DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

Now that some of my online service has been restored and Barbara Rosenblat has returned from the Emmys (Orange is the New Black) was nominated), I’ll be returning my attention to the audiobook master class Barbara is teaching in November.

If you narrate audiobooks, being coached by Barbara Rosenblat is like being taught songwriting by Paul Simon.

If you didn’t already view this video, take a look and you’ll see what I mean.

Recently a fairly new narrator was taken aback when a negative review was given her most recent audiobook — her first negative comment.

Although she knows “it comes with the territory,” she was a bit shaken by it. She asked how other people deal with negative reviews.

There’s really no way to prepare yourself for the first time you’re publicly slammed. The first time, and maybe for the next couple of times, it hurts.

Worse, you think everyone in the world is seeing (and ruminating upon) that awful review. Trust me, they’re not.

When someone goes ’way overboard in their attack on you, you realize they’ve got a personal problem.

Yes, someone might really dislike your work. But some people are — to use the phrase those of us with degrees in clinical psychology prefer — just plain nuts.

If someone dislikes your work, there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ve put your work in the public eye, and it won’t fit some people’s tastes.

Soon you outgrow the temptation to “fight back” and just ignore them. You’re not going to change the tastes of the person who genuinely dislikes your work.

For the people who are nuts — the last thing in the world you want to do is engage with them.

You’re talking about people with severe emotional problems, even personality disorders. They’re in tremendous personal pain. If you knew their childhood backgrounds, you’d probably be amazed they can function at all.

I’ve never recorded an audiobook, but I’ve published print books, iPhone apps, audio products…and, last year, a Kindle book.

The Kindle book is most similar to the audiobook experience. Each is published & sold by Amazon.com (Audible.com is owned by Amazon), and the marketing, purchasing and customer feedback mechanisms are virtually identical.

If your product or service is open to online reviews and attracts enough buyers, your measure of success isn’t “no negative reviews.”

Rather, you look for what has been called a “pistol grip” pattern: Heavily weighted with 5-star reviews, followed by 4-star reviews, 3-star, etc.

Here’s the current overview of feedback for my Kindle book.

See how it’s heavily weighted at the top and tapers down as the ratings get lower? That’s what you look for.

In this case, one person gave the title “2 stars” — because “there are no audio files to listen to.”

From a purely practical standpoint, your best defense is to have plenty of good reviews surrounding the bad one. If you have a dozen positive reviews and one that’s a blistering attack, the “bad one” actually helps you; it’s obvious that reviewer has a problem.

Think of the businesses you’ve seen reviewed on Yelp.com — 20 rave reviews plus one person who says it’s the worst business in the history of the world. Do you believe that one bad one, or do you believe the bunch o’ good ones?

Have any of your friends or family gotten your audiobook? If so, ask them if they can comfortably post a review.

Don’t post, encourage or solicit fake reviews. On the other hand, asking people who did like your work to post a review is completely legitimate.

Finally, if you want to “get revenge” on people who slam you: The simplest, surest way is to ignore them completely and continue to do what you love and take pride in doing the best work you can.

By the way….

I’ll be releasing at least one more eye-opening video of Barbara Rosenblat coaching a voice actor…to truly impressive results.

I’ll let you know when that video (and any other) is ready if you make sure you’re on my VO Email Gang. Take just a moment to fill in the form below, and you’ll be all set.

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When you coach a performer who already is good, even a small improvement can deliver terrific results.

In this video from an exclusive 2-day audiobook narrators workshop Barbara Rosenblat conducted last year, Barbara is working with Susan Roman — an experienced, talented voice actor who perhaps is best known as “Sailor Jupiter” in Sailor Moon.

Despite her decades of success as an actor, Roman never had attempted audiobooks. She explains, “I decided that it was time to get out of my comfort zone,” so she traveled to Los Angeles for a unique opportunity “to learn from the very best.”

Watch her go from good to great with an emotionally difficult text.

For only the second time, Rosenblat is teaching an exclusive, intimate 2-day workshop for audiobook narrators in November. Here are all the workshop details.

A Loyal Reader Writes:

I don’t normally complain like this, but I feel compelled to do so.

I host a small market midday radio program that’s a ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s retro show. Each day we highlight a different year, featuring sound bytes, commercials, news, and TV theme songs from that year, along with the Top 40 hits of the time.

The show runs 2 hours, which includes three 6-minute commercial breaks and one 4-minute news break each hour…plus listener requests from songs of that era.

Yesterday I was told that I would be conducting an interview with a client on my show.

I made a face, and my general manager said, “WHAT??”

“That’s during the retro show,” I responded.

“AND???” 

“It throws off the groove of the show and stops it down for 10 minutes.”

The GM said, “I don’t give a ____ about your show. I’m trying to impress this client. What do I tell them — No??”

“This isn’t a typical midday show. It’s a specialty show that attracts a specific audience because of what they hear. I’m concerned about THE LISTENER.”

Then again, our GM doesn’t believe in ratings. She says, “You buy the book, that’s how your numbers increase.”

It seems to me if everyone bought the book, then everyone would be #1, and that’s obviously not the case.

You seem to sympathize with in these situations. What’s your reaction?

The GM Doesn’t Believe in Ratings.

1.  Isn’t it odd that radio managers and program directors never question the ratings when their stations do well?

2. Since I first got into radio, I’ve heard “knowing” managers declare that subscribing to Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio Services) is the surest way to increase your ratings.

I’ve never heard, however, of an instance where that allegation was demonstrated to be true.

A manager who says “the only way to get good ratings is to buy the book” understands the radio business as well as the listener who confidently says, “I’ll tell you how your station can get better ratings. Just play better music!”

The Impressions the Client Gets

1.  “This radio station is so desperate for money that it will do whatever I want them to do.”

2.  “This radio station has no respect for its own product.”

Probably a few people reading this are thinking, “So? This is supposed to be a business. We are trying to make money, you know.”

To those few people I say, “The GM has trained that client to expect ridiculous demands to be met without question. Be thankful you’re not the account executive who has to deal with that client in the future.”

Recommended Resource:
The Psychology of Broadcast Management