Laura Schreiber

Boundaries when Reaching out to Coaches

February 18, 2024 by Laura Schreiber

Reaching Out to A Coach

You have a burning question, that’s great! And the good news, actually the really good news, is that there are A LOT of really wonderful coaches in voice over depending on both what genre you are looking to study and what your specific learning style is. Even better, many coaches have lots of free resources to offer! Between blogs, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and linkedIn, you can learn so much before you even have to open your wallet. So when it is time to actually invest in yourself and your voice over career, whether it is signing up for a class or a private lesson, there are som best practices to build a good relationship with your coaches.

Free Consultations

Most coaches offer a 15 to 20 minute free consultation. This is meant for BOTH of you to see if you are a good fit for each other. This is the time to ask your coach how they are different from other coaches and to see what their policies are. This is NOT the time to expect free training. This is not where you pick their brain for free. This is also not the time to expect an hour from their twenty minutes. They are offering you a glimpse. Be professional and assess. Take the glimpse for exactly what it is.

Blogs

Use and enjoy blogs to enhance your knowledge base. Is it okay to reach out and introduce yourself? Of course, connect with your industry peers. Is it ok to ask a question or two to extrapolate more in-depth understanding? Sure thing. Is it okay to try to get a free session out of the coach? No. There is a line. Begging for free advice because you like their blog is both distasteful and unprofessional. It also shows a genuine lack of understanding for what we do. Each of us are on such a unique and personal journey in voice over. So, writing to a coach who you have no relationship with and asking them to venture a guess is more than useless. Just don’t. Instead, save up for a session. Invest in coaching. Dive deeper! More training is never, ever waisted! We all have to keep working on our craft!

Social Media

Connecting with coaches on Social Media is great. It is a great way to learn about them as a person, a talent, and as a coach. You get to understand who they are within the parameters they have established. Some are very responsive to DMs and to comments, others are less so. Some may be responding directly while others may have a team who does this for them. Either way, be mindful of professional boundaries. This is meant to be a professional, working relationship. Would you message your doctor or accountant at 2 Am with questions repeatedly? If the answer is no, then perhaps also do not reach out to your voice coach at that time expecting a reply. They too maintain regular business hours.

Texting

In general, coaches do not have text relationships with students. Unless a coach says the words “Please text me about….” I would assume NOT to text a voice over coach. It is appropriate in this professional relationship to email them and let them respond in a timely manner.

Business Hours

Coaches are working professionals. They typically maintain normal weekday studio hours. Some may also offer coaching on the weekend, I do not. When you are looking for the coach who is the right fit for you, respect their business hours. It is common practice that they are available when you have them booked. Some coaches have time to answer questions between sessions, others do not, but each coach is different in this regard. Regardless of their practice, no coach wants to be stalked. They are instead looking for a meaningful working relationship where they can watch their students thrive.

Takeaways

I remember well what it was like to pay for one lesson at a time. Voice over coaching is expensive, it’s an investment. You want to feel like you are getting a lot of value for your money. I am also someone who likes to feel like I am building meaningful connections with the people I work with, so when I was the talent as opposed to the coach, feeling like the coach “got me” mattered a lot. I think if you really want to connect with your coach take the time to read their coaching profile, have that consultation, and check their references. At the end of the day, you are going to have to trust your gut a bit too. Sometimes we just click with someone and sometimes we don’t. I can tell you the one way to push a coach aside and ruin things from the start is to start asking for free coaching and advice before you know each other at all. Whatever you decide to do, please do not do that!

Case Study in Good Customer Service: Trader Joe’s and What Can Be Learned

February 13, 2024 by Laura Schreiber

The Text

Yesterday morning my husband and I woke up to a text from our daughter Emma. Emma is a sophomore in college a small liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania called Elizabthethtown College. She texted us this photo of gluten free donut holes. She said she urgently needed us to go to Trader Joe’s right away to get them for her. She was concerned that they would sell out immediately. Even though Emma has a car, there is no Trader Joes near her school so she was very much hoping we could help her out with this.

Our Mission

Harlan had to travel for work yesterday, so tasked with our highly sensitive and urgent message, as soon as the store opened I went to Trader Joe’s, armed with my iPhone so that if need be I had the photo. First, I did two laps myself, looking in the logical places I thought they would be. No dice, the donut holes were no where to be found.

