There's Money Where Your Mouth Is: An Insider's Guide to a Career in Voice-Overs (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Thomas Edison is credited with saying, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration..." (more)
Key Phrases: industrial narrations, hero product, announcer copy, San Francisco, Nutty Crisps, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Aimed at seasoned actors as well as vocal talents who lack show-biz experience, this career manual offers the most complete guide to a lucrative field.

Voices are increasingly in demand for commercials, cartoon characters, announcements, and other voice-over spots. This outstanding handbook explains how to launch a career and find work. Along with sample commercials and script copy, the author gives advice on vocal exercises, on self-promotion, and on business matters, and this expanded edition includes new tips on making a demo CD; vocal modulation and breath techniques; advanced copy-reading techniques; and a section on how copywriters see the job of the voice artists they write for.

About the Author

Elaine A. Clark, a voice-over performer, casting director, producer, and copywriter, lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Back Stage Books; 2 Sub edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823077020
• ISBN-13: 978-0823077021
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,625 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #3 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Communication > Broadcasting
  #100 in	Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > Voice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, read it, APPLY IT and you'll do it!, September 5, 2001

By	Joel L. Gandelman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Whooaaaa! What a SOLID book! Don't let the fact that it's a paperback fool you. In some 204 pages Elaine Clark, a voice-over performer, casting director and coach, covers all bases -- and there is no padding. It's solid, useful, info that can be applied immediately. And if you read the book and follow her advice I suspect it'll shave YEARS off the typical hit-and-miss process that most of us (including me) go through in entertainment (I'm a ventriloquist, a lower form of voice life). There are many books on virtually every aspect of show biz and we're seeing more on voice-overs, an increasingly lucrative industry due to the explosion in cartoons, commercials, etc. Clark takes you through voice techniques, getting started, copy basics, looking for an agent and The Absolutely Crucial Step: doing a demo (just as most mere mortals are judged by how they present themselves on paper, entertainers are judged by what they choose to present in their demos). It even includes a section on staying on top. Nothing is left out; the writing style is to-the-point...no cutesy stuff that attempts to mask weak content. Each page is tightly-packed with detailed information. It's as if she is having her own private session with you -- and, actually, she is -- except it costs a lot less in book form. Need THE BOOK on voice-overs? This is IT.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for novices and journeymen alike, April 18, 2004

By	Billy Shakes (On a bull of mud circling the sun) - See all my reviews

I first read this book a couple of years ago when I was just toying with the idea of making VO a career. It is a bible for aspiring talents and established pros will also learn plenty as Elaine is a renowned casting director and producer as well as a successful talent.

It is an easy read but the exercises are anything but easy. The sample scripts are fabulous and the vocal warm-ups are helpful and something that all other books on VO are lacking. The marketing chapters are also well written and leave one with no illusion about talent alone being enough to make it in this highly competitive field. That's what makes this the best book on VO that I've read. It has everything. Did I say it had everything? Let's amend that - I'd like to see a chapter on equipment and technology though with the pace of change these days, it would probably be out of date before its printed.

If you have been thinking about a career in voice over, you are not serious if you don't buy this book.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, February 2, 2000

By	clifton weldon (phila, pa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There's Money Where Your Mouth Is: An Insider's Guide to a Career in Voice-Overs (Paperback)

I have about 8 different books on this subject, my background is radio broadcasting, Elaine help me to deprogram myself and do real acting, that's what voiceovers are about. I just purchased her video offered in the book and I started back reading the material and practicing everyday. I have taken voiceover seminars, and I find it is a highly recommended text. She also gives you practical tools about setting up an audition tape, and how to interpet copy. The best!