Narrating The Rose Guardian

I recently exchanged emails with Maria Campos, the talented voice-over artist I commissioned to narrate my magic realism novel, The Rose Guardian. She did such a remarkable job, I thought it would be interesting to introduce her to my community of readers and followers, as well as offer some insight into the world of voice acting.

Lorina: This may be a commonly asked and obvious question, but whatever motivated you to get into voice acting?

Maria: Besides my general love for animation and gaming, I’ve often been told growing up that I had a unique voice. The combo of that plus the realization that providing voices for media I like was an actual job inspired me to pursue it!

Lorina: Were there courses you took, and if so, what was involved in that process?

Maria: I would say my earliest pursuits of voice-over started in college as I became more immersed in the theater scene of my college and its respective city. In the last couple years of my undergrad, I reached out to voice actors (either via email or at conventions) to ask what advice they had regarding the pursuit of voice-over. A couple echoed the suggestion to take improv classes. So, for a few years I took courses and even performed at the theaters I studied at! I’ve also taken a couple of voice-over courses at local recording studios — one focused on advertisements (as that studio specialized in commercials) and one focused on dubbing (as that studio focused on anime localization). A classmate at the latter studio recommended an online school catering to voice-over artists, and since Covid my training has been almost exclusively online. I continue to take the occasional course or workshop throughout the year.

Most courses/workshops involve script reads in which the teacher takes turns having a student read a script. The teacher then gives feedback and redirection, and the student goes at it again. Occasionally, students provide feedback and redirection to one another. Depending on the course, there’s also been a lecture element where the teacher provides industry insight or vocal exercises.

Lorina: What sort of voiceover work do you do?

Maria: As a freelance voice-over artist, I’ve dabbled in a variety of projects. Besides the odd commission for an indie game or private project, most of my work has been in audio dramas and audiobooks. Of those audiobooks, most are under the romance genre. Given the more explicit nature of many of those works, I narrate romance titles under a different alias. Audible is neat that way, in that when you record an audiobook you can tell the site to which alias to credit the audiobook.

Lorina: When approached to undertake a contract, what criteria do you use in assessing whether it’s a project with which you want to be involved? Is it a purely financial consideration? Or is there some weight given to the artistic quality of a piece? Or is it purely for the fun of the subject and the experience?

Maria: It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Over time, I’ve learned to be wary of auditions that list the title as both Royalty Share and paid. I find when I audition for those titles and specify I would prefer a paid contract, the author will then claim that they can’t afford to pay the narrator. In essence, this is a ploy for authors to get more auditions, then shop for the cheapest voice. It looks bad, and wastes voice talent’s time when they believe the listing to be true when it says it will pay.

While I generally focus on auditions that are listed as strictly paid, I consider Royalty Share titles if:

1. the premise interests me and
2. the length of the title is on the shorter side, as I feel my time is justified. Royalty Shares are always a gamble — you never know how well the title will sell. But if the premise interests me and I have fun with it, I see it as worth the gamble and a good way to keep my instrument trained, so to speak.

Lorina: How do you decide the character and timbre of your voice when narrating an individual in a work of fiction?

Maria: In being asked this, I realize it’s a bit subconscious… but I tend to have a few stock characters in my pocket that I pull upon based on the age and energy of the character. For example, I have a few voices that I generally give younger characters and other voices I use for older ones. If the text specifies the type of voice, that helps influence the direction to go. I tend to try and give the main character a voice similar to my own, though, as it’s the voice I’ll be using the most and narrating with!

Lorina: Tell me about the process of mastering an audiobook after you have the raw files complete.

Maria: Mastering an audiobook is a lot longer than most people think, as I discovered myself. A single finished hour of an audiobook takes several hours to produce. Besides setting up your booth and equipment to record, it entails:

• The initial recording
• Listening back and editing that initial recording
• Going back to fix errors, or correct reads that felt off
• Going back again to relisten and edit the audio file
• Sometimes — though rarely — sounds or effects may be added
• Then comes rendering the audio file so that the audio is a consistent volume throughout (ensuring quiet parts aren’t too quiet, and louder parts don’t blast the speakers). Thankfully, the site Audible narrators use to upload our files has a tool to help keep things consistent. The tool tells us if audio files have an appropriate balance vs if they need volume adjustment.