The Rescue Team

Not wanting to disappoint me super sweet kid, both because she is super sweet and because I am totally Type A and could not leave without the donut holes, I sought assistance. The first guy was working on oranges. He went to where he thought they’d be. They were not there. He pulled in another gal who then pulled in a third woman from the bakery who then pulled in a fourth woman, a manager. So yes, I had FOUR people helping me look for the donut holes. We worked hard and were thorough. Two of them were positive they had been in the store.

Ultimately, the manager took to the computer. She discovered that the highly coveted donut holes needed to be special ordered. They placed an order and told me to call tomorrow morning and that they would set some aside for us. I felt so valued and was so appreciative of the help. Then, as if that was not enough, they let me take a lollipop even though I had not located the stuffed turtle hidden somewhere in the store. I’m not kidding.

Customer Service Takeaways

If Trader Joe’s was being ranked as a business or a super marked or for what kind of human beings they were, basically on every single lever, they deserve an A plus plus. As voice actors, we can all learn a lot from their behavior and over all mentality so let’s take a moment to dissect what happened at Trader Joes:

They were a shining example of team work. One person did not need to steal the show. They worked together to accomplish a common goal. In voice over some of us have the opportunity to work as a team. Whether we are demo producers and have partners, or work on a multi-talent cast, or are at a conference and are on a panel with industry friends, sometimes we are fortunate enough to work with others. This is our moment to take a note and lift everyone up. It goes back to the old falcon saying, “the rising tide lifts all the ships in the harbor.” This has always been my experience in VO, and it was for sure my experience at Trader Joe’s. I am quite sure this is why the store is packed as soon as the doors open on a Monday morning, and if you want your voice over business to be booming, this is a great lesson to learn!
In this incidence, the price tag didn’t matter. I did not go in saying I needed 100 boxes of donut holes. I was not some prized Trader Joe’s client. Yet each member of the team treated me like I was the most important sale of the day. I will confess that this is an area where even I need to do some re-thinking. I do not treat all of my clients the same. I certainly will treat a national spot differently than a $200 one-off gig. Perhaps this needs to be re-thought. It made me feel really good to be helped and values, period.
At Trader Joe’s the employees bent over backwards to help. I do always try to do this. Whether I have a voice over client, a demo client, or a coaching client, I want their experience working with me to leave them feeling exceedingly happy. In a business like VO where clients have an abundance of choice on all fronts, I am extremely appreciative of their trust in me and in return I ben over backwards to work as hard as I can to do a good job.
At Trader Joe’s the entire experience, from beginning to end, with the lolly pop, was extra. I try to do this! I am always reachable. I have helped get students on rosters of clients and agents. I have redone their resumes. I audit their auditions. But being extra is typically not something that is asked of you, it’s just something you bring. So my friends, bring it!!
Most importantly, my recent shopping experience left me, the, client feeling valued. When it comes time to go back… where will I go? That’s right. And that is how we want each and every one of our voice over clients to feel.

We want to do our very best in voice over always. Well often times being and doing our best has nothing to do with our sound and our audio. A lot of the time it has to do with who we are, how we treat others, and the services we provide that go beyond our voice.

Often the voice over is the last piece of the puzzle. Video producers and others who are casting may come to you very close to the deadline and need help to make their project incredible. We have an opportunity to take their time of stress, take them by the hand, and turn it into something wonderful. As someone who also coaches and does demos, it’s the same thing. I can use this as a defining moment in someone career to help make it memorable. My experience in Trader Joe’s can only be described as excellent. I only want to leave my clients feeling this way.

End of Year Reflections in 2023

December 22, 2023 by Laura Schreiber

On Conferences:

This year I had the great joy of attending several conferences. I presented at OneVoice USA and at MAVO and I was an attendee of Johny Heller’s New England Narrator’s retreat. As a presenter at OneVoice, I sat on a Demos panel with some of the people I OVC Demos Panel look up to most in the industry, including Anne Ganguzza, Clif Zellman, and J. Michael Collins. In addition with being in such good company, I try to pick up public speaking tips as well. At MAVO, I attended sessions of other industry greats like Michael Scott, and I took note of his presentation style. I also spent a lot of time talking to Joe Cipriano, who I have looked up to for many years, and learned a tremendous amount from him.

