Voice-overload has a new home!

if you’re looking for the Voice-overload comic, it has moved to:

http://voice-overload.com

Thanks for stopping by!

All About Variety – August 2009 newsletter

Jeffrey Kafer Voice overs

Bringing Variety to Life Everyone likes variety in life. We all wear different clothes from day to day. We change what we eat for dinner. We even feel like listening to different music from time to time. When you fail to have variety, things get boring. And this is the worst possible thing that can happen to a voice over artist. No one wants to bring dull to a client’s project. And the best way to stay sharp and bring the best you can, is to take on a variety of projects. Throughout the past 2 months, I’ve been voicing a variety of things. These have challenged me, kept me on my toes and been very exciting to work on. Variety has indeed been the spice of my life! Take a look…. Audio books UNCONVENTIONAL James Frost just knows, deep in his bones, that he’s a writer. He writes far into early mornings, after his wearying hours of scrubbing toilets and sweeping floors. He loves writing that much. UNCONVENTIONAL is one of those rare books that is both humorous and uplifting. The challenge with narrating this book was to make sure the characters came across as real as they were in author J.J. Hebert’s head. It’s important with a book like this to bring real honesty to all the characters. Listen to this audio book free! 8b Living under the Soviet occupation of his native Lithuania in the 1980s, Devin Volcan faces a mandatory draft into the Red Army, which at this time is embroiled in an Afghan war. But Devin has run out of legal options to avoid the draft. He has only one shot left – a mad scheme to attempt and survive suicide. 8b is by far one of the most unqiue books I’ve had the honor of narrating. This book is a testament to human spirit and ingenuity. The narration varies from sarcastic to overblown, to tenderly emotional. More information about 8b Character Projects One of my favorite things to do is video games and animation. And just this last week, I was priveleged to be able to lend my voice to a character for a new video game by Her Interactive. The project itself has not been announced, so I can’t give any details, but if you go to their website, you should get a pretty good idea of their games. Working with this company was fantastic and I hope to continue this relationship! Documentaries National Wildlife Federation I had the honor of narrating a video for the Louisiana Coastal Restoration project. Working closely with NOLA Imageworks and the National Wildlife Federation, this video is a plea for national leaders to move bold restoration projects in Louisiana from plan to action. I am honored to have my voice as a part of this important project. Real Estate Tours Anyone involved in real estate is certainly feeling the tough times of a down economy. But to stop advertising is career suicide. And smart realtors know that video is the most compelling way to make a property come alive with images and sound. I’ve been working with several different companies including HDhat.com and Blake Porter Photography to narrate real estate virtual tours. Blake Porter Photography Example Visit the HDhat Youtube Channel for samples As well as the above projects, I was honored to be interviewed on two seperate occasions for The Creative Penn and Working Writers. Thanks to Joanna and Cherie for being interested in my musings! I hope I was able to offer their readings something entertaining and informative. So as you can see, things have been very busy here at Jeffrey Kafer Voice overs. I’ve taken on a variety of projects and I’d love to add yours to the next newsletter. So shoot me an email or give me a call at (805) 28-KAFER and see how I can add some variety to your projects. All the best, –Jeffrey Kafer http://JeffreyKafer.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/JeffreyKafer

Web cam reading of UNCONVENTIONAL book now available

Last night’s live reading of UNCONVENTIONAL by J.J. hebert went swmiingly. People liked it so much, they asked for an encore! So J.J. decided to allow me to also read and record Chapter 4. If you missed the fun, you can view the videos at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1741599

If you want to subscribe to the entire audiobook, you can get it free at http://podiobooks.com/title/unconventional

Live book reading by me TONIGHT!

To celebrate the launch of J.J. Hebert’s UNCONVENTIONAL, I’ll be performing Episode 1 live via webcam. If you’re interested in hearing the rest of this fantastic book narrated by myself, you can get it FREE from the ever-awesome Podiobooks.com

Live Webcam reading of J.J. Hebert’s book, UNCONVENTIONAL
7PM PST/10PM EST
http://tinyurl.com/chpobt

Check out the 60 second promo for the UNCONVENTIONAL audiobook: http://tinyurl.com/qa34dx.

