Karen Commins's Blog, page 15

Mainstream Media Articles on Audiobook Boom

Mainstream journalists have recently learned what I’ve known for years — Audiobooks are cool! Listed below are several extensive articles from recent months about the public’s increasing demand for audiobooks that you may have missed:

 

On 8/23/13, one author detailed her experience in recording her book in The Atlantic. The responses to her Goodreads post publicizing the article were quite illuminating.

 

Reading by ear: Audiobook fans multitask while listening to spoken word in the Detroit Free Press 9/8/13 (also appeared in USA Today)

 

The New Explosion in Audio Books in the Wall Street Journal 8/1/13

 

How Amazon Became the King of Audiobooks in The Atlantic 7/16/13

 

Actors Today Don’t Just Read for the Part. Reading IS the Part in the New York Times 6/29/13

 

In the Shadow of Billy the Kid

You probably have heard the name of Billy the Kid, but have you heard the story behind his fame? Did you know a woman was involved?

 

William Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was a leading participant in a prolonged shoot-out in Lincoln, NM during the late 1870s. The violent episode became known as the Lincoln County War.

 

While many people know something of this story, few realize that a woman was at the center of it.

 

She wasn’t Billy’s wife, mother, or sister, yet Billy and his band of “Regulators” were in her house during the conflict.

 

Who was she, and why was Billy the Kid in her home?

 

The woman was Susan McSween, the wife of attorney Alexander McSween.

 

Author Kathleen P. Chamberlain conducted extensive research and wrote a fascinating account of Susan McSween’s life in her book In The Shadow of Billy the Kid: Susan McSween and the Lincoln County War, which was published earlier this year.

 

You never hear about women when learning about the Wild Wild West. As one who loves to read biographies and learn about history, it was exciting to me to read this well-researched biography of a woman embedded in what is typically man’s story. Billy the Kid may have made Susan McSween famous, but she went on to become the Cattle Queen of New Mexico.

 

I recorded the 12-hour audiobook for University Press Audiobooks and am honored to bring her story to audio. In doing so, I also conducted extensive research in order to pronounce the Spanish and Native American words found in the text.

 

The audiobook is now available for immediate purchase and download on Audible.com at this link.

 

Karen’s Primer on Narrating Royalty Share Audiobooks

One of my mentors, who is a prolific and award-winning audiobook narrator, advised me that it’s better to be working on spec than to be idle. Working on spec enables you to build your portfolio and hone your craft as a narrator.

 

As a result, I now use royalty share audiobooks from ACX to fill holes in my schedule. You may find that certain audio publishers also want to pay in a royalty share agreement. All of my experience with royalty share work is through ACX, so all of my comments below pertain to that system.

 

If you have no experience in doing audiobooks, you might want to first do a book on LibriVox. When I restarted my audiobook career, I first recorded a book for LibriVox. I outlined the many reasons and advantages of this project in my post Reasons to Create Your Own Stuff. Note that one big advantage in volunteering  for LibriVox is that you will be able to figure out your most efficient workflow — i.e., learning how to punch-in — under no time pressure while simultaneously adding to world literacy.

 

The one big downside with doing a LibriVox book is that anyone can use your work without compensating you because you donate the completed audiobook to the public domain. Juan Carlos Bagnell wrote an excellent article on his blog about this practice. My LibriVox audiobook A Woman Who Went to Alaska is routinely offered for sale on eBay. I decided that I may continue to donate my time to narrate a short story or a chapter in a group project, but I will create full-length audiobooks only for commercial publishers.

 

Method

Be sure to pick a book you love as you will be spending a lot of time with it. Audition for any title that interests you and for which your voice and skills are a good fit, but choose carefully!

 

I used to hold off on doing auditions, thinking that several offers might come at once. More often than not, though, the rights holders are very slow to make a selection and do not communicate with narrators/producers at all during the process. Now I audition routinely as each audition allows me to continue developing my storytelling skills by reading different authors and genres.

 

Still, I try to stack the odds of snagging a great book more in my favor by doing additional research before submitting an audition.

