“I guess anyone can make a YouTube video.” That’s was the comment made about 15 seconds into a dishwasher installation video during some recent “market research.” Of course, to get 400 hours of video content uploaded every minute on average, the production standards can’t be too high. And that is evident to anyone watching YouTube content. So, I have to wonder how many hours of those 400 are ever seen by anyone?
I have had the same concern with Voice over Work that I have done. With over 150 audiobooks recorded, and considering that the first half were mostly low-budget, Level One, self-published books, I suspect I have dozens of hours of audio out there on the Internets that will never be converted into actual sound waves. These books are the digital tree falling in the forest. The same is likely true for 300 hours out of the 400 uploaded every minute on YouTube. Perhaps not even qualifying for the lofty status of information, perhaps at best it can be called data destined for the bit bucket.
So with that in mind, I toss my digital hat into the ring, embark on a Quixotian joust of my own, charge the windmillian ether anew, and begin production of one more periodic audio broadcast to add to the cosmos. If your not a Cervantes follower, or perhaps more appropriately if you are, let me sumup – I am starting a podcast!
I have come to realize over the last 11 months as a Voice over Worker that, while I speak for a living, I don’t have a lot to say. At least, in terms of persuasive, informative, clever, or noteworthy original content is concerned. And I think it has ever been that way for me – I made several careers out of presenting other peoples information to audiences they would not have reached on their own, as a teacher, trainer, producer, or announcer.
And, despite my oft-made comments on the dubious value of some of the audiobooks I have produced, there are several that are powerful, challenging, knowledgable, and worthy of being heard by more people. It is this that has prompted me to develop a podcast based on some of the good information in the books I have produced.
The possible successful portion of this endeavor will be that a select handful of the Rights Holders I produce for have a talent for writing, and it is my desire to make a concise presentation of the pithy bits without my own process getting in the way.
I hope to develop a format that will take short snippets of audio and present that as a sort of “fun fact of the day” or “water cooler chat” in what I hope will be about a 5-minute daily podcast. Primarily, I will use stories, quotes, inspirational passages, etc., intended to catch the listeners attention but not give away the substance of the book. No chapter summaries or anything I deem would detract from a possible sale, like some of the summary books out there. Your material is always full of research and factual data, and that is the type of information I would like to use.
Several issues crop up here, and in the near term I must resolve them
- What is Fair Use, and is Rights Holder permission required?
- Can I find some background music and what are the requirements for its use?
- What is appropriate for citing works and directing listeners to the right place to purchase or learn more?
- Technically, how is this done? (Thank goodness, I am certain I can find a YouTube video explaining the process)
- When will I have time to do this?
There are, admittedly, at least two more reasons I want to do this. In addition to providing good content to the world, it wouldn’t hurt at all to develop some sales for those Rights Holders for whom I work, and if we happen to have a Royalty Share deal on a book that I feature in a podcast, then I might profit a little bit as well. I’m not entirely altruistic in this.
Categories: Audiobook, Production News, Vocal Performance, Voice over Work
Voice over Work 