are presented with. Any necessary corrections after they've already recorded may result in an additional fee.
What else do I need to do?
You should plan to provide your VO with pronunciations of any unusual proper names, slang, or fictional places or companies. You don't want to wait until they've finished recording to let them know that the lead character, "Ralph", is actually pronounced like "Ralph" Fiennes.
Do you have a specific tone, pace or accent in mind for a character? Give your Narrator plenty of details about your character expectations before they record.
If you decide you would like corrections or revisions when reviewing finished audio, be sure to note the time stamp of the section you want corrected, with specific instructions of what you want changed.
Is that it?
An experienced Voice Over Artist or Children's Book Narrator will ask you all the pertinent questions necessary to get your project moving.
So relax and enjoy... you are in good hands... and well on your way to sharing your finished project with the world.
Comments