 

You can ask the rights holder how many copies are sold each month in other formats. One of my narrator colleagues won’t consider voicing a royalty share book unless the print sales are equal to at least 1,000 copies a month. However, the print sales aren’t always a good predictor of the sales for an audiobook. Just like the stock market, past performance of a book is no indicator of future sales.

 

Whether doing a book in a royalty share deal or pay per finished hour, I’ve found it very helpful to read the reviews of the book even before doing the audition. Many times the reviewers will point to a TV show or movie. These hooks into popular culture give you valuable insight as you develop your characterizations and performance. Reviewers also point out things like incorrect word usage or bad grammar.

 

I also evaluate the book by using the Amazon Look Inside feature. I choose to narrate books that have few if any curse words (and when used, they should be appropriate to the situation or dialogue and not gratuitous), no explicit sex or graphic violence, and no vampires/werewolves/zombies. I can search the book for these things and also get a better sense of the author’s writing style by reading all of the available excerpts. Sometimes the Kindle edition is offered for free, so I go ahead and download it.

 

I look at the author’s web site and blog.  This step would be even more important if you’re considering a self-published title. I want to know that an author is as serious about writing as I am about narrating. I want to see that they will work to promote their work even more than I do.

 

I like to pick books in a series, as I outlined on my Facebook fan page.

 

If you are chosen to narrate multiple books, you don’t have to start all of them immediately! You can communicate with the rights holder and suggest your dates before accepting the contract. You may even build up a queue of work to perform in this manner.

 

Royalty share work should not come ahead of paying work. I always have 2-4 months on any royalty share contract so that I have the time to take on audiobooks and my regular voice-over work that pays up front.

 

If ACX has attached a production stipend to the book, you may want to schedule with the rights holder the day they will send the contract. I gave an example of how to work the dates in this comment. You may find it helpful to use the Day-Date Calculator from Calculatorsoup.com to set your deadlines.

 

I use Evernote during the book prep as I described in this Facebook comment.

 

I outsource my editing and quality review when I have a stipend. If I don’t have a stipend, I usually edit the book myself.

 

Marketing

The publisher or author doesn’t always market the audiobook. Many of the titles on ACX are backlist and don’t have a marketing budget with them. Even if the rights holder did market the book, I still do my own marketing. I use social media extensively to get the word out. I post my titles on these sites:

 

Twitter  – Add updates throughout the project, not just when the book comes out. If you include the publisher and/or author and @ACX_com in your update, they will most likely re-tweet your message.
FB personal  – I link to the book on Audible when it comes out.
FB fan/business page — I add each book cover to a photo album of my titles. I also share posts from my authors and publishers on my page. Some other good Facebook pages for your news of releases are:

Audiobook Community
ACX


Pinterest  – I pin the cover on a board (photo album) of my titles. I like seeing which titles have been re-pinned.
Goodreads edition — Create an Author page and add your audiobooks to your dashboard. This post from the Facebook Audiobook Crowd gives more details about this option and the next one.

Goodreads audiobook group


Soundcloud
LinkedIn – In addition to status updates, create a company page and add your titles as your products as shown here.
This blog
My titles page on my web site

 

I may also use Google+, a press release, and/or a video to promote my work. In fact, I created a book trailer for In The Shadow of Billy the Kid: Susan McSween and The Lincoln County War, which will be released soon. I’ll post the video here on the blog and across social media.

 

In addition. I’ll create a Google alert for the topic and/or do specialized searches and comment on blogs, in forums, and any other place where people discuss it. For instance, I’ve already mentioned my upcoming audiobook on the Facebook page for the movie Young Guns, which is about Billy The Kid. Someone commented about the birthday of the actress who played Susan McSween, so it was a great lead-in for my comment about the real woman!

 

I don’t do all of these things in one day or even in a week. Audiobook marketing is an on-going task.

 

Money

It bears repeating that royalty share audiobooks are a lot like the stock market: you can have some with amazing returns and some that are under-performers.

 

Generally, you won’t make a lot of money on just one book. It takes many royalty share books to generate sales for a sizable royalty check each month. Also, realize that your proceeds for each book will build up over time. The royalty agreement with Audible lasts for 7 years.

