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Voice Coaches Radio #485 – I Like Big Books…
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh Heller, she is Marissa Lanczak, and we are delighted to have you joining me. Us. What? I love when you sing, by the way. Thank you. Yeah, you should do more of it. I used to do a lot of singing. I don't, I don't...
No, I remember you, you told me you were doing like, uh, musical theater and stuff, right? I did, I did, back in the day. I was in a cappella group in college. Yeah, actually fun story, fun story, not that anyone cares. I love fun stories. So I went to school in Boston, uh, Northeastern, go Huskies, and I was in an a cappella group called the Down Beats and Yes, we have an album.
Don't worry about it. And uh, wait, where can we get this album? I don't know. Hopefully nowhere. Spotify? I don't actually know. Uh, I don't know, it's called DownBeat Crossing, DownBeats Crossing or something like that. I was supposed to make a play off of like, Downtown Crossing in Boston. But anyway, it doesn't matter.
Uh, so, uh, we, we did, uh, my freshman year, we did ICCAs. Uh, and for those of you who don't know what ICCAs are, it's the International Ac pa ca la collegiate. I don't know what it stands for, it doesn't matter. Um, but if you've seen, um, uh, Pitch Perfect. Yeah. That's ICCAs. Okay. And, do you know, so, uh, I forget what the first, there's like a preliminary round, and then there's like a regional round, and, uh, we made it to the regional round, we didn't make it past, but do you know where our regional round competition was?
Tell me. UAlbany. Really? I'd never been to Albany before, except for ICCA's at UAlbany. You predicted your future. And like, I moved here and didn't even, didn't even give it a second thought. Didn't even give it a second thought, and then I was driving by one day, and I was like, Man, that looks familiar, and I was like, Oh my God, I have been here!
Um, in fact, one of the guys in the, in the group with us was from this area, and his sister, at the time, was a junior at Emma Willard, and we performed at Emma Willard School for, um, you know, for the girls there, and, you know, talked to them about, It was the juniors and seniors there, uh, you know, about, uh, it performing in, in college and whatnot and, and now I'm like, oh yeah, I know that place and like, it's crazy.
It's a small world, after all. It is a small world. I mean, Albany left such a great impression for you though, like you had no idea you had ever been here before. Maybe I blocked, maybe I, I intentionally blocked it out like, oh God. I'm gonna be honest. It was not our best performance and we did not move on.
So, you know, maybe I was like, oh Oh, buddy gross. Yeah, you'll remember it all in therapy. It's fine. That's true Trust me. That's that's way Memories are gonna come flying back. There's a long laundry list of things that are gonna come out there I'm pretty sure that's fairly low on the totem pole right now, but but you never know, but you never know how we doing How am I?
I'm good. Good, good. Um, big news, apparently. What's that? Your big news. I have big news? Yeah. Remind me. Big voice acting news. Oh, I mean, yeah, I got an audio book. Yep. Oh yeah, I got an audio book, whatever. Yeah, I mean, I'm just, I'm just getting my, my toes wet, you know, I'm, I'm dipping them in. Your toes into...
Because that's, I mean, like I always say to all the, all the students that we have, it's like my, my voice work has primarily been with all these radio groups that I've worked with. You know, and I do a lot of commercial stuff, but I'm like, you know what? Let's branch out a little bit. Let's have some fun.
So, so nonchalant about it. Yeah, I got an audiobook. It's whatever. Well, I mean, also because I sound like this right now. I don't know why I sound like this. I've sounded fine all week. You're bad luck to me. I don't know. You seem allergic to me. I think that's what it points out to. I'm allergic to Fridays.
Yeah. You're the opposite of Garfield. I know. Oh, Mondays. Well, hey, we have every other Monday off. So, I don't mind Monday. That's true. And I have this Monday off. So, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Yeah, see? Um. Yes. So, um, so congratulations. That's awesome. Thank you. I'm, I'm excited. So, yeah, it's like a, a, like a, like kind of powerful, uh, networking book.
Um, and, and, you know, I, I like kind of pushing people in the right direction. So, it'll be, it'll be a good thing. Cool. Cool. Well, well, keep us posted on it, right? Let us know how it, uh, how it goes. I will. I'll, I'll let all my complaining happen right here. I don't doubt that. On Voice Coaches Radio. Why would you stop now?