Here’s a link to another live reading I hosted for a different book, just to get an idea of what to expect: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1301536

7 Reasons for Hiring a Professional Audio book Narrator

For those who don’t know, Podiobooks is a mostly do-it-yourself venture. Writers narrating podcast versions of their own books. While I generally applaud the DIY mentality especially as it comes to things like mowing your own lawn or building a deck, I wonder how much better people’s books would be received if they had a professional quality narration.

I’ve done quite a few books for Podiobooks.com as a narrator. And at the risk of coming across as an arrogant bore, I think they’ve turned out better than the average home-brew podiobook. And in my humble opinion, here’s why you should consider hiring a professional narrator:

1. Savings

I can hear it now: “But Jeff, your services are EXPENSIVE!! How can paying you to read my book save me money??” Quite easily, actually. First of all, my podiobooks rate is very inexpensive at $.02 per word. The average 80,000 word books comes out to $1600. Now, for the unpublished writer with a day-job, this may seem horribly expensive. But what the naysayers are not factoring in is time. Let’s break it down.

80,000 words = 500 minutes = about an 8 hour book
Average time investment per finished hour = 4-5 hours on a  good day.
Total time to record and edit = 40 hours

That’s an 8-hour-a-day work week, folks. And if you do a few hours each night, it will take you weeks to finish. Suddenly $1600 for a week’s worth of work doesn’t seem like such a price to pay, does it? And what could you be doing with that time?

Marketing! PR! Networking! Marketing! Marketing!

Why in the world would you want to spend your time sitting behind a microphone when you could be out there drumming up business for the release? Isn’t your time better spent building the business aspect of your book and leaving the narration part to an expert?

But wait! There’s more! Since a Podiobook is serialized, you only pay as episodes are delivered. So depending on how often you want to release an episode, you may only be shelling out $80-$125 per week. Sure, at the end of the project you’ve spent the total amount, but you’ve spread it out into bite-size chunks.

2. Professional Quality

You’ve got a professional quality book. You’ve got professional quality business cards. You’ve got a professional quality website. You’ve got a professional quality cover design.

Then why wouldn’t you want the centerpiece of the release, the very product you’re putting out there to be professional as well? Grabbing a $50 podcasting mic and recording in your den is not professional. Why would you represent your work in such a mediocre way?

I don’t listen to Podiobooks. Why? Because I’m spoiled to the likes of Scott Brick and Grover Gardner, people who know how to narrate books. And with the proliferation of audio books, I can’t be the only one who gets turned off by a dull reader creating subpar recordings? Your book needs to have the same level of professional narration that you put into writing it.

3. Bringing your book to Life

If you’re one of those authors who’s so married to their debut novel that you figure you’re the only one who can truly capture the voice of Treenok the Terrible, then you’ve got a problem. Because if that is indeed true, your audience won’t be able to capture it in their minds either.

Thankfully, most writers who feel that way are incorrect. Most good voice talent are actors, plain and simple. It is their job to find the characters and bring them to life. If you think you’re as good as classically-trained Shakespearean actor Scott Brick, then, power to you. I’m certainly no Scott Brick, but I do have 20 years of theater experience. It’s my passion and job to have these characters possess my voice and make them alive. Narrating a book is not reading a book. Narrating a book is putting on a performance with a single actor playing all the roles. If you don’t honestly have those acting chops, outsource it to someone who does. Doesn’t your work deserve it?

4. Technical aptitude

OK, perhaps you’re a podcaster. Sorry, it’s not the same thing. While your audio book may be in podcast format, you really should think of it as an audio book. And audio books are different from podcasts. If you think that recording in Audacity and dropping your files into Levelator and sending them off is going to give you the best sound, then think again.  Will it be good enough? Perhaps. But do you really want your work represented in a way that’s just “good enough”?

