Ready. Aim. Publish.
A back to back monthly post, I did it! I did a few other things as well. Hence the title of this post. My most recent audiobook, Women with ADHD: A Holistic, Practical, and Actionable Approach to Embracing Your Uniquely Spectacular Brain, by Kayla Farr, is now live on Audible/Amazon. A retail sample sample can also be found over on my demos page. You can also find the story of my collaboration on with the author on LinkedIn, Where I have also made a page that I manage for this site and business.
I am hoping, nay, manifesting for a better, stronger, and more successful CACOVO in the near future and ever forth from there. There’s much still to do to assure that, but I want to quickly check in on what’s been done thus far since my last post. Take a moment to reflect and plan what needs to be done.
There is all that I mentioned above, the completed and live audiobook, the Social Media marketing and page building. I have put out approximately, 18-20 auditions between voices.com, Backstage.com, and ACX. I have reached out to a local talent agent to determine what their requisites are for taking on new clients (though I have not heard back). Finally, I have taken another step outside my comfort zone and reached out to extended family to offer my services for a book they’re writing; putting this operation on their radar, which I was not planning to do. However, I am trying to take guidance and put aside anxieties about asking for help. As for how this fits with the goals I templated last post, which as a reminder are:
1.) Be hired for and produce one commercial VO work by the end of Q2. Part of this aim will mean submitting two to three auditions/week.
2.) Post blogs more regularly. Meaning, post one blog every month to two months.
3.) Receive one positive review on my published work(s) by the end of Q3 and be able to start an accolades section on this site.
My efforts as stated above are indeed inline with my first aim. This post here stands as testament thus far of the second aim being met. As for aim three, there is a positive review already on the audiobook recently published, and for this I am grateful. It does not comment on my performance specifically, and so I will not seek to quote the reviewer, and consequently I will not consider this aim met just yet. At face value it would appear only 30% of my goals are met. However, given the ongoing efforts being made to reach the other two, I cannot calculate where that puts them, but I know I am doing better than at these achieving these aims than 30%. That said, given my own neuro-spicy brain, 30% is also still a big win.
What is next is to maintain my current efforts for reaching my first goal. Setting a reminder for next month’s post, and seeing if that’s an effective method. As for the accolades section, there isn’t too much I can do to force that except to keep working on my first goal, my marketing skills, and building the confidence to ask for a personal review.
With bigger wins still on my horizon I want to draw attention, before I close out this post, to some numbers that have been on my mind. There is data out there that states that a voice actor should be submitting 10 - 12 auditions a day if they are to see success in winning any. Given the numbers I presented earlier, I am clearly not meeting that mark, I have also sought advice from the YouTube channel A VO’s Journey and my fellow VO artists posts on LinkedIn. Who advise that although winning auditions is something of a numbers game, what matters more is the bonds and the connections you build when you collaborate. Advice I was taking to the heart before I even heard it. But I wanted to share here for those who may read this and wonder how easy or hard it is to find work in this field. It is not gruesome, but it is definitely not easy. I believe I have stated in several posts thus far that much of this journey has required me to step outside my comfort zone, time and time again. What ease this journey lacks, it makes up for in the wisdom it gives, and the connection it brings.