I don't complain. You're the complainer. What? Well, I mean, yeah, but. I like to feel like we are the complainers. Well, I'm just here. It's true. It's true. And we're glad you're here. Thanks. But congratulations. That's awesome. So how did, uh, how did this, uh, uh, transpire? Um, I just decided to start throwing some auditions up on ACX, you know, I just wanted to go ahead and you know just just kind of like I said kind of get my feet wet a little bit and do a couple when I had Some free time every day and and just see what happened and like I had only put a couple up there and next thing You know, I had an offer this morning.
So I was like sure And then I was like, wait, when am I going to find the time to do this? But I will get that offer. And you're like, this is amazing. And you're like, oh, wait, it's a it's a sizable. It's a sizable tome. You're taking. Yeah, yeah. But I just wanted to get the first one under my belt so I could be like, yeah, I did that.
And I did it for a long time. And, I, I can do it, you know? So, yeah, I'm excited. Cool. Well, I can't wait to hear, uh, I can't wait to hear all about it. Oh, thank you. There's gonna not be any tears for this one, at least when I hand it in. It might be tears for me of being like, haha, I did it! That's gonna happen during it.
That's gonna happen during do this? Why did I get myself into this? It's funny, audiobooks are, are one of those things where, um... You know, some people love them. Some people don't. They're a lot of work. Yeah, they are. They are definitely a lot of work. Uh, I would not say they're the biggest bang for your buck in this industry.
Um, and, and, you know, and I, I think we've talked about in the past, but they, they pay in, in a couple of different ways. Um, neither of which are all that much. Um, The first is, and I think this is what you're, you're dealing with is, uh, is a royalty sharing. Yeah, so I just have to hope for the best. Yeah, so I'll buy like 20 copies of it for you.
Thank you. Um, and, and with royalty sharing, it's just that, right? You get a percentage of the, the take. Um, you know, whatever, whatever that is. Uh, and if it's a really super successful audiobook, that's awesome. And if it's not, that's less awesome. Um, so I mean, that, that's, that certainly is, is out there. Um.
But see, that's why I was like, you know what? Let's just do it. Because. It is my first, you know, and this is just really practice and it's, it's official practice, but it's practice. Well, and I'll tell you, so the other way you can get paid for this is by what's called P. F. H. And P. F. H. is per finished hour, which is basically you get paid for as long as the finished product is.
So if you're doing, say, a 14 hour audio book, you're getting paid 14 hours at whatever the P. F. H. rate is. Um. It's going to take you more than 14 hours to do, I can tell you that, um, but you're still getting only paid for that, that 14 hours, but I mean I get it, it makes sense from, from their perspective, they don't want you taking a 14 hour audiobook and taking like 30 hours to do it, um, but, you know, and that's, that, that takes into consideration the fact that, you know, for, for us at least, and, and, and, you know, you're going to run into this also, we're not, you're not just recording it, you're recording it, and you're editing it.
And you're mastering it, right? You are, you're doing everything. You're doing everything on that, which is, uh... You're scaring me. No, no, I mean, it's great. It's awesome. But it is, I mean, I kind of joked about how long the book was, and I was like, well, double it. That's about how much time you'll spend. It's actually a little bit more than that.
Um, but it also depends on, you know, for me, so what I'm doing right now is, you know, I'm reading and, you know, finishing a chapter, and then I will listen back to it and clean it up. and edit it up and listening back to it. I do that in real time. Uh, are there more efficient ways to do that? Uh, yeah, there can be.
Uh, one of the things I've started to do is every time I make a mistake, which is far too often, uh, is I'll make a little click sound like a, or a, or a snap. Yeah, that's definitely helpful. Something so that I can see on, on the track easily, you know, where that's happening. It's funny, I do that when I record commercials, you know, because I'll go ahead and I'll...
I'll screw up somewhere. I'm like, I'm not stopping this recording right now. So I'll just do a little click. Yeah, and it's great for that. The problem for me, at least, is I don't trust myself enough that I'm willing to only go to those places and clean that up. If you can't trust yourself, Josh, who do you trust?
Nobody, let's be honest here. Josh has trust issues? What? That sounds crazy. But you know, did I make other mistakes in there? Probably probably and so I'm still at the point where I'm listening to the entire thing. Yeah You know, with the manuscript next to me. And that's the thing, is like, the more you do it, the more confident you're gonna be.
And the less time it'll take. And that's why, like, I, I don't want the first one to be as long as it's going to be with me. But it's, it's just get it under my belt. So then I do build that confidence, right? Yeah, and it will get quicker and whatnot. But yeah, that this first one is going to be a lengthy one.