At Johnny Heller’s workshop, as an attendee, I was able to spend all my time honing my narration skills. It was nice to be able to just participate and be amongst my peers. While I did also want to network with the publishers in attendance, my primary focus was learning about the different genres and developing my skill set. The time away from my booth felt like such an indulgence and I came away feeling inspired and like I did, indeed, learn a lot.

On Awards Nominations:

This year I was nominated for a Signal award for an ensemble podcast cast that I have been part of for several years for PJ library. I also personally only submitted to the OneVoice Awards. My demo partner, All Systems GO AV, and I were elated to snag a OVC Awards night nomination for one of the demos we did, an eLearning demo for the super talented Dallas based John Guccion. I also earned a nomination in the bloopers category which was good fun. While we didn’t take home any statues this year, I will say it really meant a lot to be in such good company and it was for sure a highlight of the year.

On Coaching:

My coaching business has continued to thrive. As a former teacher, I really love helping people work on the voice over skills and grow their businesses. I am very passionate about my coaching and often I wake up super early in the morning with enthusiasm for my lesson plans. A lot of the people I coach have met me at conferences, and it means a lot to get to work with them afterwards. I genuinely want to help each and every coaching student, so this aspect of my 2023 work has been very meaningful.

On Travel with VO Friends:

With Diana Birdsall, Michelle Blenker, me, Kim Handysides, and Dearbhla Trainor in Montreal This summer I got to go on a trip to Canada with the gals in my VO accountability group! We had been talking about going away together since before Covid. We had so many ideas, but really, the most important detail was that we were all included and beyond that everything else was secondary. To have this time together to bond and to reflect was so meaningful. We are all exceptionally close, and this trip was as wonderful as can be.

On Getting Sick and Working Through It:

Immediately after the Canada get away I got a really, really bad stomach bug. It started in late July and lasted until late October. I was profoundly ill and they did not realize that it was a food born bacterial infection until I had been suffering for several months. I was so sick when I went to OneVoice that I had to bring my son with me to help, and he was immensely helpful. I was frankly thankful I could get through my sessions. I missed uncle Roy’s BBQ which was so upsetting. I was a mess. By the time they figured out what it was I was beginning to worry I would never get better. Never was a girl so thankful for antibiotics!

On Working While Kids are in College

2023 marks the second year of working while my twins are away. While you would think I have unlimited time and could simply do as I please, having the twins in college presents new challenges. When they call I feel that I need to drop everything to tend to their immediate needs. I also certainly block days from my calendar to visit, whether it is a Friday print to parent’s weekend or a Monday post-conference. This time is precious and my fear is that it is fleeting. So while the day to day life may be freer, they certainly take up large chunks of time still. Also, when they are home, I do try to black my schedule and limit my coaching so that they have my undivided attention. I have also noticed I need to remind them of the “rules” when there are live sessions, as if they never new them. They seem to have forgotten about staying quiet or keeping away from the space over my studio. It’s funny how these things can be un-learned.

Over-all Reflections

I always to people thinking about voice over that it is a marathon not a sprint, and 2023 felt like I jus kept marching along, doing my thing. Do you remember the children’s board game Candyland? I lot of times I feel like that is my life, I’m just on this sweet ride, winding around the board, wondering where I’ll land next, trying to take a deep breath and actually enjoy the people I meet along the way and the ride that I am on!

Why Publish Public Domain Books with Spoken Realms

June 7, 2023 by Laura Schreiber

Why Public Domain Books

This week my third Public Domain audio book went live with Spoken Realms. As a professional audiobook narrator, I was delighted to have yet another opportunity to work with Steven Jay Cohen and his team to bring a book I was passionate about to life. I have previously blogged about why voice actors choose to do Public Domain projects, and if you are curious you can find that blog HERE. The short version is that narrating Public Domain works allows voice actors a chance to show publishers how they might be cast, in ways others might not have thought of using their voice. It allows us, the voice actors, to have a lot of fun narrating in between projects or during projects by working on manuscripts we are passionate about and putting our own, creative, unique spin on them. I have chosen works from poetry to women’s history to Christmas stories, all of which have brought me great joy.