You need to properly compress and EQ your voice for optimal quality. Failure to do so will cause fatigue with your audience. I use professional software in which I’ve fine-tuned the compression and EQ to best fit my voice and give professional results.

5. Stamina

Narrating an audio book is hard work. Seriously. If you think sitting in front of a mic for several days reading a book is easy, I urge you to give it a try. There’s a reason why the folks at Podiobooks request 5 episodes up front. Not only is it to hook the reader, but to assure that you or your narrator have the stamina to pull off the whole thing. Because you’ll realize a few chapters in after you’ve spent the good part of a day just to record one single hour, that vocal stamina plays a huge role in this.

After recording 8 (?) audio books, I’ve built up stamina and patience for the process. I’ve also learned how to pace myself to get the most bang for my vocal buck.

6. Avoiding the “read by the author” Stigma

Go to Audible.com right now. Do it. Note how many novel writers narrate their own books?Very few. And they usually suck for a myriad of reasons, the primary one being that they are authors, not narrators.

Longtime audio book listeners often avoid listening to books read by the author. I learned my lesson with Harlan Coben. His book, Promise Me, gets absolutely slaughtered in the listener comments simply due to his narration. It’s bad. But honestly, I’ve heard worse. John Nance insists on reading his own books, and he has a pronounced lisp, for goodness sake.

Now, you may not have a speech impediment, but think about how it looks to a potential listener that you took the time to seek out someone else to narrate your book. You love your work so much, that you wanted to make sure it was in the right hands. You avoided the stigma of “read by the author” that turns off so many listeners. Plus, unlike most podiobooks, there’s a certain coolness to working with a pro. It’s a step above the rest of the pile.

7. Tax write-off

First of all, I have to say that I’m not an accountant or lawyer and this shouldn’t be taken as actual legal tax advice. However, if your book-writing is a business, you should be able to write off this expense on your taxes as a legitimate marketing expense. Consult your accountant about this, as tax laws vary from state to state.

Still not sold on the idea? Head over to my website for a FREE sample reading of your writing. Just click on the Rate Quote, fill it out and I’ll send you a recorded sample free of charge, no strings attached.

Press release:Laid-off Microsoft Worker Enjoys New Career as Voice Over Artist

Professional award-winning Voice over artist Jeffrey Kafer find success months after being laid off from a 10 year career at Microsoft.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) –
Jun 22, 2009 – After a successful 10 year career as a video game test engineer at Microsoft, Jeffrey Kafer’s position was eliminated in January of 2009. Since then, he has successfully transitioned into a full-time professional voice over artist, a hobby he pursued while at Microsoft. In 2008, he won the acclaimed Voicey Award for Best New Voice.

Kafer, has performed voice overs for such companies as Capital One and America Online, as well as Monster.com and Answerstv.com. Most recently he has recorded commercials for Penguin Windows, The Portland Area Radio Council, and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association.

Recently, Kafer (http://jeffreykafer.com) was signed on as a featured audio book narrator for Books in Motion, a Washington-based audio book publisher. He has narrated 5 books in the past 4 months including the audio book version of Kronos, by Jeremy Robinson which was nominated for a prestigious PARSEC award, given to excellence in podcasting.

“Nothing kick-starts the transition of a hobby into a career like not having a steady paycheck. Thankfully, I can record all manner of voice-overs from my home studio and deliver to clients all across the world”, said Kafer. “I’ve done commercials, video games, messaging on hold, audio books, real estate tours, and e-learning module narration since my position at Microsoft was eliminated. I certainly miss aspects of my previous job, but I find it incredibly satisfying to be fully in charge of my career. And scary at times, too. Not only can I be proud of the successes I’ve had, but if I fail, then the blame lies squarely with me as well.”

# # #

About Jeffrey Kafer Voice Overs: Jeffrey Kafer (http://jeffreykafer.com) is a voiceover artist, actor, and audio producer based in the Seattle suburb of Monroe, WA. He has been heard on numerous TV and radio commercials, and also performs voiceovers for animation, corporate narration, documentaries, audio books, podcasts and messaging on-hold (MOH).