Yeah. Not just because the fact that apparently it is, I think you said 12 plus hours. Something like that. Yeah. And that's just a, just kind of a. Ballpark, but it's gonna be significantly more than that and that's and so for those of you who are looking into doing something like this Know that going in right?
I mean, we're all excited We do the audition and then you know, like like you said you get the offer and you're like, oh crap now what? Now you have to actually, you know do it wait now I have to do it and I have to do it, right? Yeah, and it's it's it is it's pressure right? It's a lot of pressure. This is somebody's You know, this is somebody's baby.
This is somebody's, somebody's book. You wanna, you wanna do a good job. Besides the fact you're representing yourself. But, I mean, I think we kind of both have the same idea. Like, this is a professional thing. You want it to sound that way. Yeah. Um, and, and there's no doubt in my mind that you can get it to sound that way.
But, it takes time. Especially that the first couple times through, it's gonna take a significant amount of time. Um, And so just make sure that, for those of you who are, you know, who are thinking of doing this, make sure you know that. Make sure you know that going into it. Like, great, I got the job, now the real work begins.
And it is, it's, it's work. Um, and it's But have fun while you do it, right? Like, that's, that's why we're all here. Yes, and the recording part is The listening back and editing is less fun. It's a bit tedious. Especially depending on the book. That's very true. Very true. And I've started to get sick of my own voice at that point.
I'm like, yeah, shut up, dude. And like, occasionally, like, I'll end up with like, I'll hit a rut and make the same mistake like four or five times in a row. And it's just like, come on, dude, figure it out. Figure it out. What's wrong with you? Um. But, but yeah, no, it's, it's, it's a great place to kind of get that, that initial experience to kind of, you know, get your feet wet a little bit, try it out, um, and then you can make some money from it too, which is awesome also, um, you know, depending how you do it, I know the books that I've done so far are all PFH, I haven't done any royalty sharing, uh, which is honestly for me right now, I prefer that because I Don't trust.
Well, I would've preferred it too, but I didn't know that was an option. . Oh yeah. So you, you can, for, you'll be over here to that, you know, you can definitely get paid for it. Um, but, you know, hey, who knows, maybe this book will be super successful and you'll make, you know, billions of dollars. And maybe it'll be on Oprah's favorite things.
Could be, could be her book list, you know? Could it, it very, it, I mean, I doubtful I think it would, I feel pretty good about it. Um, it's not like secret life of bees or something, you know, but Yeah. No, that's, uh, that's, that's fair. And if it was, they probably wouldn't wanna do royalty sharing with you. No.
But, you know, again, it's, it's one of those things where it is great experience. Yeah. It is great experience and, uh, you know, just kind of going through it. I remember the first audio book I did, it, it took forever, mostly because, and not the recording part of it, that part was fine, but all the other stuff took a long time.
And for me, I was lucky in the fact that I knew the author, um, and we weren't on really a hard timetable. So, it was more like a, you know, figuring it out as we go along. Yeah. And, and that was, I learned more in that experience than, than I probably have. You know, doing pretty much anything else as far as, you know, uh, preparing myself for, for this is concerned.
And the, the one I did after that was much smoother. And, you know, they've continued to be that way for the most part. And they will for you also. The first one is, is tough, but you know what? It's, uh, it's trial by fire. Do you know, jump in headfirst, right? Sink or swim, whatever other metaphors you want to come up with, we can.
Okay. We can, yeah. Let's come up with a few more. Um, so I want to hear all about it. Um, I want to, uh, so this is what? It's due in a few weeks, yeah? Yeah, yeah, like, uh, mid July, around there. Cool, so I want to, uh, I want progress reports, and, uh, for those who are looking at progress reports on mine, the, the big, uh, Science fiction book I'm doing.
Um, I have to finish it by the beginning of July, and about a third of the way through, about a third of the way through, it's getting good at, it's getting good. Look at us. We've had, we've had trolls, um, , we have had dwarves. Okay. We have had witches and wizards and warlocks. Um, and, um, Oh, Gargoyles, if I said Gargoyles in there.
Well, of course, duh. Um, so it's, uh, it, it, you know what though, I did two chapters the other night, and one chapter was basically a lot of like narration, and the second chapter I did was mostly like conversation back and forth. It was so much easier. I love doing that so much more. Oh, really? Yeah. See, I would think that's harder.
