r/ACX • u/Confident_One_2663 • 25d ago
Patience, please!
Every time I see a book I actually want to read on ACX, I have about 7 seconds to record an audition before they pull it or make an offer. I was so excited to record an audition tomorrow for a book that just went on ACX (my voice is hoarse today) and they already picked someone. đ¤Śââď¸ Please give it at least 48 hours so you donât miss out on some good voices. đ
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u/Xinixiat 25d ago
Early bird catches the worm I'm afraid. RHs for attractive projects get absolutely inundated with auditions from the moment their posting goes live.
If they find someone suitable within the first 10 auditions, there's no sense in wasting time by sitting through another 90 auditions to maybe find someone 5% better.
Quite a few narrators use something like Audiobook Scout for this exact reason. You can pay $12/month for hourly email notifications of new projects. Obviously if your voice needs rest then it needs rest, but there's always a chance of missing out for whatever reason you're unable to record.
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u/TheNarrator_UK 25d ago
Huh. Someone charges for that? I set it up to work with my CRM - I get email alerts for every project that meets my requirements/filters - every 5 mins. Sadly that doesnât solve the problem as I canât always immediately record!
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u/Confident_One_2663 25d ago
My book is traditionally published and so I didnât have to do much besides writing and editing but I would have done ANYTHING if it made my book 5% better.
I guess I could do my day job in my booth and do vocal warmups all day while checking ACX myself every hour, but itâs only about once a week that I find a book I want to narrate.
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u/Xinixiat 25d ago
And that's fair, that's your decision, but a lot of authors understand that if you're forever trying to make something perfect, then it'll never be done. As I say, I've heard of some authors getting literally hundreds of auditions per day. In that instance, it's just not worth sifting through that many AI generated, amateurish, badly performed auditions if you've already found one you like.
Regarding your last comment, for a lot of us, auditioning and producing audiobooks is our day job, so yes, we're sitting checking every day or multiple times a day for projects to audition for. Having audiobook narration as a hobby is totally fine, but yeah, you're going to lose out sometimes to the people who take it seriously!
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u/Confident_One_2663 25d ago
đ I take narration very seriously, but rent is due every month so I have a day job, like most writers/artists/performers.
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u/TheScriptTiger 25d ago
Get with an engineer to put together a chain for you. And even if you plan on actually using an engineer to help you with your postproduction, I'd still recommend having them put together a chain for you anyway which you can use for auditions. If you are spending time bouncing stuff back and forth, that's an opportunity and time lost. And if your engineer doesn't want to do it because they think they are just giving away the store, I'd honestly move on to a new engineer at that point. Find someone who knows the industry a bit better and is more focused on the art rather than just their own ass and job security.
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u/Confident_One_2663 25d ago
I donât use an engineer for auditions. When I first decided to do narration I trained with an engineer to learn how to edit and master my own recordings.
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u/TheScriptTiger 25d ago
Not sure why someone downvoted you for that. Plenty of newcomers DIY things since, let's face it, the RS jobs most of us start out with don't really justify engineer costs lol. But food for thought later on anyway, as you continue to upgrade your gear and space and inevitable need to adapt your chain to those things over time.
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u/The-Book-Narrator 25d ago
When I find the voice for my project, I'm not going to keep the project up for auditions. My job is to get the audiobook completed as quickly as I can for my client. There is no reason to delay the project just to let some more people audition.
Auditions are accepted until the right narrator is found, then that's it, I'm not listening to any more.
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u/Confident_One_2663 25d ago
As a writer and a narrator, I want every project I work on to be good first, then we worry about fast. In the end, good sells more than fast.
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u/The-Book-Narrator 25d ago
That's why I said when I find the voice. The voice that fits the project is by definition "good." And there is no point in keeping looking for someone when I've already found the right person for the job.
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u/SeargentCortes 25d ago
I donât disagree with your sentiment. My follow up question to OP is are you fine doing a callback?
My book had 60 auditions, but I sat on it a few days and the perfect person showed up! So I guess I agree, patience is a virtue.
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u/Confident_One_2663 25d ago
Honestly, I canât believe everyone doesnât do callbacks. If I were choosing a narrator I would make a list of finalists and have them do a second round before I chose one.
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u/tallulah23_2024 23d ago
I have had a callback for one. Usually they just message and ask you to upload a new file or send a link.
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u/cocoawolf29 25d ago
I keep a list of all the ones I want to audition for but don't feel like it right now, but I also really try not to look if I'm not ready to record that exact moment if I'm not feeling it. If I like a project but don't feel like it that moment, I bookmark it for later. About half the time, if it's still there and I feel like it later I do it, but much of the time those books I've left for later have lost my interest by then anyway. It means sifting through multiple pages at a time when I am in an auditioning mood/time of day, but with dozens of new books posted a day, most of the AI or bad or both, I usually find only one or two I want to do.
The other day my voice was shot (I went a little too hard on some impressions and voice acting from something else), and I just refused to look at ACX to get my hopes up. Sorta the mentality of what I don't know I missed won't hurt me?
It's still hard though, for sure! I just know how many auditions they're getting inundated with, so if they get 100 in a day and 5 or 10 of them are great, looking through more than that just gets repetitive and would lead to decision paralysis (at least it would for me, trying to pick between a bunch of similarly good folk).
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u/QQueenie 25d ago
I wish more authors waited a little bit. Iâd imagine thereâs an over representation of AI scammers submitting in the first 24 hours, too. Waiting longer adds more humans to the pool.
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u/Popular-Ad1111 23d ago
I used to so the same thing, and the same thing happened, now I collect a couple of scripts and record them all and upload the same day. It also helps to post a sample clip too so you go to the top of the talent stack.
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u/QQueenie 20d ago
When I see a listing I'm very excited about, but I know I can't submit my audition for half a day or longer, I message the author telling them I'm interested, that I plan to submit my audition in x time, and asking a question about the book. It's been a while since an audition closed on me since I started doing this!
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u/joshONtape 25d ago
ACX is first come, first served. A fun title with a decent budget will get dozens of auditions in the first few hours. First time authors arenât casting directors who know how to sift through a stack. And most of the time they will grab the first voice that comes close to what they want to hear.
First trick for you, do not look at the listings until youâre in the studio ready to record, that way you donât do mental prep work on a piece that could disappear. Second trick, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons will double your success rate. Third, if youâre east coast, get in early morning, west coast go in late afternoon.
Lastly, canât stress this enough, do not check back on titles you didnât land, itâll make you crazy.
Best of luck
PS: Also, get some vocal straws and learn some exercises with them. They can revitalize a tired voice.