Just as LibriVox couldn’t hold me back from the great, wide world of audiobooks, ACX can’t hold me back from the great, wide world of Voice over Work in general.

Most of the work I have done on ACX fall under the category of long form narration. I wouldn’t call what I do voice acting, because I am not portraying or performing a role – mostly I am functioning as a presenter, not an interpreter or performer. There is, of course, a certain amount of performance in non-fiction work like most of what I have done, but for me to call it acting is to degrade that type of work!

But commercials, radio spots, ads, video voiceovers, eLearning, podcasts, even some video games, are less acting and more short form narration. I feel comfortable with doing that, and I would like to find an outlet. Hence, VoiceBunny.

The first thing VoiceBunny seems to want you to know is that you aren’t really welcome there. Now, they won’t say that in so many words, but it does have a Secret Club vibe to it, and until you pass your initiation, you don’t get to see behind the doors much. They do a lot of “We do some really cool stuff” on their pages, but it is invariably followed by “Only of few of you are good enough to do it with us.” And that, dear reader, is simply a challenge.

I had registered a few weeks ago, and now took the step to request an audition. After numerous remarks how that less than 5% of people who apply are approved, and other remarks about how more than 95% of people who apply are rejected, I finally got to the part where I could request a try. And I did.

It’s a bit nerve wracking. There are several warnings that you have to be ready, and there is a time limit, and don’t forget that you probably won’t be approved, and if you really want to go ahead, click here. So, I didn’t click. Not yet, at least. I got my phone at my side, got logged into the computer, Audacity up and running, mic in position, email checking for new messages, Do Not Disturb sign on the door, red flashing ON AIR light flashing red. Now, I clicked.

And, nothing. 5. 10. 20. 45 minutes. Nothing. The Adrenalin was starting to wear off now. I feel like I need to take a nap, but I can’t go far just in case. When the message does come through, I need to pounce.

And, nothing. 1. 2. 4 hours. Nothing.

Then, finally, a message! An important client needs this VO for a commercial within the next five hours. Wait. Five hours? Nap time.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but five hours is a long time to record a 30 second demo. It was a brief commercial script, like anything you would hear on the radio, with some straightforward direction on how to perform it. So I did, several times, and finally got one I liked. VoiceBunny wants their files edited but not processed, so I didn’t do any compression or mastering, but I did normalize it. You remember, of course, that normalization doesn’t affect the quality of the file like compression might. And then I submitted it. And started to wait again. Not sure when I will hear from them, but maybe before next weeks post.

So, as you would expect, my call to action. Any successful Bunnies out there? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us!

I picked up two pfh offers this week, along the lines of most others, so there is no real need to give the details on the books.

I received and accepted two Royalty deals, kind of against my better judgment, but I did anyway. The first was another summary book on the Japanese art of Tidying. It’s kind of a fad in some areas, so I thought I would try it. It’s literally 20 minutes long, so little to lose there.

The other is called Trump Toons. Again, a very short book. And it seemed odd to me that there would be an audiobook produced for a book that is a collection of cartoons about Trump, so I took a shot. I don’t expect much from it, but hey, it’s short.

Lastly, I am starting to invest some of my earnings back into the process, so this week I ordered a set of “studio” headphones and a better microphone. I will share more on both of these soon!

Categories: Voice over Work