I would have too, and to be honest, when I finished it, like, it, it, it, it, it, it, Like the first, the first part of that chapter felt like an eternity, um, I was just kind of plodding through it and then that kind of back and forth, like it flew by. Nice. And I was like, all right, good. I like that. I like that.
So, um, so yeah, so that was kind of, that was kind of fun. But yeah, so good. Congratulations! Hooray! We're gonna have to celebrate. Both of us, just over here, working and stuff, you know? So proud of us. Living the dream. We're doing it. Guys, we're doing it. We're doing it. We totally are. So, um, and then next week, my son is graduating from preschool.
A thing. I dunno if you knew that. I never went to preschool. Preschool graduation was a thing that wasn't a thing in the eighties. Um, I mean it was, but not everybody went, you know, I did, I did. I find graduation, he's got like a cap and gown and everything. Wow. Yeah. They had to memorize like stuff. He has a song he has to sing.
Wow. . Yeah. Like it's intense. It's intense. I'm glad I didn't go to preschool. So he had a, uh, oh, the poor thing. He had a, uh, a dance recital, uh, a week ago. Uh, he was taking a dance class with, um, our neighbors who have two daughters. They, they dance and he had his recital and, um, I couldn't go, I was working, and my wife sent me a video of it, and I'm like, oh, he did so good, and she's like, yeah, he's literally bawling up on stage, like, you can't tell because it's kind of farther away, but like, he is crying his eyes out while dancing on stage, um, and then he finished, he had like a jazz routine, and then he had a tap routine, and uh, and he literally went to my wife and was like, I want to go home.
And she was like, oh no, but you don't want to miss the the tap and he's like, no, I want to go home And uh, and she's like, well, why don't you stay around a little bit and just you know When everyone goes on stage for the tap, maybe maybe you'll want to go then he's like, okay And so they all went on stage for for the tap dancing and he was like, no, I still want to go home She's like, all right, fair enough Fair enough.
So dancing is not for us. But uh, hey, we tried poor thing. Um We tried. It was, uh, it was not for us, but hey, he powered, he powered through it. I'll give him that. I'll give him that. Poor little guy. Um, but, uh, but yeah, and then, uh, what else is happening in our lives? I don't know. I don't know. It's kind of a...
We can talk about my, my... I don't even want to say how many year reunion that's coming up, but it's just, like, the weekend of 4th of July. I'm going back to high school for a moment. High school reunion? Yeah. So if it's, if it's a high school reunion you're going back to, that means it's a big number. It is a big number.
So I'm gonna guess... Wait a minute, uh, when did I graduate, so I'm gonna guess 20. 20. It's like my 20th is coming up in a couple years. Yeah, nobody ever believes me when I say it, so I'm just gonna, that's why I don't like saying it, because then it kind of reveals the actual age I am. That's all right, that's all right.
But you don't, you don't look it, you don't sound it, My favorite is when students say that. I had somebody the other day go, Man, your skin is amazing. I was like, thank you. Well, so my wife is, uh, she doesn't listen to the program, so I'm not worried. My wife is turning 40 this year, and um, everyone, and I mean everyone, assumes that I'm older than her.
And I'm fine with it, I go with it, I don't care. I'm not, but. Everyone assumes that I am. It makes her feel better. It's the beard. See, I would agree with you there, but people have been doing that since long before the beard. But the beard does not help, especially because it's grayer than it used to be. Um, but, uh, you know.
Just for men. I blame that on the stress. No, come on, it's a little salt and pepper for me. Alright. Hey, you want to look distinguished. I don't color my beard. It just means you look older. You're just not out there. It's fair. It's fair. I feel older. I feel old. I feel old. Except when I'm doing audiobooks because then I feel young again.
Oh, okay. Um, so cool. Well, thanks everyone for tuning in. Again, big congratulations to you, Marissa. Thanks. That is awesome. So I am, I, I know we, we Joke about it, but I am excited for you and good luck and, um, and we can't wait to hear all about it. And, uh, and all of our adoring fans can buy copies of it to, uh, to help fund, uh, you know, to help fund you.
Um, it's the Marissa Fund. There it is. And get motivation at the same point, right? And get that motivation they need. Of course. Um, so excellent. So good, good on you. And, um, cool. Can't wait to hear about that. And obviously, obviously keep you guys updated on mine as well. Um, and we'd love to hear about what you guys are up to, what your, uh, what your projects are.