 

My sales numbers range from 14 copies (yes, only 14 units sold) on one book to another book with 1000s of copies sold, with an average payment of $2.70-3.00 per unit sold. While you think you will receive 25% of the proceeds, your net percentage is actually less since many of Audible’s members buy the books using their credits. Audible’s very nice Bounty Program pays $12.50 for each applicable sale and has made up for the lower royalty rates in my case.

 

If I had narrated only that one book with 14 units sold, I probably would still be waiting for a royalty check since you must have $50 in royalties before Audible issues a check. Checks usually come at the end of the next month.

 

If Audible is paying a stipend on your book, note that the rights holder must APPROVE the finished product within 60 days of the date you signed the contract. Once you have the approval, you must send the invoice to Audible in order to be paid. You can find the invoice template in the Stipend Terms and Conditions link on this page. The Time to Decimal Conversion is very handy when determining your finished time for the invoice.

 

Whispersync, the new technology that lets a reader switch between reading the Kindle e-book and listening to the Audible audiobook, could affect your royalties in two ways. On the one hand, the audiobook price is lower when the purchaser already has the Kindle edition. The royalties earned on the sale therefore would be lower as well. On the other hand, before Whispersync, people either bought the e-book or the audiobook — not both. Whispersync may actually encourage additional sales, which would bring royalties that you would not otherwise have. Without hard numbers, Whispersync may be a case of whether you view the glass as half full or half empty.

 

My best sales periods have been December/January, where people are buying presents or later using gift cards, and April-June, when people seem to stock up for their poolside and vacation entertainment.

 

Audible sales are the gift that keeps on giving! Not only do you rack up more units sold in a shorter period, but those sales can get your book on the royalty escalator for a higher royalty rate.

 

I also set up an affiliate account with Audible. I use my affiliate link each time I publicize my titles. You can find my explanation of it in this Facebook post. More helpful tips are included in this post. So far, I’ve had a lot of clicks but no affiliate sales. Given time, though, I’m sure that some of those clicks will be converted to sales.

 

Miscellaneous

Some of the posts above were in the Facebook Audiobook Crowd group, which consists of professional narrators and industry insiders. It has an open and active membership. I highly encourage you to join the group if you are an audiobook narrator.

 

My experience with ACX has always been wonderful. I was one of the original beta testers on the site and have been very excited by its growth. The support staff is nothing short of remarkable! They have been incredibly responsive to my emails. I continue to see improvements both in the site operations and the quality of titles posted for audition.

 

ACX also has an informative, interesting, and helpful blog. Lately, they have been educating the rights holders more about the process, and their efforts are paying off. I’ve had more communication from rights holders in the past week than in the last 6 months!

 

 

Thinking again of the advice from my mentor, let me leave you with this quote from author Neil Gaiman (you can substitute the word “narrate” where he says “write”):

I decided that I would do my best in the future not to write books just for the money. If you didn’t get the money, then you didn’t have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn’t get the money, at least I’d have the work.

 

 

Original notebook image: iStockPhoto/Aania

Edited 7/30/13 to add comment about downloading free Kindle books and 2 paragraphs under Miscellaneous about ACX

 

Golden Nugget From Pat Fraley’s Pick Up Your Oscar Webinar

Pat Fraley recently taught a webinar called Pick Up Your Oscar: The Craft of Voice Over Acting. I sign up for just about everything Pat offers because I know I will learn great info that propels my career forward.

 

This webinar about acting was no exception. In fact, it was more useful to me than much of the voice-over training I have had! In publicizing the event, Pat wrote: “It’s not an MFA for 50 bucks, but it’s the only acting system created to meet the rapid rigors of the voice over world.” He further promised to teach how to:

 

“Play Actions” not present emotions
“Play the Subtext”
“Raise The Stakes”
Create “Motivated Contrast”

 

The big golden nugget for me was the fact that you can’t act an emotion. You have to think in terms of the ACTION VERB in order to bring the emotion to the text. You can “up the stakes” by finding a verb that has a different connotation or intensity.

 

After the webinar concluded, I found this fantastic book ACTIONS: The Actors’ Thesaurus at Amazon, and it already has been extremely useful in creating more evocative auditions.

