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.
audio. So my audio was immediately flagged as being insufficient for their needs. You get a little orange or red, depending on the screen settings of your monitor, triangle with an exclamation point in it.
Interestingly, an early morning text from my nutritionist got me thinking about why positivity matters so much. At the end of her text, which happens to be the first text of my day, it said “No effort is too little in the big picture. It ALL adds up to progress. Keep your eyes on the goal and have a glorious day!” That is how my day started. Who wouldn’t feel great after such a message? And this got my wheels turning about the importance of what I put out to my own VO students. I am someone who has always responded well to positive reinforcement. More than that, I thrive on it. Feedback with a positive spin is something I can run with. Conversely, when I feel criticized or scrutinized I do not perform well. I have studied the psychology behind this in graduate school and in professional development workshops as a teacher, and I try to bring all this with me pedagogically when I coach. I do believe that for voice over students to get the most out of their experience they need positive reinforcement.
Before working in voice over, I actually taught middle and high school history at an all-girls school in New York City. For one of our teacher in service days, we had a neurologist come and talk to us about positive reinforcement. Did you know that there have been studies that prove that people respond better when their papers are marked with green pen than with a red pen? Further, students to respond better to encouragement to improve and build
I cherish building close relationships with people I work with. In the past few years, I have been come close with a “client” named Steve. First, I got to know Steve when he owned a production agency in Portland. Then, he opened a boutique talent agency. Over time, Steve became a close and cherished friend. When Steve opened his agency he actually decided to refer talents who needed coaching to me. Why? In addition to the curriculum I developed, he liked my positive way. Even recently, while in a period of transition onto a new path in life, Steve asked me if I would direct a session for a client because of my positive way. The point is that people need this kind of support and vibe, it makes it easier to work together. 
When I was in graduate school we also spent a lot of time learning about Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligences, that different people learn and absorb material in different ways. I can tell you that as I get older I think the way that I myself learn has changed. But, the way that I relate to people and connect with people has only changed in degree and not manner. I would say that I am perhaps more sensitive now, than when I was young. I am a delicate soul, and especially something as personally as our art, well, we are all unique and while there are industry standards and benchmarks we need to meet, I would like, myself, to learn about it in a meaningful and engaging way that brings out my best, and is not belittling.
When I first heard about the sales funnel for voice over, I was elated. Basically, their funnel drew me in and it worked instantly. I had several thoughts. First, I loved the idea of paying less for pay to plays. I thought by starting a funnel I could change my pay to play strategy. To be clear, I do not think there is a voice over reality in which pay to plays cease to exist, I simply wanted to be less dependent on them. Next, I loved the idea of positioning myself to be found by the people who were hiring me. In all my years as a full-time actor, I spend A LOT of time doing direct marketing, and we all know this can be a craps shoot, a big roll of the dice. The sales funnel was appealing because I had hoped that through the marketing expertise of the folks I hired the people who needed me would find me and I could focus on what I love to do most, recording and coaching. It sounds great, right?
While working with Rob and Mary was as expected in terms of their bed-side manner, and they were responsive and kind, Rob over-promised and under-delivered in terms of the result of the funnel. It was actually shocking. We would look at the same numbers, and they would have a completely different analysis of them. Keep in mind the funnel was supposed to bring in dream clients with large budgets. It was supposed to weed out the undesirables. This was NOT my experience. My experience with the opposite. My dream clients were no where to be found. I had multiple people sign up for calls and not show up. I sent follow up emails and texts to those no-shows. 
I had an experience recently and after the fact realized that dog painting is actually a great analogy for life as a voice over actor. If you follow my blog, then you know that I have two precious studio dogs, Violet and Daisy. Last week were were invited, with the dogs, to a charity event at my brother-in-law’s temple. The event was in support of our local food pantry, and we were going to do dog painting. Yes, that’s right, dog painting. Felix, my BIL, works with a guy named Jason to run the arts committee. Inspired by a Jackson Pollock painting done with chicken feet, they opened it up to community pets. The plan was to have people paint with their pets, make a group mural, and bring pet-specific donations for the food pantry. Often those who cannot afford food for their family, also cannot feed their pets. My daughter Emma signed us up and we brought dog food and treats to contribute. Even the morning of the event, I was very unsure of what we were walking into.
So, I see many parallels between dog painting and VoiceOver. Like the event, in VO there is no roadmap. We wake up each morning not knowing what to expect. We walk into live sessions and we don’t know how long they will be and what the folks will be like. Like the dog painting, there are no guarantees in voice over, no promises that things will work it. It might be fine, but everything could also have fallen apart completely with no hope of salvation. We have no crystal ball and we have to be prepared for any outcome.
I never thought I’d go dog painting. But I did and I loved it. Not only did I have fun with my pooches in the moment, but I gained valuable life insights and a refreshing perspective on being willing to try new things. Sometimes, even if you have doubts, as longs as what you are considering is safe, it’s worth trying!
Learning to actually incorporate breathing was hard. Voice actors need to learn how to breath and when to breathe. But being told to breath from your diaphragm and then automatically doing it at all the right places in the script are two very different things. That’s why this week fellow voice over coach Diana Birdsall and I invited Michelle Blenker into our Clubhouse room “Ask the VO Coaches.”
We were eager to ask Michelle about vocal fatigue. Whether you are auditioning or doing booked work, often your voice feels tired as the day goes on. Our voice is a delicate instrument, Michelle explained. She said our entire being is used when we do voice over. We use our body but our vocal cords take the brunt of what we do so we need to use our whole body to support them. As we bring air into our larynx, we want the air to float through and we don’t want to push air in. She suggests that we reframe our thoughts about where our voice comes from and focus on the diaphragm.
In order to increase this amount, you need to learn how to stand. Then, you need to engage your ribs and fill them more deeply with air. Lastly, you need to control how quickly the air is exhaled. When you learn to use your resonators properly, which are found in your sinuses and more, many voice talents discover that their true voice is actually higher than they realized.
It seems like that raspy sound is still popular. Still, just because they ask for it, this does not mean you have to provide it if that is not your natural vocal tone. When we speak, our vocal cords vibrate and bump into each other to create sounds. When this happens, we can get nodules. Then, the vocal cords don’t open and close properly. To prevent rasp, there is an exercise you can do:
One of our attendees asked a question about promo reads. He said that when he tried to get deep resonance he loses his breath. Michelle confirmed that he stands and he said yes. She directed him to put one foot in front of the other. Then, he was told to tuck his bottom under to expand the back ribs. Michelle said that as he releases his breath he needs to control it and let it come through more slowly. She then told him to do the above exercise in the tucked stance, letting the air flow in and out like a balloon.