Right for the for the summer and uh, love to hear about that. Hopefully everyone's summer is going well so far as well as it can, as well as it can. All right, so we'll be back next week. Same bat time, same bat channel. Thanks so much all for tuning in. Until next time, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
No, I remember you, you told me you were doing like, uh, musical theater and stuff, right? I did, I did, back in the day. I was in a cappella group in college. Yeah, actually fun story, fun story, not that anyone cares. I love fun stories. So I went to school in Boston, uh, Northeastern, go Huskies, and I was in an a cappella group called the Down Beats and Yes, we have an album.
Don't worry about it. And uh, wait, where can we get this album? I don't know. Hopefully nowhere. Spotify? I don't actually know. Uh, I don't know, it's called DownBeat Crossing, DownBeats Crossing or something like that. I was supposed to make a play off of like, Downtown Crossing in Boston. But anyway, it doesn't matter.
Uh, so, uh, we, we did, uh, my freshman year, we did ICCAs. Uh, and for those of you who don't know what ICCAs are, it's the International Ac pa ca la collegiate. I don't know what it stands for, it doesn't matter. Um, but if you've seen, um, uh, Pitch Perfect. Yeah. That's ICCAs. Okay. And, do you know, so, uh, I forget what the first, there's like a preliminary round, and then there's like a regional round, and, uh, we made it to the regional round, we didn't make it past, but do you know where our regional round competition was?
Tell me. UAlbany. Really? I'd never been to Albany before, except for ICCA's at UAlbany. You predicted your future. And like, I moved here and didn't even, didn't even give it a second thought. Didn't even give it a second thought, and then I was driving by one day, and I was like, Man, that looks familiar, and I was like, Oh my God, I have been here!
Um, in fact, one of the guys in the, in the group with us was from this area, and his sister, at the time, was a junior at Emma Willard, and we performed at Emma Willard School for, um, you know, for the girls there, and, you know, talked to them about, It was the juniors and seniors there, uh, you know, about, uh, it performing in, in college and whatnot and, and now I'm like, oh yeah, I know that place and like, it's crazy.
It's a small world, after all. It is a small world. I mean, Albany left such a great impression for you though, like you had no idea you had ever been here before. Maybe I blocked, maybe I, I intentionally blocked it out like, oh God. I'm gonna be honest. It was not our best performance and we did not move on.
So, you know, maybe I was like, oh Oh, buddy gross. Yeah, you'll remember it all in therapy. It's fine. That's true Trust me. That's that's way Memories are gonna come flying back. There's a long laundry list of things that are gonna come out there I'm pretty sure that's fairly low on the totem pole right now, but but you never know, but you never know how we doing How am I?
I'm good. Good, good. Um, big news, apparently. What's that? Your big news. I have big news? Yeah. Remind me. Big voice acting news. Oh, I mean, yeah, I got an audio book. Yep. Oh yeah, I got an audio book, whatever. Yeah, I mean, I'm just, I'm just getting my, my toes wet, you know, I'm, I'm dipping them in. Your toes into...
Because that's, I mean, like I always say to all the, all the students that we have, it's like my, my voice work has primarily been with all these radio groups that I've worked with. You know, and I do a lot of commercial stuff, but I'm like, you know what? Let's branch out a little bit. Let's have some fun.
So, so nonchalant about it. Yeah, I got an audiobook. It's whatever. Well, I mean, also because I sound like this right now. I don't know why I sound like this. I've sounded fine all week. You're bad luck to me. I don't know. You seem allergic to me. I think that's what it points out to. I'm allergic to Fridays.
Yeah. You're the opposite of Garfield. I know. Oh, Mondays. Well, hey, we have every other Monday off. So, I don't mind Monday. That's true. And I have this Monday off. So, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Yeah, see? Um. Yes. So, um, so congratulations. That's awesome. Thank you. I'm, I'm excited. So, yeah, it's like a, a, like a, like kind of powerful, uh, networking book.
Um, and, and, you know, I, I like kind of pushing people in the right direction. So, it'll be, it'll be a good thing. Cool. Cool. Well, well, keep us posted on it, right? Let us know how it, uh, how it goes. I will. I'll, I'll let all my complaining happen right here. I don't doubt that. On Voice Coaches Radio. Why would you stop now?
I don't complain. You're the complainer. What? Well, I mean, yeah, but. I like to feel like we are the complainers. Well, I'm just here. It's true. It's true. And we're glad you're here. Thanks. But congratulations. That's awesome. So how did, uh, how did this, uh, uh, transpire? Um, I just decided to start throwing some auditions up on ACX, you know, I just wanted to go ahead and you know just just kind of like I said kind of get my feet wet a little bit and do a couple when I had Some free time every day and and just see what happened and like I had only put a couple up there and next thing You know, I had an offer this morning.
