Thinking back over podcasts and webinars I have tuned in to (and tuned out of) recently, I realise that in almost every case (though there are a few notable exceptions) the problem is that 'the host' is more interested in themselves than in their guests and spends too much time talking about their own agenda, even sometimes spending considerable time talking about their own careers, what they have achieved, as though they're actually in competition with their guests rather than being there to highlight their guest and their area of expertise. This leaves their poor guests - who are generally interesting people with something to say (and who are the reason that I,  and assume most of the listeners have tuned in) sitting there like lemons wondering why they have been invited!

This lightbulb moment happened recently as I listened to a fascinating podcast about audiobooks. The hosts were both voice actors - and both record audiobooks - yet throughout this long round table discussion with several luminaries of the audiobook world, narrators, coaches and producers - the hosts never once mentioned themselves, what they were doing or even what their connection was the industry.  They asked sensible and professional questions of those round the table, encouraged them without leading them and gave each of them a voice is what became a lively and varied discussion resulting in a thoroughly satisfactory and informative broadcast.

Only at the end of a podcast lasting for over an hour, did I find out that those doing the interview were actually in the same business as those they were interviewing.  Their names are Sean Daeley and Paul Stefano and their podcast series, about all things voiceover and audio related,  a series which I thoroughly recommend, is  called 'The VO Meter - Measuring your Voiceover Progress' 

Happy Listening!​

This is one of the best podcasts I have ever heard about audiobooks. Hosted by The VO Meter and progressing voice actors, Paul Stefano and Sean Daeley. 

If you're already a narrator - or would like to be, if you're already working on ACX and wondering how to make it work more successfully, if you're looking for a coach to work on audiobooks with you or if you're thinking of dipping your toe into the water, then this is something you need to listen to. 

It takes a while to get going, but has so many insights as to how things work in the US - where it seems that producers and publishers are much more open to being approached directly - and how narrators are increasingly taking control and creating their own opportunities. 

The discussion is between Andi Arndt, Scott Brick, Steven J Cohen, Sean Pratt and Debra Deyan.  I can't recommend it highly enough:  the interviewer asks the right questions of the right people and leaves them to answer in detail, rather than jumping in and taking over. This 'taking over' happens all too often in podcasts and webinars which many interviewers seem to think is about them rather than the people they're talking to. Those are the folk the listener is really interested in. 
 
Just click the link HERE and settle down for a fascinating discussion.  (NB. You might want to fast forward to around 17 minutes to get to the nitty-gritty.) 

I came across an article in The Independent - and it explains exactly why I love narrating (and listening) to audiobooks.

I actually narrate more than I listen ... I am very picky when it comes to listening and hypercritical - but when I love a narrator's voice and what he or she brings to a book - then I will look for other works they've read and the narrator often leads me to books that I would never have previously considered.  

Anyway back to the article ... Theatre of the Mind! Wow. 

Click on this link to read it 

February 2018 Update
 
Crikey it’s been cold here in Derbyshire! We’ve been in the grip of ‘The Beast from the East’ and storm Emma – and have had snow! Proper snow and -10C temperatures if you count in the wind chill factor.  Fortunately, I have heat and a cosy and toasty recording space.

​Here’s my latest news:

Published in February:

Fern Britton’s latest novel, ‘Coming Home’ – reached no 5 in the Sunday Times Best Seller list within four days of being published. The audiobook, read by me and produced in-house by the lovely folk at White House Sound for Harper Collins UK is now available on Audible.
​

Coming Soon: 
Jung’s Psychology – An Introduction’ by Freda Fordham recorded for Ukemi Audiobooks. Something of a classic this one!

‘The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II’ by Karen Dolby recorded for W F Howes Ltd

In the Studio:
‘The Allotment Girls’ by Kate Thompson is a WW2 novel woven around the lives of the extraordinary women who worked at the iconic Bryant and May match factory in London’s East End. In production for Lamplight Audiobooks
 

VOICE actors, actors - we appear to be so vulnerable to being scammed - perhaps we're just too trusting - or perhaps it's just that we're seen as easy targets. There are lots and lots of scammers in our industry from people offering voice reels that fail to come up to the mark, to people charging extortionate membership and management fees on Pay to Play sites, to people posing a voice and acting agents - and there's Sun King Media who have been targeting actors and voice actors mercilessly for many years.

This organisation has cropped up in various guises - and they're still at it - I recently saw them advertising jobs for Audiobook Narrators recently on LinkedIn - of course they were calling themselves something different, but a little digging revealed it was good old Sun King. And it sounded very appealing ... audiobook narration at a PFH rate of £300 - in the UK?  The old adage holds true - it it sounds too good to be true - it probably is!

Reporter Simon Hare of BBC One's Inside Out programme has Sun King Media in their sights ... and his report airs this coming Monday on Inside Out on BBC One at 7.30pm across the Midlands and on BBC One HD - also available on BBC iplayer for thirty days. A must watch (and a warning) to every voice actor, actor, and voice artist in the UK. Watch and Learn.

You can find out more here.  HERE

​January 2018 Update
 
The first crocuses are just poking their heads bravely through the mud after an incredibly wet January here in the UK. We have had snow too – just a sprinkling. Freddy the pup loved it!  Some days it feels as though Spring is in the air – at other times, it’s definitely winter, but the days are lengthening which always lifts my heart a little.

December was quiet … January less so … and February is picking up nicely.
 
Recently published:
‘Christmas with the Bomb Girls’ by Rosie Styles recorded for Lamplight/Whole Story Audiobooks. A rollicking good war time romance set in a Lancashire munitions factory of Lancashire.

In production:
‘Jung’s Psychology – An Introduction’ by Freda Fordham recorded for Ukemi Audiobooks. Something of a classic this one!

