Need Advice on Quote for a Long eBook Project?

Ken Theriot

Can I get a sanity check for quoting a job that would be 3 eBooks, each 60 pages long? Looking at ways to bid projects I’ve seen $500 per hour of finished audio, and I’ve also seen $20 per page. That last method would yield a quote of $3600! One page is normally about 2 minutes of finished audio, so a 60 page book would end up being about $1000. THAT method would make the job $3000. I’m tempted to quote him the $3K, but I wanted to get a sanity check from more experienced folks. Am I in the ballpark?

Thanks!

Ken

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 02:43 (GMT) Post subject:

Just a quick question: are you referring to this lead?

"We need 3 ebooks converted into Audio, they are around 60 pages long each, or around 16,000 words.

We need both Female and Male voices for each ebook for a total of 6 recordings.

Budget $250-$500"

If you are (I think so), then depending on just how many different voices they want for each E-book, I'd say even $500 is an insult. Let's pretend there are 4 voices on the entire project, each reading 1/4 of the words. That's 12,000 words per voice.

The V123 median rates suggest $0.20 per word up to 6,000, and an additional $0.15 for the next 6,000 words. It adds up to a total of $2100 - per voice with 4 different voices. You do the math with respectively further and fewer voices.

EDIT: Aaah.... I think I misunderstood the content in the lead the first time. Now as I see it, they are looking for two different voices - 1 male and 1 female, each doing a complete version of the entire project. So it's a 48.000 word project. Whou, my calculator doesn't even go that high...

But $500??? Come on.... go and quote $3000, and I'll bet you won't even get a nice pass.

Todd Ellis · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 18:17 (GMT) Post subject:

do us all a favor and just delete it.

Lance Blair · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 18:54 (GMT) Post subject:

delete it

Ken Theriot · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 19:37 (GMT) Post subject:

Actually I was referring to that lead:). He contacted me directly before posting it, so I had no idea his budget was that low at first.

Even going down to $.10 a word it would have been $1,600. He did not reply to my quote. Gosh I wonder why?

Do you think someone will take the job though? I mean, if someone is willing to work for such low rates, doesn't that kinda hurt us all?

Ken

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 20:15 (GMT) Post subject:

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 20:17 (GMT) Post subject:

Delete. I did.

Ken Theriot · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 20:21 (GMT) Post subject:

Jacob,

While I am only a few months into VO work, my time is valuable and I consider my work to be professional. I didn't even consider doing this job for so low as $500.

BTW, I don't have the premium subscription on Voices 123 either. $300 bucks a year seems a bit steep to me. However, I do have the premium membership at TOS, which costs a hundred dollars less. And I was able to pay for it with just one VO gig from a few weeks ago:)

Thanks for the reply!

Ken

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 20:30 (GMT) Post subject:

You're welcome, Ken... and I applaud your decision. Now go hunt for a SERIOUS lead! Very Happy

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2007, 20:52 (GMT) Post subject:

Let's not forget that the lead said $250-$500. So even the $500 wasn't a given.

Kent LaTurno · Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007, 00:26 (GMT) Post subject:

Well, I did not delete. I heeded the advice of several others on this forum and quoted a higher price (the lowest I would possibly accept based upon the professional standards I see posted on several sites - for example TOS's "voice over RATES" has "Per word rate scripts over 10,000 words with Word Arial 12-pt font - .10 to .25 per word"). I quoted $1,600 based upon .10/word.

The seeker probably deleted as most of you did on your end!

Ken Theriot · Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007, 00:52 (GMT) Post subject:

That's exactly what I quoted him. I haven't heard back either. I really didn't expect to.

Ken

Jacob Ekstroem · Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007, 01:23 (GMT) Post subject:

UUURRRHHGG!!! You think maybe John Bigl and I should track him down and beat him up? aufs maul

(obligatory... that's me with the hat, btw)

Andrew Locke

i mean, it's one thing to read for, say $350 for 180 pages (as this weird book job ssemed to be leaning), but what about absolutely, 100% FREE work as a volunteer, like at Librivox?

do people see that as a separate category entirely?

~a

Ken Theriot · Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007, 17:04 (GMT) Post subject:

I do work at Libriviox for a number of reasons. One is that it feels good to volunteer and make something available to those who can't afford it or who cannot see. I look at it as a sort of like donating to charity. But I also get something out of it in experience. It was my first actual project, so I got a feel for what was involved. And it also garnered some positive critiques for my work. So all-in-all it was a win-win situation. I find it VERY different indeed to mess with teh economics of a commercial project. We are all of us trying to make a business out of this (I assume), and the laws of supply and demand come into play. If a client is going to make money from their project, then we should expect to receive fair compensation for providing a service that will help them do that. Basic economics. If we start doing high-quality "pro-bono" works for commercial concerns, we mess with the economy of this biz we're in.

My 2 pence.

Ken