A VO's Journey: Voiceover and more voice over

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Academy Voices has a brand-new website, and we went live on launch day to walk through it. Gabby and Angela joined me to talk about what changed for narrators and authors, why you need to make a new account, what happened to auditions from the old site, and the new tools. We also get honest about how much work is still going on behind the scenes.
(00:00) Launch day. The new site went up early this morning and people have been moving over all day. Gabby is moving about 200 projects across by hand.
(02:05) Try the tools. For launch day every member gets a free hour of the proofing tool and one free script prep to test them.
(02:38) Moving over. Everyone links their account a little differently depending on how they pay or where they came from. It only happens once.
(03:47) Set up your profile. Headshot, at least one demo, your bio. Then it comes to me to approve. Profiles that aren't finished don't show up to authors.
(05:30) What happened to the old auditions? Nothing is lost. Those projects are still being cast, and once they are you'll get a contract through the new site.
(07:00) Make a brand-new account. Don't try to log in with your old details. Your membership links automatically, and we can't send you a contract until you're on the new site.
(10:00) Why we rebuilt it. Over 2,000 audio files sitting in a Dropbox, auditions posted in a comment section, and contracts sent by hand.
(10:55) Your profile page builds itself once you're approved.
(11:50) For authors. A whole launch kit to help them sell their audiobook, from emails to a launch calendar.
(12:50) The tools bundle. Proofing hours and script preps come together with social post generation. Pay monthly or yearly, and top up if you need more.
(14:05) The audio checker. It's included for everyone. It checks your file against the standards and fixes what it can, and if your noise floor is too high it sends the file back to you.
(16:30) Sales and statements. A sales overview, plus monthly statements you can download, updated about three times a month as the reports come in.
(18:00) Why royalty reports run two to three months behind, and why every platform pays on a different schedule.
(19:30) What we're seeing on ACX lately, including the spam narrators are getting, and why every narrator on Academy Voices is checked by a human.
(24:13) Due dates. The system sets them automatically, and you can send the contract back and ask for more time.
(26:48) What's next. A big push to get authors to know we exist. The front page now shows a running count of the books we've published this year.
(31:23) The new logo, and yes, the moose.
(34:48) A shareable Academy Voices logo for your website is on the list.
(37:03) Coming soon: a blog post for each audiobook, and a newsletter.
(39:38) Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October.
(41:33) The old site is closed to everyone but the team.
(45:32) If you're not a member right now but you narrated books with us, you can still log in and see your royalties.
(48:57) Linking your account. PayPal links by hand on our side. If you pay through Stripe, sign up with the same name and email.
Academy Voices is $9 a month or $97 for the year. https://academyvoices.com
Our live classes are open to anyone during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October. https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class-week-october-2026?src=podcast
When you're ready to train with us, here's VO Journey Academy. https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast
Every episode of the podcast is at https://www.avosjourney.com/podcast/
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When a book drops the "he said" and "she said", you can lose track of who's talking, and so can your listener. In this episode I go through how I prep a scene like that and how to make each character easy to follow without doing big voices. Then the two mistakes I hear most.
(01:18) The problem. Some authors leave out the dialogue tags, sometimes on purpose. As the narrator you still have to know who's speaking, and it gets harder when there are more than two people in the scene.
(03:09) Prep first. At the very least, read the chapter before you narrate it. Then mark the speakers, one highlighter colour per character, so you can see who's talking at a glance while you record. If you've done the prep and you're still not sure, ask the author. They'll be glad you did.
(06:40) Your listener doesn't know either. Give each character a small, consistent difference in pitch, pace or attitude rather than a big voice, and anchor it on the first line they speak.
(08:04) Reference files. I record a few lines of each character, or write notes on them, so I can listen back and find the voice again when they come back into the story.
(08:46) The first common mistake is characters drifting into sounding the same, especially late in a scene. Check yourself against your reference files. Stop and re-listen when you need to.
(11:00) The second is overacting to make up for it. Extreme pitch turns a real person into a caricature. Small touches do more, like a little more breath for one character or a slower pace for an older one.
(14:59) Try this today. Take one page of dialogue and mark the speakers. Then record it without the tags. Listen back and check you can hear who's who from your performance alone.
Post your read in the free Facebook group and I'll give you a note. https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney
There are over 1,600 free voice over scripts to practise with at https://www.avosjourney.com/scripts/?src=podcast and Academy Voices opens its new website on 1 October at https://academyvoices.com
Our live classes are open to anyone during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October. https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class-week-october-2026?src=podcast
When you're ready to train with us, here's VO Journey Academy. https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast
Support the show
Social Links:   
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthony_pica_vo/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AVOsJOURNEY
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney/ 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypicavo/