 

 

 

The introduction offers this explanation:

 

If the actor plays a specific and real action on each sentence, then, even though the audience are unlikely to be able to identify the technique or the individual action, the work will be interesting and absolutely watchable because of its precision. Actioning enforces a specificity which can liberate the actor’s performance and ensure a cohesive integrated character with each moment leading naturally onto the next. 

 

The book also provides an example of finding and using actions in analyzing a commercial script.

 

During the webinar, Pat coached several people through the process, and I could really hear the difference in their reads. You can order a copy of Pat’s webinar, along with a variety of other programs, at this link.

TDIMH — Perseverance Pays Off

This Date in My History — Sunday July 21, 2002 1:00pm

 

I occasionally have fleeting thoughts of quitting [voice-over]. However, I quickly remind myself of 2 stories that keep me going.

 

The first story is about a man who had been digging for gold for however many years. He finally gave up in frustration and sold his claim to the land to someone else.

 

The next day, the new owner found a gold mine worthy of a king’s fortune 3 feet away from where his predecesor stopped digging. The moral is to never give up because you don’t know how close you are to the gold.

 

The other story is definitely a true story while the first one may be just a lesson.

 

Mel Fisher was convinced that he would find the shipwreck of the Atocha, which was laden with gold, silver, emeralds and other precious items when it sank.

 

Every day, for 17 years, he looked for it. Every day during those 17 years, he started the day by saying “This could be the day!” Every day, when he didn’t find it, he would tell the crew around the supper table “Tomorrow could be the day!”

 

His enthusiasm and positive outlook were infectious. Even when he endured personal tragedy like the death of his son during or as a result of a dive, he persevered.

 

He did find a shipwreck, and I believe it was the find of greatest value ever recorded — something like $400 million bucks!

 

He has a museum in Key West where many breathtaking relics are on display. I think it’s safe to say that he and his family live on Easy Street.

 

I do feel more hopeful when I remind myself of these stories of perseverance against the odds. I am so anxious to get where I’m going that I find it difficult to enjoy and learn from the journey. I still feel like my marketing is scattered, and maybe I’m not targeting the right people. [My brother] talked about having an intermediate goal and steps plotted along the way.

 

As for my next intermediate goal, how can I set them without being in complete control of the outcome? In other words, it’s hard to have goals when I have to depend on fickle, forgetful people to make a conscious choice to hire me.

 

Maybe the better question is how do I distinguish myself from the 1000s of voice talent who are streaming out of every nook and cranny to set up shop on the web?

 

To say people are fickle and forgetful is probably not accurate since they actually tend to  be loyal to those they’ve used before by throwing more work their way. How do I break in and convince them that they should pick me as a relative newcomer?

 

What is my competitive advantage? I think it’s my ability to sightread long passages and speak with proper inflection. I want to target narrations and audiobooks….Perhaps my next intermediate goal would be to re-do my audiobook demos.

 

 

Today’s Take-Aways:

1) While you need to have the big picture in mind, your progress will be incremental and sometimes may even seem non-existent. Think of the stories in this post and remind yourself that perseverance pays off!

 

2) Do something every day toward your goals, no matter how small.

 

3) Spend some time in quiet reflection to assess your skills, interests, and passions and how they might help move you forward toward your dream life.

 

4) Give up your need for control. Actually, very little in our lives is totally under our control. If you keep the end result in mind while you continue taking steps, the Universe will open pathways and create possibilities that you never even considered.

TDIMH — Going Fast in the Wrong Direction

This Date in My History — Mon., 6/3/02 10:46PM on my sofa and melting

If it’s true that the harder I work, the luckier I am — which is a quote from either Edison or Jefferson, but definitely on one of my mail-outs — then I should be rolling in v-o gigs.

 

I sent half a dozen emails yesterday to companies I found at ozonline.tv, which has a directory of all sorts of creative companies in GA. The depressing and overwhelming thing is that the list has tons of companies I haven’t heard of and therefore aren’t in my database. So who are these 350 people in my database? Am I sending all my expensive mail-outs to the wrong people?

 

I know that I created my database the wrong way. I gathered names from the GA Business Directory and the Atlanta Business Chronicle Book of Lists and created a database without, as they say in marketing circles, qualifying my prospects. I could have good companies with the wrong contact name, companies who would never hire voice talent, and good potential clients all mixed together.