In this blog, I want to focus on a shocking twist of events that happened after posting a public domain book on ACX. The book, WW Denslow’s Mother Goose, was actually live on audible and I received an email that it was being taken down as there were too many versions of it in existence. Let’s delve into my experience having a Public Domain book removed and what you can do so that this does NOT happen to you!

Mother Goose Story

In order to publish a Public Domain book, you must first assert yourself as the Rights Holder of at least one version, and your version must be different than any other version. As a former teacher, I wrote lesson plans for pre-school through second grade students to accompany these beautiful nursery rhymes and put them in the foreword. I also researched WW Denslow and wrote a brief, footnoted biography and added that at the end. Thus, my version was unique and within 72 hours it was live on Amazon.

Then, I posted my audio on ACX. Initially everything went fine. The book went live and I shared it on social media and I was delighted to add it to my roster. Then I got the following email:

I was actually shocked and frankly dismayed that they would remove a title after publishing it. I wrote an email to the help and support team but got no reply.

After two weeks of not hearing back from ACX, I reached out to Steven Jay Cohen at Spoken Realms. At this point, I had successfully completed two other titles with him. I had actually submitted Mother Goose to ACX prior to my other work with Spoken Realms and that is the only reason I did not hold it for him to begin with. I explained my conundrum. Steven explained that they had a unique agreement with Audible and if they produced my work it could not be removed. Happily, we moved forward with the project. I do know, however, that other narrators continue to have issues posting Public Domain works on ACX. Please see a recent and relevant YouTube interview that I did on the same topic!

Lessons Learned

I have learned a lot from this experience. First, I will not ever endeavor to produce a Public Domain work through ACX again. It is simply not worth the risk of losing the production after the fact. I will produce all future projects through Spoken Realms. Next, there are differences in the editing standards required for Spoken Realms and those required for ACX. Even though I have a specific effects stack to apply to my audio that is perfect for ACX, it was not sufficient alone for Spoken Realms. More editing was required. So, for the first time in my many years as a full time voice actor, I sought the help of a professional editor. The Spoken Realms website actually has a wonderful list of all sorts of professionals in their portal, so I actually randomly picked one from the list and it has been fantastic! I have also been struggling to use 2nd Opinion, the approval software that is part of the Spoken Realms process, so the editor has done that for me on all three of my projects. Hannibal Hills, my brilliant editor, has been a true blessing and has made the process a joy. Others more tech savvy than I likely would not need this, but for me life is short and there are only so many hours in the day and Hannibal is a genius. So, in sum, my experience with Spoken Realms has been great, despite my own personal shortcomings in editing, and my Public Domain projects are live. Should you have a project you are dreaming of, perhaps apply and see if you can join their roster.

Resource List:

https://www.narratorsroadmap.com/

https://spokenrealms.com/

https://www.karencommins.com/2022/05/public-domain-narration-headquarters.html

Lessons Learned From Recent Live Session

February 28, 2023 by Laura Schreiber

When You Do A Lot Of Live Sessions, What Makes One Standout?

As a full-time, professional voice over actor, I typically have multiple live sessions every week. Most of my clients prefer Source Connect, and in truth I am so used to that at this point that I do too. On Monday morning, my first session of the week, with new clients, was over Teams. That was fine, so that was the first item that stood out. The second was that I was the only one with my camera on. Next, we were all in different countries. I was in the United States, and they were scattered from Italy to the UAE to Bahrain to India. I believe there were nine of us on the call, but possibly more. This session was different because this group was very chatty and wanted to talk amongst themselves a lot. They also wanted me to hang out while they edited their video, which is not standard, but luckily I had time on the other end and I could accommodate. So, from the get go, this session was different in all kinds of ways.

Why I Was SO Excited About this One

Well, if you know me you know I love chocolate. If I had to have one food on a deserted island, it would be chocolate. This commercial was for Ferrero Rochet. Not only do I particularly enjoy their delicious candy, but I also love that it is a brand that is eaten all over the world. This spot will run in the entire GCC, in places like the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and more. I think it is pretty awesome that this little candy also serves as a cultural bridge of sorts. When I think about many of these places that will view my spot, none of which I have ever had the privilege of visiting, and I think about their culinary traditions, I confess that I never imagined this decadent chocolate as part of it. I was delighted to know that we share this.

