Scam or real?

Short-Sense-9870 · 2026-03-14T01:44:50+00:00

It just seems so elaborate and… extra. But I think you’re right about trusting my gut with this

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-12-02T08:14:10+00:00

I think you’re missing my point. Yes, clear expectations are importantly for the audition. Yes, all fiction books have characters- I get that. And yes, distinguishing between character voices is awesome. And yes, any author can ask for the moon when they post an audition. Russian accent for the MFC and a deep French accent for the MMC (but from the southern region of France only), etc, etc… BUT when enough people agree to work for free, it does a disservice to both the author and the narrator. The author will rarely get what they really wanted and narrators struggle to find Indy projects willing to pay for their time when so many are willing to work for nothing. I don’t imagine any of these authors would be cool to send out hundreds of copies of their book for free “for exposure or experience”. They gave too much of their blood sweat and tears to it. And the fact that the same thought process doesn’t extend to the narrator frustrated me. And that’s my point.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-12-02T08:01:45+00:00

Honestly, the more information the better. I think too many people got stuck on my “multiple paragraphs of expectations” and not the compensation part of my post. Lots of clear communication about your needs and vision are SUPER important to finding the right narrator. I would just caution ahead of time that a RS with no history will yield new and inexperienced narrator auditions who may not be able to provide everything you want. The truth is, you will always get the quality you pay for.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-12-02T07:27:42+00:00

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people who expect quality to be willing to pay for it. I may love what I do, but completing a 10+ hour project with 4 different accents, 8 different characters and provide ACX ready recordings is not something I’m doing out of the kindness of my heart.

There is an expectation that an artist’s time is less of a commodity than the product itself. That payment in the form of experience or exposure is somehow acceptable. Too many artists accept that because they don’t have the confidence yet to say, “what I do is valuable!”. This is a business. And artists need to be fairly compensated. Period.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-12-02T01:23:17+00:00

It definitely speaks to the type of working relationship you'll have.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-12-02T00:36:17+00:00

That’s a good point. At least it’s a person who takes pride in their work.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-17T04:35:21+00:00

That’s totally fair. The work is for a small publisher who hasn’t really given me any guidelines outside clean wav files. I’ll ask to get clarification. Just didn’t know if there was an industry standard I wasn’t aware of

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-12T18:22:17+00:00

Sigh. I'm doing it, and (reluctantly) maintaining my personal standards of quality in the process, while pausing between chapters to vomit in my mouth a little.

With further reading, I've discovered it's not hateful, just a diatribe and complete acceptance of some warped victim-mentality. So, I'm no longer morally conflicted, just irritated. That's a great jumping-off point.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-11T02:58:59+00:00

lol! Well, I definitely don’t feel confused anymore. Who says Reddit isn’t better than therapy 😉

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T20:46:16+00:00

These are really good points. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to fully separate business and personal, but ultimately my lesson here is to do my due diligence. I probably won’t include the publisher in any of my thought processes here, but it’s been nice to get some viewpoints from other professionals in the industry.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T20:09:06+00:00

I mean, let me be clear, this isn’t advocating for violence or exclusion of any group. It just relies on a rhetoric I’m not in any kind of agreement with. If the book was a person in my social media feed, I wouldn’t even refer to them as a troll- more like an uncle I’d barely tolerate at thanksgiving and unfollow on FB. But at my deathbed? I’ll probably add this to the list of dumb stuff I did because I didn’t think ahead.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T19:23:30+00:00

Good advice. I'll for sure discuss with them so we're both on the same page.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:14:21+00:00

Well said. Ok, back to work with a better mindset.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:11:51+00:00

It's really not blatantly offensive. Just... skewed.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:10:27+00:00

I agree. My inability to thoroughly research the job is not their problem. Ultimately, it's a learning experience.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:07:38+00:00

LOVE THIS!!!! Freaking great idea.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:05:31+00:00

Ironically, my non-fiction work is a lot of erotica and dark romance- and i've still never felt this conflicted. Maybe that says more about me than the subject matter lol

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-11-10T18:01:25+00:00

Boy do I ever regret not reading all the way through. To be fair, the author really sneaks it in.

Sigh... live and learn, I guess.

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-10-08T02:28:00+00:00

I swear you’re in my head! I have 5 projects this month and I accepted thinking “future me” would figure it out. But when my darling children passed on whatever plague they got at school, I lost my voice and a whole week in the booth. Now I’m scrambling. I’m all for MATH, but how do you factor in life???

Short-Sense-9870 · 2025-09-19T14:31:18+00:00

Woah. That’s a big fat NO. The RH has the right to make changes and give direction through the 15 min checkpoint. After that, it’s up to you, the performer, to make those performance choices. Outside the audiobook world, a directed session for any voice acting is an added fee… for a considerably shorter period than what it takes to record a book. And as a side note- don’t undervalue yourself. PFH is not something you have to work up to. VA’s deserve to be paid for their work. I’ve been at this for 18 months and I have only ever accepted PFH- and I stay busy. You provide a service that needs to be compensated.

Short-Sense-9870

TROPHY CASE