So I was like sure And then I was like, wait, when am I going to find the time to do this? But I will get that offer. And you're like, this is amazing. And you're like, oh, wait, it's a it's a sizable. It's a sizable tome. You're taking. Yeah, yeah. But I just wanted to get the first one under my belt so I could be like, yeah, I did that.
And I did it for a long time. And, I, I can do it, you know? So, yeah, I'm excited. Cool. Well, I can't wait to hear, uh, I can't wait to hear all about it. Oh, thank you. There's gonna not be any tears for this one, at least when I hand it in. It might be tears for me of being like, haha, I did it! That's gonna happen during it.
That's gonna happen during do this? Why did I get myself into this? It's funny, audiobooks are, are one of those things where, um... You know, some people love them. Some people don't. They're a lot of work. Yeah, they are. They are definitely a lot of work. Uh, I would not say they're the biggest bang for your buck in this industry.
Um, and, and, you know, and I, I think we've talked about in the past, but they, they pay in, in a couple of different ways. Um, neither of which are all that much. Um, The first is, and I think this is what you're, you're dealing with is, uh, is a royalty sharing. Yeah, so I just have to hope for the best. Yeah, so I'll buy like 20 copies of it for you.
Thank you. Um, and, and with royalty sharing, it's just that, right? You get a percentage of the, the take. Um, you know, whatever, whatever that is. Uh, and if it's a really super successful audiobook, that's awesome. And if it's not, that's less awesome. Um, so I mean, that, that's, that certainly is, is out there. Um.
But see, that's why I was like, you know what? Let's just do it. Because. It is my first, you know, and this is just really practice and it's, it's official practice, but it's practice. Well, and I'll tell you, so the other way you can get paid for this is by what's called P. F. H. And P. F. H. is per finished hour, which is basically you get paid for as long as the finished product is.
So if you're doing, say, a 14 hour audio book, you're getting paid 14 hours at whatever the P. F. H. rate is. Um. It's going to take you more than 14 hours to do, I can tell you that, um, but you're still getting only paid for that, that 14 hours, but I mean I get it, it makes sense from, from their perspective, they don't want you taking a 14 hour audiobook and taking like 30 hours to do it, um, but, you know, and that's, that, that takes into consideration the fact that, you know, for, for us at least, and, and, and, you know, you're going to run into this also, we're not, you're not just recording it, you're recording it, and you're editing it.
And you're mastering it, right? You are, you're doing everything. You're doing everything on that, which is, uh... You're scaring me. No, no, I mean, it's great. It's awesome. But it is, I mean, I kind of joked about how long the book was, and I was like, well, double it. That's about how much time you'll spend. It's actually a little bit more than that.
Um, but it also depends on, you know, for me, so what I'm doing right now is, you know, I'm reading and, you know, finishing a chapter, and then I will listen back to it and clean it up. and edit it up and listening back to it. I do that in real time. Uh, are there more efficient ways to do that? Uh, yeah, there can be.
Uh, one of the things I've started to do is every time I make a mistake, which is far too often, uh, is I'll make a little click sound like a, or a, or a snap. Yeah, that's definitely helpful. Something so that I can see on, on the track easily, you know, where that's happening. It's funny, I do that when I record commercials, you know, because I'll go ahead and I'll...
I'll screw up somewhere. I'm like, I'm not stopping this recording right now. So I'll just do a little click. Yeah, and it's great for that. The problem for me, at least, is I don't trust myself enough that I'm willing to only go to those places and clean that up. If you can't trust yourself, Josh, who do you trust?
Nobody, let's be honest here. Josh has trust issues? What? That sounds crazy. But you know, did I make other mistakes in there? Probably probably and so I'm still at the point where I'm listening to the entire thing. Yeah You know, with the manuscript next to me. And that's the thing, is like, the more you do it, the more confident you're gonna be.
And the less time it'll take. And that's why, like, I, I don't want the first one to be as long as it's going to be with me. But it's, it's just get it under my belt. So then I do build that confidence, right? Yeah, and it will get quicker and whatnot. But yeah, that this first one is going to be a lengthy one.
Yeah. Not just because the fact that apparently it is, I think you said 12 plus hours. Something like that. Yeah. And that's just a, just kind of a. Ballpark, but it's gonna be significantly more than that and that's and so for those of you who are looking into doing something like this Know that going in right?