 

I haven’t had a lot of time to make phone calls while at work, and response to my emails has been limited in the past. I was pleased to get a response tonight to one of my queries yesterday, and the person said they use voice talent and to send my stuff. I wish I could prepare a media kit in less time, but I practically have to print everything new.

 

It bugs me sometimes (like tonight) to be working hard in my room and hear Drew downstairs laughing at the TV. I’m jealous that he has time to relax and even more jealous that he has steady business from the newspaper for photography without ever having to work for it. He said one day he’d like to do something with photography, and I suggested that he approach the local newspaper with the idea to be a stringer. He did, and they’ve been calling him ever since.

 

I, on the other hand, have spent countless hours and 1000s and 1000s of hours [sic -- I must have meant "dollars"] trying to market myself and get my big break, and for what? This year, I’ve made $925, which is more than the preceding years put together.

 

I vowed to celebrate every step I take toward my goals, but, right now, I feel overwhelmed, tired, grumpy, and somewhat depressed because I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

 

Of course, some of my negative feelings could be caused by being hot. The temp today was in the 90s, and the A/C hasn’t been able to keep up.

 

 

Today’s Take-aways:

1)  You need to create and maintain a great contact database for your marketing efforts. In addition to contact info, I record notes about conversations, especially the personal data I learn about my contact, and actions taken like demo submissions Before entering any information in your database, you will want to be sure that the person or company actually needs your services and that this person is the one who would make the decision to choose you. Otherwise, you could spend valuable time and money marketing to people who would never hire you.

 

2)  Balance between business activities and the rest of your life is critical! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your business won’t be, either. Obviously, balance is a bit more difficult to achieve if you are starting your business in the evenings and weekends after full-time job and even more complicated by your family’s schedule. Time management is your friend! Schedule time for both your business and family activities so that you can move forward on your goals without feeling like you are forsaking your family to do it.

 

3)  Jealousy is a self-defeating emotion that keeps you from reaching your destiny. We need to learn to be happy with who we are and where we are in order to get where we want to go.

 

4)  When you feel grumpy and start complaining about everything that’s wrong, try instead to make a gratitude list of all that’s RIGHT in your life. Not only will you instantly feel better, but your gratitude is the key to receiving more for which you can be grateful!

 

 

Photo:  iStockPhoto/PhilHillPhotography

 

May 2013 Audiobook Releases

Between moving my blog platform from Movable Type to WordPress, a wonderful beach vacation with Drew and Yogi, and my on-going audiobook narration projects, May quickly evaporated and has now turned into June.

 

While this WordPress blog now has a nifty new Yearly Archives index, many things about the blog still don’t work, especially links within articles. Thanks for your patience as I continue to fix the previous article links. I also hadn’t posted new articles during the conversion, which, of course, took far longer than I expected! I will post a new article after this update on my recent audiobooks.

 

Divas and Dead Rebels by Virginia Brown

Book 4 in the best-selling Dixie Divas Cozy Mystery series

 

Trinket and her pals are, once again, caught in the middle of a murder scene. What Trinket thought was an untidy pile of clothing tumbling out of Bitty’s sons’ dorm room closet turned out to be a professor with whom Bitty had just quarreled that very morning. At 13 hours, this book is the perfect, light-hearted, fun companion to take to the pool or beach!

 

I love narrating this series! The Divas are like old friends, and the banter between Bitty and Trinket makes me laugh out loud! They remind me of Blanche Devereaux and Dorothy Sbornak on the TV show The Golden Girls.

 

You might think this type of book wouldn’t require preparatory research, but it does. In addition to looking up pronunciations for places mentioned in the book, I had to learn the Ole Miss Hotty Toddy cheer. I didn’t go to a college with a football team, but as an audiobook narrator, I was able to pretend I was a fervent football fan and cheering with the best of them!

 

Available at Audible   Amazon   iTunes

 

 

Indispensable Party by Melissa F. Miller

Book 4 in the Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller series

 

In the name of science, an international team of researchers creates a deadly virus capable of killing untold millions. While the U.S. government quietly stockpiles a vaccine, a militaristic group of doomsday preppers begins to mobilize in response to the economic collapse they’re convinced is coming.

