Voice for Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs [Paperback]

Randy Thomas (Author), Peter Rofe (Author), Don La Fontaine (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2008

The most comprehensive voice-over guidebook ever!


This voice is for hire. In fact, all actors’ voices are for hire–or should be. Voice-overs offer a great opportunity for actors to get extra work, even full-time work. Author Randy Thomas is America’s most recognizable female voice announcer‐she even announces the national television broadcast of the Academy Awards! Author Peter Rofé is New York City’s top voice-over coach–he teaches actors to sell their voices for every possible voice-over purpose. Together they explore all the ins and outs of this exciting and lucrative field: auditioning, making demos, training, marketing, script interpretation, animation, radio, promos, narration, live announcing, and more. Want to get your mouth in the door and keep it inside once it’s there? Sure you do. If your voice is for hire, you need Voice for Hire.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Randy Thomas was the first woman to announce the Academy Award and the Miss America Pageant. She is the voice of Entertainment Tonight and has more than twenty years of experience as a radio and voice-over personality. Visit her on the web at www.randythomasvo.com . She lives in Fort Myers, Florida.

Peter Rofé, a trained stage actor, has voiced national TV and radio spots, network promos, and live events. Today he operates PDR Voice-Over Coaching, which hosts industry workshops, conducts online seminars, and produces popular demos. Visit him on the web at www.pdrvoicecoaching.com . He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Back Stage Books; Pap/Com edition (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823099466
• ISBN-13: 978-0823099467
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.4 x 8.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #683,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Book!, October 26, 2008

By 

R. Amor (California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Voice for Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book to anyone even slightly curious about the voice over industry. It is extremely informative and detailed yet wonderfully entertaining and interesting. Drawing from their many of years of experience in this field, Randy Thomas and Peter Rofé navigate through the dos and don'ts with intelligence, sensitivity and charm and provide the insight, details and perspectives that only those who have worked in this industry for many years can truly provide. Commentary from other successful voice-over actors adds beautifully to the various topics and underscores the value and importance of the advice imparted by these professionals. After reading Randy and Peter's book, I could not help but get excited about their profession and to feel fortunate to have benefited from their experiences. I have read several books on this topic but "VOICE FOR HIRE (How to Launch and Maintain A Lucrative Voice-Over Career) is by far the best I have read. It is, I believe, a must read for all of those who aspire to doing voice-over work professionally.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but..., April 2, 2009

By 

Timothy Wehr (Coralville, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Voice for Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs (Paperback)

I read the book hoping to discover the real inside secrets of how to "Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs." Unfortunately, it contains little more than some insights about how the business works - not how to "do" it. While I was disappointed, it did help to spur my interest in the business and provided some facts (dispelling some myths) about the market for voice-overs and who can enter and be successful at it.

The book generally lacked the depth necessary to be of real value. It will certainly spark one's interest, but other resources will be necessary to move beyond that point. Randy is certainly one of the most talented voice-over artists on the scene today - she is just not a talented writer. Too bad! It would have been great to learn more from someone so successful in the business.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful, September 29, 2009

By 

Jay Spector "voicegeek" (new york) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Voice for Hire: Launch and Maintain a Lucrative Career in Voice-Overs (Paperback)

If you're looking for a source where you can practice many example reads, this book isn't for you - Elaine Clark's book is even though some of examples are rather dated. But if you're looking for a breakdown of (dare I say) insider procedure and industry protocol, the Thomas/Rofe work is invaluable. What ways (and how many times) to contact an agent if you're demo hasn't been acted upon? They'll tell you. Ways not to antagonize your fellow artist when doing multiples? They'll tell you. Instruction on what to do/not to do at auditions and (hopefully) subsequent bookings? They'll tell you that too.

Different books are published for different purposes. It's not the first book I'd buy but it's in my 'ready reference' briefcase. This is the one that proverbially-speaking guides me as what time to wake up and be ready for school, what to wear, and how to act when the teacher calls on me!