I mean, we're all excited We do the audition and then you know, like like you said you get the offer and you're like, oh crap now what? Now you have to actually, you know do it wait now I have to do it and I have to do it, right? Yeah, and it's it's it is it's pressure right? It's a lot of pressure. This is somebody's You know, this is somebody's baby.
This is somebody's, somebody's book. You wanna, you wanna do a good job. Besides the fact you're representing yourself. But, I mean, I think we kind of both have the same idea. Like, this is a professional thing. You want it to sound that way. Yeah. Um, and, and there's no doubt in my mind that you can get it to sound that way.
But, it takes time. Especially that the first couple times through, it's gonna take a significant amount of time. Um, And so just make sure that, for those of you who are, you know, who are thinking of doing this, make sure you know that. Make sure you know that going into it. Like, great, I got the job, now the real work begins.
And it is, it's, it's work. Um, and it's But have fun while you do it, right? Like, that's, that's why we're all here. Yes, and the recording part is The listening back and editing is less fun. It's a bit tedious. Especially depending on the book. That's very true. Very true. And I've started to get sick of my own voice at that point.
I'm like, yeah, shut up, dude. And like, occasionally, like, I'll end up with like, I'll hit a rut and make the same mistake like four or five times in a row. And it's just like, come on, dude, figure it out. Figure it out. What's wrong with you? Um. But, but yeah, no, it's, it's, it's a great place to kind of get that, that initial experience to kind of, you know, get your feet wet a little bit, try it out, um, and then you can make some money from it too, which is awesome also, um, you know, depending how you do it, I know the books that I've done so far are all PFH, I haven't done any royalty sharing, uh, which is honestly for me right now, I prefer that because I Don't trust.
Well, I would've preferred it too, but I didn't know that was an option. . Oh yeah. So you, you can, for, you'll be over here to that, you know, you can definitely get paid for it. Um, but, you know, hey, who knows, maybe this book will be super successful and you'll make, you know, billions of dollars. And maybe it'll be on Oprah's favorite things.
Could be, could be her book list, you know? Could it, it very, it, I mean, I doubtful I think it would, I feel pretty good about it. Um, it's not like secret life of bees or something, you know, but Yeah. No, that's, uh, that's, that's fair. And if it was, they probably wouldn't wanna do royalty sharing with you. No.
But, you know, again, it's, it's one of those things where it is great experience. Yeah. It is great experience and, uh, you know, just kind of going through it. I remember the first audio book I did, it, it took forever, mostly because, and not the recording part of it, that part was fine, but all the other stuff took a long time.
And for me, I was lucky in the fact that I knew the author, um, and we weren't on really a hard timetable. So, it was more like a, you know, figuring it out as we go along. Yeah. And, and that was, I learned more in that experience than, than I probably have. You know, doing pretty much anything else as far as, you know, uh, preparing myself for, for this is concerned.
And the, the one I did after that was much smoother. And, you know, they've continued to be that way for the most part. And they will for you also. The first one is, is tough, but you know what? It's, uh, it's trial by fire. Do you know, jump in headfirst, right? Sink or swim, whatever other metaphors you want to come up with, we can.
Okay. We can, yeah. Let's come up with a few more. Um, so I want to hear all about it. Um, I want to, uh, so this is what? It's due in a few weeks, yeah? Yeah, yeah, like, uh, mid July, around there. Cool, so I want to, uh, I want progress reports, and, uh, for those who are looking at progress reports on mine, the, the big, uh, Science fiction book I'm doing.
Um, I have to finish it by the beginning of July, and about a third of the way through, about a third of the way through, it's getting good at, it's getting good. Look at us. We've had, we've had trolls, um, , we have had dwarves. Okay. We have had witches and wizards and warlocks. Um, and, um, Oh, Gargoyles, if I said Gargoyles in there.
Well, of course, duh. Um, so it's, uh, it, it, you know what though, I did two chapters the other night, and one chapter was basically a lot of like narration, and the second chapter I did was mostly like conversation back and forth. It was so much easier. I love doing that so much more. Oh, really? Yeah. See, I would think that's harder.
I would have too, and to be honest, when I finished it, like, it, it, it, it, it, it, Like the first, the first part of that chapter felt like an eternity, um, I was just kind of plodding through it and then that kind of back and forth, like it flew by. Nice. And I was like, all right, good. I like that. I like that.