Companies like Noggin Labs, AnswersTV.com and Bright House Networks have chosen Jeffrey Kafer Voice overs to be the voice of their projects.

memorize your rate card

You never know where you’ll be when a client calls you and needs a quote. Do not be pithy and quote from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: “I worte it down so I don’t have to remember!”

I was in the grocery store the other day when a potential client called. I knew my rates including session fees, length of run, etc. I had the info in my mental Rolodex and gave him the quote right away, no delays. There was no “Let me call you back when I’m done trying to decide between Count Chocula and Cocoa Puffs”. Count Chocula every time, BTW.

Professional and always ready to give the client what they need, right away.

June 2009 newsletter is out

This went out to my newsletter subscribers today. The formatting is a little wonky copying into the blog, but you get the idea. Wanna get this in your mailbox (and you know you do), then head over to http://JeffreyKafer.com and sign up!

	Hello and welcome to my first newsletter! This newsletter will be mailed about once a quarter and will detail what’s been happening in my business to give you an idea of what I can do for yours. Thanks for joining me! If this is unwanted, please follow the directions at the bottom of the mail , with my apologies. With that out of the way, this has been a busy few months for me. I’ve narrated no less than 5 audiobooks in the past 3 months with more to come. Here’s a sample: Kronos By Jeremy Robinson, narrated by Jeffrey KaferTwo years after his wife’s death, oceanographer and former navy SEAL, Atticus Young, attempts to reconcile with his rebellious daughter, Giona, by taking her on the scuba dive of a lifetime-swimming with a pod of peaceful humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine. But the beauty of the sea belies a terror from the deep-a horrific creature as immense as it is ancient. There is no blood, no scream, no fight. Giona is swallowed whole by the massive jaws. Only Atticus remains to suffer the shame of the survivor and his inconsolable grief turns to an unquenchable thirst for revenge. Drawn by the spectacle, Trevor Manfred, a ruthless billionaire, approaches Atticus with a proposition: Trevor will make available all the advanced technology of his heavily armed mega-yacht, the Titan, to aid Atticus in his death-quest. In return, Trevor is to receive the beast’s corpse as the ultimate hunting trophy. But in the midst of the hunt, Atticus makes a terrifying discovery that changes the way he sees the ocean’s creatures and begs the question: what is Kronos? The answer sets him on a new and much more deadly course. Listen to Kronos FREE at Podiobooks.com UNCONVENTIONAL by J.J. Hebert, Narrated by Jeffrey KaferComing soon from Mind Stir Media, the story of Young James Frost chronicles his deep desire to abandon his gruelling day-job as a janitor and realize his dream of being a published author. However, the conventional others in his life seem all too willing to remind him that he’s wasting his time. Then he meets and falls in love with Leigh, the one bright spot in his endless misery of self-doubt. A quiet but resolutely religious girl, she has to fight off disapproval of her own from overly critical parents, whose insults are countered by James’s often-voiced admiration of her. Just when James appears hopelessly sapped by devastating events, one last door opens, and he’s rocked by an epiphany. This audiobook will be available in July as a free podcast from Podiobooks.com click here for more info The Cornerstone by Randall Platt, Narrated by Jeffrey KaferIn this coming-of-age novel set in 1944, Ian McKenzie is a bright fifteen-year-old street kid who’s been sent to a Washington State summer camp to be straightened out. Andy Ackerman, the counselor assigned to the camp’s charity cases, is a young man fresh from the war in the Pacific, tough, angry, but understanding. Through Ackerman’s tough love and the sharing of a strenuous task, Ian gains pride and a sense of honor. It is Ackerman’s tragedy that forms the cornerstone of McKenzie’s life and makes this novel something truly special and moving. This audiobook is coming soon from BooksinMotion.com! So as you can see, I’ve been busy with audiobooks these past few months. But I’ve also made time for e-learning projects, message-on-hold, video games and of course, commercials for the following fantastic new clients: Aera Mobile Marketing 3DJoe Destination Marketing HDhat.com Trinema Media Eng101 So give me a call at 425-737-4850 or shoot me an email and let me know how I can help your business! My job is to make your project faster, smoother, and even more professional! And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter! Until next time, –Jeff

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Jeffrey Kafer narrates Kronos by Jeremy Robinson – Live!