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Your first audiobook offer will make you choose how you get paid. In this episode I go through the three ways narrators actually get paid, what a finished hour really takes, and when royalty share is worth it and when it isn't.
(02:02) Per finished hour. You're paid a set rate for every hour a listener hears. A six-hour book at $150 per finished hour is $900, sometimes with a part paid up front and the rest when you finish. You're paid either way, but you have no stake in the book after that.
(04:00) Royalty share. Nothing up front, and you split the royalties with the author. On ACX that runs for seven years. On Academy Voices it's 10 years with authors and 20 years on our own house projects, because I wanted people to be able to build a career on royalties.
(06:34) Royalty share plus. Royalties plus a smaller payment up front. The author who can't pay $900 might manage $200, and you still share in the sales.
(08:00) Why royalty share helps you against AI. An AI narration is cheap, but no AI company will take a share of the royalties and help sell the book. Flexibility is something only we can offer.
(11:31) What a finished hour really takes. Early on, one finished hour is about four to six hours of prep, recording, editing and pickups. It takes real time, and there's always more audiobook work.
(14:00) Cutting that time down. The script prep and proofing tools in the new Academy Voices site analyse your script and check your audio against it, which can take a finished hour down to two to four hours of work.
(16:34) Red flags. Spam offers on ACX, and long royalty share books with no sales history unless you're ready to help sell them. Shorter books, three hours or less, are a good place to start with royalty share.
(19:30) What to charge. Our rate guide covers per finished hour rates from beginner to pro, with a calculator.
What to charge per finished hour, with the rate calculator: https://www.avosjourney.com/voice-over-rate-guide/?src=podcast-ep308
Academy Voices relaunches Thursday 1 October. Audition for audiobooks there: https://academyvoices.com
Our live classes are open to anyone during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October. https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class?src=podcast
When you're ready to train with us, here's VO Journey Academy. https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast
Support the show
Social Links:   
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthony_pica_vo/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AVOsJOURNEY
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney/ 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypicavo/

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Most people who start voice over are gone within a year, and usually it isn't because they can't do it. In this episode I go through the four things that make talented people quit and what the ones who stay do differently. Then there's one thing to set up today that will carry you to the end of the year.
(02:02) The silence. You send auditions and hear nothing back. That's normal, and it isn't a verdict on you. The person casting is often the producer or the rights holder too, and they can't send notes to 200 people. I went through a stretch of complete crickets myself, and what changed it was changing my style and sending out a lot more auditions.
(05:16) The gear spiral. New mics and interfaces, and a studio that's never quite right. Early on you're training your ears for the first time, so every click and mouth noise sounds huge. Nine times out of ten the fix is treating your space, not buying more gear, and then auditioning more.
(08:38) Going it alone. We spend hours by ourselves in a closet. With nobody to give you feedback, you repeat the same mistakes a hundred times. The people I see last are part of a community where they can read for others and get notes back.
(10:58) The wrong yardstick. Comparing your first year to someone's tenth, or your audio to someone on a $5,000 microphone. You get better at speaking into a mic the more you do it, and that takes time.
(14:19) What the people who stay do. They set a weekly audition target and get regular feedback somewhere. Most of all, they track what they do rather than what they book. Bookings and money are the result. The auditions are what you control.
(18:43) Do this today. Set a weekly audition number you can keep for the next 12 weeks, through the last quarter of the year, and track it every day.
Post a read in the free Facebook group and I'll give you a note. https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney
There are over 900 free voice over scripts to practise with at https://www.avosjourney.com/scripts/?src=podcast and you can audition for audiobooks at https://academyvoices.com
Our live classes are open to anyone during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October. https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class?src=podcast
When you're ready to train with us, here's VO Journey Academy. https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast
Support the show
Social Links:   
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthony_pica_vo/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AVOsJOURNEY
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney/ 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypicavo/

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Most narrators lose hours in the booth fixing problems they could have caught before pressing record. In this episode I walk through the prep routine I use between signing the contract and recording the first line. There are five steps, and none of them need special software. I also share the time I narrated a Minnesota army sergeant with a Brooklyn accent.
(00:00) Why prep matters. Pickups and re-records cost you the performance and the money.
(03:18) My first audiobook, and what I didn't know I didn't know.
(05:45) Step one, read the book. Or at least read each chapter before you narrate it.
(08:30) Step two, build a character list, and record reference clips so voices don't drift.
(10:28) Step three, the pronunciation list. When in doubt, ask the author.
(13:40) Step four, mark up the script. Who's talking when there's no tag, plus mood words beside each paragraph.
(20:45) Step five, plan your sessions. About 9,300 words per finished hour, and why not to start with chapter one.
(24:30) The script prep tool coming to Academy Voices on 1 October.
(25:35) Your homework. Write a character list for the first three chapters of any book.
Sit in on our live classes free during Free Class Week, 12 to 15 October. https://www.avosjourney.com/free-class-week-october-2026?src=podcast-306
When you're ready to train with us, here's VO Journey Academy. https://www.avosjourney.com/join?src=podcast
Support the show
Social Links:   
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/anthony_pica_vo/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AVOsJOURNEY
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/avosjourney/ 
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypicavo/