Heidi:
First, Jim, tell us a little about yourself.
Jim: Hmm… how much
autobiography do you want? I’m 48, married to my wonderful wife Joellen, have five
energetic kids (three girls, two boys) aged from 11 years to 2.
I live in Wamego, Kansas;
home of the world-famous Wizard of Oz museum. I was born and raised in Kansas
City. Though I’ve lived in Kansas most of my life, I have lived overseas for a
few years, and traveled in Europe and much of the US.
Heidi: What made you decide
to become an Audio-Book Voice Over?
Jim: I’ve often been told I
have a face for radio. ☺ Seriously, I’ve been
encouraged to do so by many over the years. Two folks’ opinions carried enough
weight to actually push me forward: a pro audio engineer; and a co-worker who
listens to audiobooks regularly. I ran across the ACX web site, and that gave
me a place to start. I need to give a shout out to Brian Coles, a friend of
mine who believed in me enough to provide gratis tuition for that first VO
class.
Heidi: What genre do you
prefer to work with?
Jim: I’m not sure yet. When
I first started auditioning, I went mostly for non-fiction, thinking that would
be a more natural fit. However the first two books I’ve done (one of which is
El Tiburon) were both fiction. I’d still like to do some non-fiction, but I’ve
found with fiction getting inside the characters and voicing them is a lot of fun.
Heidi: When did you start
voice acting?
Jim: I’ve been involved in
community and church drama productions for years, and done occasional VO work
for friends and inside communications at my job.
I first started soliciting
work about two years ago. When I decided to get serious, I signed up for training
classes I’ve taken a couple from Bill De Wees (a talented VO and great
teacher). For audiobooks specifically, I took the ACX Master Class with David
H. Lawrence XVII and Dan O’Day.
Heidi: What are you working
on now?
Jim: I’m just about to
start The Ghostwalker File by Kevin Robinson, a contemporary novel. In the
meantime, I do regular short-form voiceover work of Fiverr (e.g. podcast
intros, explainer video VO, phone videos.) There’s also a full-time day job,
and another side business as a gunsmith and armorer for the local police
department. Add the large family, and I’m always working on something...
Heidi: Do you see yourself
in any of the characters?
Jim: To give justice to
each, I try not to identify with any one in particular. What I do is give each
a physical place in my head. Sean was to my right forward, kind of leaning out
the side. Gary was just to the left, and forward; Sport was center, just a
little back. By giving them each a spot to “sit”, it made it easier to hold
long conversations with myself.
Heidi: Where do you record?
Describe your studio.
Jim: In all truth, it’s a
just a walk-in closet off our master bath. It’s isolated with sound-deadening
curtains; the clothes in the closet are the remainder of the sound treatment.
Acoustically, it’s delightfully neutral, but it is a long way from being
soundproof. As such, I record after about 9 pm, when kids are in bed, and my
neighbors aren’t mowing lawns or driving about. My long-suffering wife gets
banished to the family room in the basement.
The recording equipment is
a mic, a monitor attached to the wall, and cords running to a laptop kept
outside the recording space.
We’re in an age where
advances in technology have replaced the need for a lot of specialized
equipment in audio recording. It’s revolutionary.
Heidi: Do you practice
outside of the recording studio?
Jim: Reading stories to my
kids, for one. I work on building specific voices for characters. I also take
webinars on performance as income permits. I’m saving up for one-on-one pro
coaching.
In addition, I spend time
taking classes and practicing editing techniques and audio sweetening. Making
money as an independent narrator requires producing a high-quality product as
efficiently as possible, both in performance and in post-processing.
Heidi: Who are your
all-time favorite authors?
Jim: That’s a very difficult one. I’ve been a
voracious reader from my very young years so there are many, many books and
authors I love. Filtering by the list of books I re-read on a regular basis, J.R.R.
Tolkien, Elizabeth Moon, Larry Correia and John C. Wright rank up pretty
highly.
But there are always new
authors with stories out there who surprise and delight. I have a bias towards
science fiction, modern thrillers, mystery and (selectively) fantasy.
Heidi: Do VOs write query
letters? If so, did you find writing a query letter a challenge? How did you
overcome that challenge?
Jim: Not as such, at least
on ACX. I do, however, audition. In some ways it’s easier than a cover letter: there’s
no deciding what to say. I just have to decide how to say another’s
words.
For me, the hardest part is
setting aside the time to seek out and audition for the next book project I’d
like to do. It’s really just a matter of setting goals and a schedule to keep
moving forward.
After that, it’s the
waiting. With rare exception, you never hear back from the rights holder
directly; at some indeterminate time in the future, ACX gives you the polite,
“Thanks, please try again” form letter.
Another challenge is
learning not to take the rejection personally. I’ve auditioned for a lot of books I was sure I was perfect for… didn’t get the job.
Sometimes I’d really like to know why.
In the end, I may deliver a
perfectly good performance, but if the author/publisher wants a soprano, young
female voice, that’s their choice. Nothing I can do will change that.
Heidi: What makes you
choose a book to commit your voice to?
Jim: I research the book,
read as much as is available, and look for indicators it would be a good “fit”.
For example, when Vinspire offered me El Tiburon, I spent some time Googling
you, reading your blogs, reading interviews by and with you; and also
Vinspire’s website and reviews. That gave me a lot of confidence that this was
a book I’d enjoy doing and could be proud to promote.
Heidi: I know my publisher,
Vinspire, contacted you. Is that common for you?
Jim: It’s happened a
couple of times. ACX is a matchmaking service, essentially, so rights holders
can hunt for narrators, just as I search for auditions. It’s not as common as I
hope it will be some day. ☺
Heidi: What advice do you
have for an aspiring VO to be contracted by a publisher or author?
Jim: First, you don’t need
to have a special type of voice. If you can read aloud clearly, you can
potentially read an audiobook. Then do research on how to set up a home studio.
ACX themselves have a Youtube channel with many helpful videos. Don’t think you
need a huge amount of gear: your current laptop, a free copy of Audacity and a
decent large diaphragm condenser mic with appropriate interface will do you.
You can find mics that will work for $100 or less.
Establish an ACX profile
(it’s free!) and start listening to other folks’ demos, and start paying
attention to ones you like. See what you can learn. With an ACX account, you
can also apply to the ACX Narrators and Producers group on Facebook, and read
the wealth of information there.
Finally, get your gear
together and start auditioning! You can’t truly learn, except by doing. You can
also cut your teeth by volunteering with LibriVox, who record public domain
books pro bono. Again, learn by doing.
Really, that’s the hardest
part. It’s easy to get lost in always preparing to be “good enough”. There is
no such thing. Have a bias towards action, but play it for the long game… start
quickly, but don’t give up.
It’s pretty much the same
battle a new writer or any aspiring creative hopeful goes through. Just do something, then work to do something
again, just a little better next time. Keep doing, keep learning. Never assume
you’re the best, but never let “them” tell you you’re not good enough.
Budget for and plan to get
professional training at some point. That’s expensive, but it’s ultimately
worth it. I highly recommend the ACX Master Class: they really teach how
to leverage ACX; how to record well and record efficiently; and how to market
yourself on ACX. Plus there’s a great
community of ACXMC grads who are helpful and encouraging. I can’t imagine
getting to this point without them.
At present Jim doesn't have a website, blog
or a facebook page for my VO work. But folks are welcome to contact him at jimfostervo@gmail.com.