Prepping:
I am delighted to have been chosen to narrate Fern Britton’s most recent novel, ‘Coming Home’  to be recorded early in February at White House Sound’s Studios in Leicestershire for Harper Collins UK
 
APAC 2018 is only four months away … my tickets are booked and I am looking forward to connecting with friends and colleagues in New York later in the year.
 
Helen.

This quote cropped up in an audiobook I am narrating - and though the lines were written by Jung (who died in 1961) so obviously not with today in mind, the words seem to me to be so relevant today that I wanted to share it.

It struck me as heartbreaking that we don't seem to have progressed far beyond this point some fifty years later. The majority of us are still blundering around in our lives looking for something that we hope will fix our feeling of being 'slightly lost'.  Literature, theatre, music, the arts can enrich us and might even reveal some of the answers - so keep on reading books - and listening to them for that matter - who knows what you might discover? 

Got a burning question? Why not post it on Social Media - ask the advice of your peers - seems like a great idea, particularly in a 'professional group'  which is full of 'professionals' one assumes. 

But hang on a minute - we all know deep down that not all the 'facts' shared on Social Media are well researched, accurate or appropriate ... but when we're looking for answers it's almost as though we throw caution to the wind and believe whatever we read.  It's on the internet ... therefore it must be true. One only has to look at all the hoax posts that are continually re-posted to know that the majority of people don't ever check the facts or look beyond the headlines.

Read it all and at best you'll end up confused - just a quick glance at the advice on eating a healthy diet and you'll see confusion at its most chaotic. There is just so much information that is downright misleading and inaccurate. There are folk who have little knowledge and even less experience blithely posting their two penn'orth - not deliberately to mislead - but often because they're trying to sell something and because on Facebook or Twitter everyone can be 'an expert' - though in actual fact, a lot of the information posted is just plain wrong. If you're looking for answers - don't accept what's posted on social media at face value, you need to do a more research - if someone offers advice, look at their profile, are they qualified to give an opinion, what is their experience? There are all kinds of people with all levels of experience selling their services, offering advice and support.

I have noticed that certainly in the field of VO, there are literally hundreds of people offering technical and performance related advice - and even 'coaching' - and of course some of them have a lifetime of experience, and are truly expert ... but this doesn't apply across the board. Some are more expert than others. I spotted some audiobook advice posted online the other day, by someone, who a little research revealed, had recorded three whole audiobooks ... not sure they were really qualified to offer their 'expert' advice.

You know you owe it to yourself to check out the accuracy and validity of advice online.  The person posting may have have vast knowledge and experience and may truly be an expert in their particular field ... or maybe not!   Buyer beware!

​

An extensively researched, beautifully written historical journey of the life of short-sighted shy ten year old Anne - grand-daughter of Charles 11, daughter of the Catholic King James 11, who eventually came to the throne after succeeding William and Mary and whose reign brought to an end the Stuart dynasty. The book contains many of Anne's actual letters to her friends, her family - and most importantly to God giving us an insight into her thoughts and hidden feelings.

My only gripe is that the publishers have chosen an italicised script font for all of the letters and diary entries which is incredibly difficult to read.

Despite all the horrors of 2017 political and social,  professionally, 2017 was pretty good to me - and I am extremely grateful for that. 

• The year's undoubted highlight was attending The  APA (The Audio Publisher's Association) Conference in NYC in May. It was such a pleasure to meet so many colleagues and friends from the US, many of whom I have collaborated with on various projects over the past five years and to make many new friends from the Audiobook community. It was great to put names to faces and to catch up with the fellow Brits who were there, and to be inspired by some amazing narrators and performers at Johnny Heller's 4th Splendiferous Workshop. Of course APAC is about networking too and I met many audiobook producers and directors, some of whom I have subsequently worked with or have joined their roster of narrators. APAC (and New York itself) were extraordinary and I shall be returning in May this year - I have already booked my conference tickets, flight and hotel and look forward to making more friends and gaining more knowledge and inspiration later in the year.
  
  
• Alongside the jaunt to the US,  I also attended  The Voice Over Network Audiobook Weekend in London in early December, taking another opportunity to meet colleagues and to make new friends – as well as working in depth with Sean Pratt and Johnny Heller.  I look forward to being my continued involvement with VON over the coming year.
  
  
• Alongside all this gadding about, I have also been busy recording audiobooks for many major publishing houses and producers in the US and UK including Harper Audio, Audible US, Avon, BeeAudio, Clipper Audio, Lamplight, Quercus Publications, Rosa, Whole Story Audio, W F Howes Ltd., and Blackstone Audio – and received glowing reviews for ‘An Affair with a Notorious Heiress’ by Lorraine Heath recorded for Harper Audio  and   ‘Lady Osbaldestone’s Christmas Goose’ by Stephanie Laurens, produced by Blackstone Audio in Audiofile Magazine.

  

• Another memorable moment from 2017 was being interviewed for the Talking Audiobooks Podcast by Casey Trowbridge. If you missed it, or want to listen again, the link to the You Tube version is HERE

 
Thanks to everyone, producers, publishers, colleagues, coaches, friends - and readers of these blog pages - who helped to make 2017 so memorable.
 
I wish you all a productive, creative and very happy year in 2018. 

I hate New Year's Resolutions. They always feel like a millstone round my neck. It's almost as if the fear of not succeeding, stops me from even starting. No matter whether its a personal NYR  or a business related one, I rarely achieve the results I am hoping for - probably because I set the bar too high, or look at the end goal rather than the steps needed to get there. 

The only NYR that I have ever succeeded with is stopping smoking. I kicked that habit way back. What was different about that one? How did I make that NYR work, when so many before and since have failed? .