 

Then the Doomsday virus is stolen, and a researcher is murdered. Attorney Sasha McCandless and her boyfriend Leo Connelly, who is now chief of security at the pharmaceutical firm making the vaccine, are in the middle of the action and racing against time to find the missing virus before it is unleashed on the world.

 

This audiobook can give you nightmares! As usual, Miller wrote a fast-paced book that reads like a movie script, with scenes primarily in Washington, DC and Pennsylvania.

 

While I was on vacation, I read the text version of Dan Brown’s latest thriller Inferno. Even if I didn’t narrate Melissa Miller’s books, I must tell you that her plot and action seem much more realistic and likely to happen than did Brown’s. I look forward to the day when her name and work is as well-known as his!

 

 

Available at Audible   Amazon   iTunes

March 2013 Audiobook Releases

Before April turns into May, I wanted to update you about my 2 audiobooks that were released in March.

Lizzie and the Guernsey Gang by April W. Gardner
Lizzie Browning loves nothing more than her tiny, island-home of Guernsey, but when German bombs drop on her crystal beach, her peaceful world explodes. For months, the big war in Europe has been nothing more than stories in the paper, but as the enemy takes over Guernsey, the war rushes to her doorstep. For Lizzie, younger brother Andre, and cousin James, the time to escape is now, and they know just how to do it.

This wonderful YA book was a challenge to narrate as almost all of the characters are British children. Before I started my pre-read and research phase, I confess that I didn’t even know where Guernsey was. I also felt a bit of trepidation in voicing the book because I haven’t been a young girl in a long time, and I’ve never been British. It might seem strange that I was the one chosen to narrate the book.

As an aside, several months before I was contracted for Lizzie, a well-known producer told me that I have an earnestness to my sound that would work well with YA and faith-based titles. Lizzie is both of those things.

The true Guernsey accent is difficult to achieve, especially with limited preparation time. However, the producer and I felt that some sort of passable British accent was needed to truly convey the author’s intent. It wouldn’t sound right to have an American accent speaking to her “mum” or using some of the other British-isms in the book. Since the book was written in first person, the narration had to be British as well.

Perhaps it was my earnestness rather than an authentic accent which made Lizzie’s producer choose me for this project. Perhaps it was because the author also lives in Georgia as I do. Whatever the reason that I was chosen, I wanted to the best possible job on it, as I do with all my audiobooks.

As part of my preparation, I listened to the delightful audiobook The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society . Five fabulous narrators told the fictional story, which was a series of letters between a London writer and Guernsey residents in post-War 1946. This story helped me get the lyricism and rhythm of the British speech patterns implanted in my mind. Through the incidents portrayed in this book and my additional research, I better understood the fear and uncertainty of the characters in my book.

Recording the book was a very difficult experience that required many stops and starts, but I’m proud of the outcome. The book may have some inconsistencies, and maybe even the casual listener would discern that I’m not British. Still, I told a good story.

I am honored to bring this story to audio.

 

Available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes

 

Irretrievably Broken by Melissa F. Miller

Book 3 in the Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller series

One of the partners at the venerable Pittsburg law firm of Prescott & Talbott has been murdered, and her estranged husband is accused of the crime. A few days later, a second female partner is murdered; her husband is also accused.

Although former Prescott lawyer Sasha McCandless doesn’t have experience in criminal defense, she agrees to defend both men as a favor to the firm. The cases take her away from her boyfriend Leo Connelly. Even worse, she doesn’t know that the killer is on a vendetta about a past case that went wrong, and one more lawyer is on his list.

I love narrating this well-written series! Sasha McCandless is a physically and mentally strong person, and we see the character grow as the series progresses.

In addition, the legal wrangling is always extremely interesting. I research the legal rules and citations so that Sasha can say them correctly and talk intelligently about them. In this book, a dramatic development toward the end had me asking the author about the legalities of the resolution. While I won’t reveal the scene or tell you what she said, let me just say that Melissa Miller certainly is adept at making the reader feel something in her page-turning mysteries!

