I recently was shown a post on LinkedIn that claimed there was research showing that reading had health and wellbeing benefits beyond just the first level results that would be expected. This is not news to most people, as a quick Duck Duck Go will show a plethora of hits related to this topic.
The most common approach I noticed in my quick perusal of the web showed that resolving to read one book per week is a very common method. And sensibly so. Of course, this is not going to be The Stand or The Four Hour Body, but those could be worked into the mix if you so desired!
I started Voice over Work in earnest about midway through 2018, and in the second half of that year, I read about 125 books. If you are producing audiobooks for a living, you will probably find that a book a week is well below what you will be required to do anyway.
Goodreads.com has a book reading “challenge” that is worth checking out. I have started this year with Goodreads putting in my Voice over Work reading, and including a rating of the book. I set a goal on there of reading 50 books this year – we’ll see if I can get to that point…
In the realm of production, it has been an exciting week. On both ACX and Upwork, I have secured books in the range of Level Three PFH totals! It is amazing the difference between $40 PFH and $120! I am still amazed that anyone would find my production worth that amount of capitol, but I am more than willing to be involved in such a venture.
ACX has been a nice source for returning business, something which I value quite highly. Two-thirds of my work on ACX now is from returning authors and not having to audition constantly is a great relief. I still audition for selected books, on ACX as well as Voices.com and Upwork, but having people come back whenever they have a new title is a great aspect of this process.
However, Upwork has provided thus for two great affiliations that from the outset presented, in effect, multiple audiobooks as a single project. I have two significant contracts running on Upwork at the moment:
- A very interesting and informative project in association with Simple Optimum totaling as much as 30 hours of Voice over Work.
- A more technical, challenging project with Audiolearn that may end up being as much 100 hours of eLearning.
These kinds of contracts, at this point in my career, are what makes the process worth while. Working with great business people to produce material that will benefit interested clients – it makes the move into Voice over Work as a solo career seem like a move in the right direction!
Categories: Audiobook, Business Development, Voice over Work
Voice over Work 