We Have More In Common

At the start of the session, the creative director wanted to make sure that I understood both the branding and the traditions surrounding Ramadan in the region. While I had, as I always do, done brand research in advance of the session, I was very pleased to learn about the traditions surrounding Ramadan, like the way that they decorate their homes with twinkle and fairy lights, in the importance of gracious hospitality in this festive holiday season. He also spoke of the emphasis of the changing and more egalitarian roles that their footage was clearly depicting. As I watched the footage and listened, I was struck by how many common shared values our cultures shared, especially with all of the spring holidays coming in the States. I was delighted by what I learned and it certainly informed my read.

The Technical Stuff

The trend for almost all my commercial bookings of late is the conversational read. Clients always want the reads to sound authentic, like I am talking to a friend. Well, authentic and relatable were not the sought after tones in this session. And don’t forget, that when taking direction, it is about giving the client exactly what they ask for. I happen to know the brand well as I often transcribe their scripts when coaching. Yet, the direction that I got went well beyond what I anticipated. The clients wanted every word of every line to be measured. In the VO coaching world we often say that if everything is important then nothing is important. But the client wanted every word emphasized the same way, and he gave precise readings for how he wanted each line broken down. The pacing was not conversational. He did not want the rhythm and the cadence to vary. He wanted every. Single. Word. Measured.

Pronunciation was another interesting part of the direction. Even though the team specifically wanted a voice actor with an American accent, certain words were non-negotiable. One of those words was “Ramadan.” They instructed me to pronounce it like rum-a-done. Next, the word “sweeter” was very important. They wanted me to hit the “ter” hard. We never do that here, but that is how they wanted the word said. So, that is how I did it.

Don’t Sound Happy. Umm, What?

Perhaps the most confusing bit of direction was the “don’t sound happy.” If you don’t already know, my tagline used to be “The Sound of Happy.” So, my voice sounds pretty happy, just on its own, without doing anything, this is how I sound. This bit of direction was tricky. I’m sitting there reading a script about a product I love, with a care bare hanging over my head (because it makes me happy) trying to sound, basically, unlike myself. I decided to flatten out the read and just try to be void of all emotion. I had to stop smiling, which is also hard because I am a smiley kind of gal. I did, in that moment though, question their casting choice.

Conclusions

Not all live sessions are the same. Give yourself the grace and time to listen to what the clients want. If they want a live session, it is either because the really want to direct you, because they are legally obligated to have someone on the team present when you record, or because they cannot please the commercial script without being there. All of these things matter, a lot. So make it great for them. Don’t talk money during the session, ever. This session ran over in time which almost never happens with me. Most of my sessions are pretty short. My instinct was to say nothing and smile while they chatted about their choices and options. Afterwards I spoke with the producer and he confirmed that it never goes well when the VoiceOver actors start talking about money and time with the end users, who typically have nothing to do with our rates. In the end, smile and breathe and hope that they have the courtesy of sharing the final cut with you to promote!

How to Publish a Public Domain Audio Book

December 19, 2022 by Laura Schreiber

Why Publish Public Domain book?

Just like other genres of voice over, when you are new to audio books, you need to build your street credit. The more titles you have under your built, the more experience you gain. It is hard, however, to book work without titles to your name. A great way to do this is to narrate books that are already in the “Public Domain.” That means that these books have been published more than 100 years ago and are free for anyone to work with. The other good news is that every January more books become part of the public domain! I had gone to Karen Commins’ site Narrator’s Roadmap, which can be found here https://www.narratorsroadmap.com/ and found a wealth of information. I have actually paid for access to her videos and am so thankful for that information. If you, like me, are new to audiobooks you may also find this site to be a blessing!

Find Content On Gutenberg

The easiest place to find public domain content is at https://gutenberg.org/. There you can search and download titles. I used this site myself to create a master spreadsheet of many titles I am interested in narrating. Then when I have downtime in between actual VO bookings, these are projects I can turn to to fill my audiobook goals. Keep this spreadsheet in a place you can easily access. You can have a lot of fun finding works in different genres. For instance, this week I recorded both a History title and a Poetry book.