Sasha fans will be delighted to know that I have finished narrating book #4, Indispensable Party, and expect it to be released in May.

Available at Amazon, Audible, and iTunes

 

TDIMH — Make time to take action on your dreams

This Date in My History — Thursday, March 14, 2002  10:25pm
On Tuesday, I decided to request AWS (alternate work schedule) at work and be off the 2nd Wed. of the pay period. I will use those days off to visit recording studios, ad agencies, etc. to drop off my demo and a promo item. If I don’t do in-person visits, I can always use the time to make phone calls, work on my web site, etc.

 

My boss approved it yesterday, so I’ll start this new schedule the week after next. I know it will be hard to get accustomed to working the extra hour, but I think the pay-off will be worth it.

 

Today’s Take-aways:
1) Even if you have a full-time job, you still can structure your time so that you can take action on your dreams. Ask whether your employer will allow you to change your schedule so that you can get a day off every week or two. Some schedules you could consider:

 

* Over the course of 2 weeks, work 9 hours a day for 8 days, 8 hours a day for 1 day, and have a day off.

I worked this schedule for the last 9 years of my career in the federal government. I referred to my Wednesdays off as “wonderful Wednesdays”. I always said that being off on Wednesday was like being on vacation in a foreign country since most people are at work that day. Even though I am now a full-time voiceover talent and audiobook narrator, I still schedule my Wednesdays off whenever possible.

 

* Over the course of 2 weeks, work 8 10-hour days and have 2 days off.

 

* Work a split shift of time in the mornings and evenings with the middle of the day free.


2) Your experiences will follow your expectation. If you say things like “I know it will be hard to get accustomed to working the extra hour”, it WILL be hard. If you say “It’s just as easy to work 9 hours a day as 8″, it WILL be easy.

 

3) Set the intention for the usage of your newly-found free time. Follow through with that intention, and watch your dream take flight!

 

As it turns out, I rarely did in-person visits on my Wednesdays off, but I did LOTS of other marketing activities on those days. I also scheduled voiceover jobs for my wonderful Wednesdays. I told clients that the other weekdays were “booked”, which, of course they were….just not to voiceover clients!

 

Photo:  iStockPhoto/donskarpo

TDIMH -- Make time to take action on your dreams

This Date in My History -- Thursday, March 14, 2002  10:25pm

On Tuesday, I decided to request AWS (alternate work schedule) at work and be off the 2nd Wed. of the pay period. I will use those days off to visit recording studios, ad agencies, etc. to drop off my demo and a promo item. If I don't do in-person visits, I can always use the time to make phone calls, work on my web site, etc.
My boss approved it yesterday, so I'll start this new schedule the week after next. I know it will be hard to get accustomed to working the extra hour, but I think the pay-off will be worth it.

Today's Take-aways:
1) Even if you have a full-time job, you still can structure your time so that you can take action on your dreams. Ask whether your employer will allow you to change your schedule so that you can get a day off every week or two. Some schedules you could consider:
Over the course of 2 weeks, work 9 hours a day for 8 days, 8 hours a day for 1 day, and have a day off.

I worked this schedule for the last 9 years of my career in the federal government. I referred to my Wednesdays off as "wonderful Wednesdays". I always said that being off on Wednesday was like being on vacation in a foreign country since most people are at work that day. 
Even though I am now a full-time voiceover talent and audiobook narrator, I still schedule my Wednesdays off whenever possible. 

Over the course of 2 weeks, work 8 10-hour days and have 2 days off.
Work a split shift of time in the mornings and evenings with the middle of the day free.
2) Your experiences will follow your expectation. If you say things like "I know it will be hard to get accustomed to working the extra hour", it WILL be hard. If you say "It's just as easy to work 9 hours a day as 8", it WILL be easy.
3) Set the intention for the usage of your newly-found free time. Follow through with that intention, and watch your dream take flight!

As it turns out, I rarely did in-person visits on my Wednesdays off, but I did LOTS of other marketing activities on those days. I also scheduled voiceover jobs for my wonderful Wednesdays. I told clients that the other weekdays were "booked", which, of course they were....just not to voiceover clients!

Photo:  iStockPhoto/donskarpo