Good afternoon! Can you believe how beautiful it is out today? If this is what spring is gonna taste like, I’ll have another helping, please…
So, I’m fortunate enough to have already narrated five audiobooks this year with at least one more in the pipeline. Each has been a challenging and fulfilling experience in their own right. As a result, I have compiled a checklist to make sure the experience goes smoothly for both myself and the client.
I’m gonna post this in the GKN FB Group as a Doc so feel free to download it. Let me know if I missed anything!
TIP OF THE WEEK: When you land an audiobook, do the following:
Establish a deadline
Get the finalized script at least one week in advance of the first recording session
Only accept the manuscript as a PDF file other Read-Me only file
Read at least a few chapters ahead before the first recording session
If fiction; establish characterizations, genders, and accents
If non-fiction, determine if the client wants footnotes to be read
Get a pronunciation guide
Get the audio settings and file format
Get the method of delivery information
Get the Intro and Outro
Make sure the script has page numbers
Find out the page range to begin and end narration
If you’re making copies, ask for the following:
Double-sided (to save trees and cut down on page turning)
Hole-punched
Enlarge the type to fill the page, if need be
Retakes:
make sure the client does Quality Control AFTER the files have been edited AND mastered
Make sure the QC sheet page & line numbers match your audiobook script
Find out if the client wants the retakes as separate files
Find out if the client will edit in the retakes themselves or if they want you to do it
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: People are bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling. Jon C. McGinley from Scrubs
STUFF!: We lost a good man a few days ago. Bart Rolfes died of sarcoma on March 8. He was a Production major at Montclair State while I was getting my acting degree. We worked on a bunch of shows together and he was a blast. Always joking, always in a good mood, always making those rough nights a little less rough. He will be missed.
From Tom Dheere’s apartment, this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…