If you’re interested in the way audiobooks are recorded or just want to hear a chapter of a fantastic book read to you, then please join me online Thursday 3/26/09 at 1:00pm PST at http://tinyurl.com/chpobt for a live video chat reading of a chapter from Kronos by Jeremy Robinson.

Not only can you watch me record an actual chapter of the book that will be released as a part of the audio book, you can chat in real time with myself and the author, Jeremy Robinson. He’ll be there to field your calls about writing and publishing and I can answer any questions about voice over or audiobooks.

Why are we doing this? in celebration of his forthcoming novel, Pulse, Jeremy is going to be releasing the audiobook version of Kronos in serialized format at Podiobooks.com. That’s right, a free audiobook!

So if you’re a fan of Jeremy’s or audiobooks or just curious what it’s like to read a book in front of a mic, then join us for a live video chat Thursday 3/26/09 at 1:00pm PST at http://tinyurl.com/chpobt 

See you there!

Do you post-mortem your Voice over projects?

One of the vestigial organs of my days working in the video game industry is my lingering subscription to Game Developer magazine. The signature feature of every issue is a section called Post-Mortem. Every month, a different game developer talks about the 5 things that went wrong and 5 things that went right. It’s very interesting reading.

So, do you post-mortem your voice over projects?

I’m not talking about glossing over the project on your way to Dairy Queen. I’m talking about writing down 2-3 things that went wrong/right and applying some critical, honest analysis.

One of the interesting things about video game post mortems is how some things are the same from company to company and project to project. Work/life balance, project scope, crunch mode, etc. So by writing down post mortems and sharing them with fellow Voice actors, you very well might find some things in common. And they might have some suggestions for how to avoid those problems in the future.

So I’ll start: I had a phone patch voice over session for a 30 second commercial that resulted in me not giving the client what he wanted right away. It ended with the direction of “I’ll direct you like I direct my child actors. I’ll say it exactly how I want to hear it and you repeat it back to me. OK?” 

Ouch.

What went right

1. The client was happy with the end result.
   While the process to get there wasn’t too smooth, the session ended on a positive note. The client was joking and upbeat and the stuff I recorded was used.
2. No pick-ups required
   This is due in part to the phone patch. But even then, there is often the case where the client doesn’t like what they hear. But in this case, the client got exactly what he wanted during the first session.
3. Lots of flexibility for recording sessions
   This client had lots of things on his plate and I was able to offer several times for recording. Having this kind of flexibility can go a long way to making a client happy. 

What Went Wrong

1. I wasn’t able to deliver what the client wanted fast enough
   This led to the direction of “I’ll tell you how to say it and you repeat it back to me.” This was incredibly humiliating and 100% my fault. While the character was your average dad, I couldn’t get out of announcer mode. Finally I did, but not nearly as quickly as I should have.
2. I let the jovial-ness of previous conversations get in the way
   The client is one of those guys that everyone likes. Super friendly, cracking jokes, laughing. Great guy to talk with. But when the mic is on, he’s all business. That transition caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
3. I didn’t explain that my improvisation wasn’t for his benefit, but for mine.
   I tried to go all actor-y on him by improvising lines before and after. I didn’t properly explain that I was doing this to get into character and that he wasn’t expected to use it. He thought I was goofing around and he stopped me with “Don’t go off book, please. I need you to stay on script!” I should have explained to him ahead of time that I needed to do this to get the proper attitude and delivery of the lines.

So I don’t think this client will come calling any time soon, which is a shame. But I’ve learned some tough lessons and chalk it up to a learning experience. And by analyzing specific problem areas, I can make sure I don’t repeat them.

 

3/23/09 – UPDATE!! The client called me today asking for an audition for a series of spots. Guess he didn’t hate me as much as I thought. Still, it’s good to be self-critical.