Lorina: Do you ever get frustrated with a piece you’re narrating? And if so, what causes that, and how do you work around that?

Maria: In narrating romance novels, there have been a few times I’ve admittedly been a bit irritated when the audition script failed to suggest how explicit the text would get. Or — whether romance or other genres — there are also times the audition script failed to communicate how dark and difficult the subject matter would be. Sometimes authors give a heads-up, but not always.

Frankly, if I ever feel the need to, I find venting to friends is enough to help me keep going. And more often than not the scenes in question are brief and done with soon enough.

Lorina: Is voice acting your primary source of income, or is this a supplement to what you do to keep house and board? If it’s the latter, how do you manage to fit in the hours it takes to produce a piece?

Maria: I wish it were! I hope someday I can sustain myself off voice-over alone. But I think I have a long way to go until then. For now, it’s a supplement. Though each year I slowly but steadily find more work.

Some days, I will record or edit after getting home from my day job. There are also some days of the week I don’t work my day job, so those days are nice in that I can focus on my voice-over work.

Lorina: Setting up a production studio can be tricky. How did you go about setting up yours?

Maria: In the early days, I had a USB mic and recorded somewhere in my home that had the least echo. It was before I booked any work, but it was a time to practice the trade, take classes, etc.

Over time, I slowly but steadily built my current studio setup: Upon having the money to do so, I made a few separate orders for acoustic foam to line my recording space with. Today it looks well-lined. But it took a good couple years to reach that point!

After taking a couple classes and workshops with my USB mic, a teacher recommended the current mic I now use – an MXL 990 Condenser Microphone. When I bought the mic, I also got the audio interface I needed for it.

So, in a nutshell, it was the accumulation of a couple years’ effort, plus the advice of trusted peers and teachers.

Lorina: And lastly, the required question: what advice would you give to anyone thinking of getting into voice acting?

Maria: The advice I often got when I asked others and that I’ll echo:

You need to be able to handle rejection. So much of voice acting feels like you’re throwing audition after audition at a wall until one of them sticks. And it takes a LOT of throws until one sticks. Even still, I’ve been cast for projects that end up never happening, which can be disheartening.

Also: With the ease nowadays to record from home, I’ve the feeling there are plenty of folks out there who get their feet wet in voice acting, realize how grueling it can be, and don’t stick it out for long. Some folks will simply throw in the towel. For others, it ends up being a hobby and can still be lots of fun! But regardless, many starting off may not know what they’re getting themselves in to. I’d recommend to anyone entering the field not to invest too much all at once. As I noted earlier, it took me years for my current recording booth to become what it is today. Don’t trick yourself into thinking you just need expensive equipment to make it. You need the right degree of professionalism and talent (and of course, luck) to ‘make it’. You can have the best mic in the world and even be a decent actor, but if you don’t have a decent recording environment, it doesn’t matter how much money you spent if a project can’t use your recordings.

And in my opinion, it stands out when you have training — whether it’s specifically voice-over training or just general theater training. You don’t have to be born an actor, acting is a skill for which you can train. And if this is something you want to pursue seriously (whether as a job or just a hobby about which you’re passionate), training can go a long way.

And lastly, don’t undersell yourself. It pains me to see how many freelance voice-over artists undersell themselves, and in doing so it leads to deflation in regards to pay in the industry. It tells clients that the craft is worth less than it is, and it hurts not just you but other voice artists as well. By all means if there’s a fan project out there you’re willing to volunteer for, go for it and have fun! But if you’re going to charge people, don’t undersell yourself and the rest of the VO community. I recommend the following sites to determine what to charge for freelance work:

https://globalvoiceacademy.com/gvaa-rate-guide-2/

https://www.voices.com/rates

Where to find Maria Campos

You can find Maria Campos through ACX, X, Voices.com, Casting Call Club, Voice 123, and LinkedIn.

Where to find The Rose Guardian

The Rose Guardian is available in English in trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook directly through this website, as well as your favourite online seller worldwide. You can also special order The Rose Guardian from your favourite bricks and mortar stores, or online bookseller or library system.