So, um, so yeah, so that was kind of, that was kind of fun. But yeah, so good. Congratulations! Hooray! We're gonna have to celebrate. Both of us, just over here, working and stuff, you know? So proud of us. Living the dream. We're doing it. Guys, we're doing it. We're doing it. We totally are. So, um, and then next week, my son is graduating from preschool.
A thing. I dunno if you knew that. I never went to preschool. Preschool graduation was a thing that wasn't a thing in the eighties. Um, I mean it was, but not everybody went, you know, I did, I did. I find graduation, he's got like a cap and gown and everything. Wow. Yeah. They had to memorize like stuff. He has a song he has to sing.
Wow. . Yeah. Like it's intense. It's intense. I'm glad I didn't go to preschool. So he had a, uh, oh, the poor thing. He had a, uh, a dance recital, uh, a week ago. Uh, he was taking a dance class with, um, our neighbors who have two daughters. They, they dance and he had his recital and, um, I couldn't go, I was working, and my wife sent me a video of it, and I'm like, oh, he did so good, and she's like, yeah, he's literally bawling up on stage, like, you can't tell because it's kind of farther away, but like, he is crying his eyes out while dancing on stage, um, and then he finished, he had like a jazz routine, and then he had a tap routine, and uh, and he literally went to my wife and was like, I want to go home.
And she was like, oh no, but you don't want to miss the the tap and he's like, no, I want to go home And uh, and she's like, well, why don't you stay around a little bit and just you know When everyone goes on stage for the tap, maybe maybe you'll want to go then he's like, okay And so they all went on stage for for the tap dancing and he was like, no, I still want to go home She's like, all right, fair enough Fair enough.
So dancing is not for us. But uh, hey, we tried poor thing. Um We tried. It was, uh, it was not for us, but hey, he powered, he powered through it. I'll give him that. I'll give him that. Poor little guy. Um, but, uh, but yeah, and then, uh, what else is happening in our lives? I don't know. I don't know. It's kind of a...
We can talk about my, my... I don't even want to say how many year reunion that's coming up, but it's just, like, the weekend of 4th of July. I'm going back to high school for a moment. High school reunion? Yeah. So if it's, if it's a high school reunion you're going back to, that means it's a big number. It is a big number.
So I'm gonna guess... Wait a minute, uh, when did I graduate, so I'm gonna guess 20. 20. It's like my 20th is coming up in a couple years. Yeah, nobody ever believes me when I say it, so I'm just gonna, that's why I don't like saying it, because then it kind of reveals the actual age I am. That's all right, that's all right.
But you don't, you don't look it, you don't sound it, My favorite is when students say that. I had somebody the other day go, Man, your skin is amazing. I was like, thank you. Well, so my wife is, uh, she doesn't listen to the program, so I'm not worried. My wife is turning 40 this year, and um, everyone, and I mean everyone, assumes that I'm older than her.
And I'm fine with it, I go with it, I don't care. I'm not, but. Everyone assumes that I am. It makes her feel better. It's the beard. See, I would agree with you there, but people have been doing that since long before the beard. But the beard does not help, especially because it's grayer than it used to be. Um, but, uh, you know.
Just for men. I blame that on the stress. No, come on, it's a little salt and pepper for me. Alright. Hey, you want to look distinguished. I don't color my beard. It just means you look older. You're just not out there. It's fair. It's fair. I feel older. I feel old. I feel old. Except when I'm doing audiobooks because then I feel young again.
Oh, okay. Um, so cool. Well, thanks everyone for tuning in. Again, big congratulations to you, Marissa. Thanks. That is awesome. So I am, I, I know we, we Joke about it, but I am excited for you and good luck and, um, and we can't wait to hear all about it. And, uh, and all of our adoring fans can buy copies of it to, uh, to help fund, uh, you know, to help fund you.
Um, it's the Marissa Fund. There it is. And get motivation at the same point, right? And get that motivation they need. Of course. Um, so excellent. So good, good on you. And, um, cool. Can't wait to hear about that. And obviously, obviously keep you guys updated on mine as well. Um, and we'd love to hear about what you guys are up to, what your, uh, what your projects are.
Right for the for the summer and uh, love to hear about that. Hopefully everyone's summer is going well so far as well as it can, as well as it can. All right, so we'll be back next week. Same bat time, same bat channel. Thanks so much all for tuning in. Until next time, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches.
com for more voiceover news and information.
With Marissa getting her first audiobook job, she and Josh discuss the audiobook industry. This includes the time, effort, and of course pay, that goes into audiobook production.