Publishing on Kindle

You will want to upload your public domain book for kindle. In order to do this you need to do a few important things!! First, you need to create a separate and unique email address, different that the other address you use as a narrator on acx. Make sure that it is something that you can remember.

The other important step is that you need to make your version of the public domain book different than the existing versions in order to claim it on Kindle. For instance, for the books that I have done, I researched and wrote forewards that I found interesting. For the poetry book I just did, I wrote and article about why it is important for children to read poetry. Once you do this, merge the PDFs to create one version. Then, upload that version in a format that kindle takes, like epub. I use zamzar to do this. The link is in the list below.

Note, you will need to create your own cover art! I also create mine at this stage, prior to beginning the upload process. I like to make my cover art both on canva or on an app called word swag. I make it in a square shape and I tend to make two versions, one for the kindle and one for ACX. I love creating content for social media, so I actually find this step fun. You can be creative and really make this your own. Again, this is another way that differentiates your public domain version, so you might as well make it something that stands out to you. I very much enjoyed having a chance to create the two that I worked on this month.

Once you have completed these steps, as the rights holder you can go to https://kdp.amazon.com/ and publish your version of the public domain book on kindle. Once the book is live, which takes about 72 hours, you can then create the audio book.

Publishing Your Audio Book

Once Kindle has approved your ebook, you can go into ACX and upload the audio.

You still need to meet all of the ACX standards and have the audio divided properly (opening credits, closing credits, body to match table of contents, retail sample, etc….)

I have to say, having just completed my second project, I was elated to have finally figured it out. In a seven week period, I booked three titles on ACX and published two of my own. It honestly feels great!

To Make sure this is easy for you to follow, here is a breakdown of the steps that I took:

List of steps:

Find public domain source to narrate using https://gutenberg.org/
Download and save your version.
Write a foreward or do something to make your version unique. Save that additional copy.
Merge the two pieces of copy into one PDF.
Save this as an “epub” file using https://www.zamzar.com/. You’ll need that format to upload.
Create cover art. You can do this using canva or an app like Word Swag. You can save the file as a jpeg. Note that A CX has different file size requirements than kindle for this file and you can create one image and use something like preview if you are on a Mac to change the file size.
Log in using your “Rights Holder” account. Publish your ebook at https://kdp.amazon.com/.
Once the ebook is live, go to acx.com to upload the audio.
Record your audio per ACX standards.

Lessons Learned Since Initial Blog Posting

Well, it turns out sometimes there are some snags in the road of public domain audio books! When choosing your book, if possible, try to also look for a book that has not been done or has not been done often. I was approached in March at the APAC conference by fellow voice actor, audiobook narrator, and industry friend Steve Corona and he shared with me that he had done a public domain book recently. Steve spent a good bit of time on this project, as these manuscripts can be quite long, and he was prevented from posting it as Audible said there were already too many titles like his in existence. Steve and I got together to discuss this and you can find our chat here.

Believe it or not, after Steve and I had this chat, I had the same experience! I recorded Mother Goose. I was super excited about my version, which bizarrely is still alive and well on Kindle, and just four days after going live on Audible, I received a message through ACX that they were taking it down! I was flabbergasted because they let it go live in the first place. I spent days working on this and it felt like such a loss. I have another project in limbo write now, that Kindle does not seem to want to let me upload, and I am not sure what will come of that.

So, you might be wondering what we can do? I have turned to Spoken Realms. I did learn about this on Narrator’s Roadmap as well. Now that I have more than a dozen titles under my belt, I felt more confident in reaching out to them. I am delighted to say I was accepted to their site and they have approved my first project which is in process now. Here are a few notes about getting started on Spoken Realms in case you, like me, decide to try that:

I was advised to wait until I had done upwards of 6 or 7 books.
Their recording specs are quite different than ACX, so I actually think that having a bit of experience will help you better meet the requirements of Spoken Realms.
The project I submitted has no other versions at present on Audible. I have no idea if that impacted their decision to accept it or not, and I will let you know via blog what my experience is like going forward!