A new narrator for The Glassman has been chosen and now the final paperwork is being worked through: Alejandro Antonio Ruiz!
More details to come.
Also, I would like to say a word about this current go-around for finding a narrator:
It is absolutely astonishing how often White individuals – even with a role call that distinctly asked for a person of color by name – I asked for “Chicano or Afro-Chicano” – have still tried to audition for the role despite:
- They’re not of the ethnic background specifically stated
- Not capable of the accents asked for. This work demands Chicano and Dominican accents – the last narrator picked was Chicano and struggled with the Dominican accent, I expect way less of someone of the European diaspora. Even if someone of the European diaspora can do the Dominican and Chicano accent – I still am asking for someone from the Latin diaspora.
- Not any drip of what I was asking for: Not Chicano/Afro-Chicano, not queer, (sometimes) not male – If you don’t fit the job, don’t apply. It chunks up the application pool, I only want talent and only am interested in seeking talent from the background specifically described in the narrator role call. Only White (Euro diasporic (making the distinction as White Latinos exist)) people did this, no other racial/ethnic group. Not Asian people, not non-Latin indigenous, no one else. Pay attention to what is being asked.
Every White person that tried to go for this role is getting blacklisted from any and everything MultiMind Publishing ever does, audio or film or whatever text-derivative art form that comes into fruition next, because they not only proved far beyond the extraordinary that they can’t follow directions – thus proving that they will be difficult to work with on official and professional terms – they also showed that they don’t care about the role, the job, their fellow actors in the field or the art. If you can’t even follow basic or simple directions that are plainly laid out in readable text, that means you’re most likely not going to be able to handle a script of any grade. I’m small potatoes so it is extra troubling if any actor has this type of difficulty with the smaller fish in the pond. It only means they’re a literal waste of time for any of the medium or bigger fish.
On top of that, I’ve already mentioned to others who are in the market for narrators to avoid these people in particular because of the difficulty they provided me and the fact they are not suitable or professional enough to work with.
Will there be future calls for narrators at MMP? Yes, I do plan on having future narrator calls but here’s the thing: I expect the description of those calls to be respected. If you are serious about having a career in the performing arts where you have to audition, read the role, and if you don’t fit then please do not apply. Already for the follow up books for The Glassman, the Glass and Dreams duology, I am planning to have narrator calls for an Asian American male narrator (pref. Chinese American with a bit of a handle on Mandarin, pref. queer) and Black British narrators – and I expect only people of those backgrounds to apply and audition. Given my writings, I don’t really have White characters in my works and even if I did, they’re most likely (and by “most likely”, I mean “definitely”) getting voiced by BIPoC narrators for the simple fact that many BIPoC, especially Black people, usually have to and/or are expected “sound White” just to not be seen as less than because of how racist the world still is today. In other words, they have a seamless adaption of cultural dialectal range and I want to use it for something remotely positive while these incredibly harmful structures and institutions that created and often times necessitated this behavior are being disrupted and dismantled into non-existence. Frankly put, a White person has never needed to “sound Black/Latin/non-White” to get a job/get a house/not get murdered or mistreated by a cop/not be assumed stupid or less human ever so their ability to do great BIPoC accents, it’s lacking – and is usually downright insulting. Imagine Black English (IBE) does exist and it is revolting (Actually, even when I look for non Black PoC (NBPoC) narrators, I hunt for any sign of IBE so I can keep them off my list also. I’m simply not interested in hiring an Awkwafina or Lily Singh type either, plain and simple). When I hire actors, I want to hire versatility and range so I can hire the actor back again and again. More jobs for them, less work for me, everybody wins.
Everyone, I know that I’m small and just starting out but that doesn’t mean I prefer to shirk on quality. And I do expect the same basic candor and respect that the bigger folks are given. If there is a role call that asks for a background that you are not, it does not impress the casting person when you go for the role anyways. If anything, they’re agitated because they already have to sift through a bunch of people who are the fitting background and now they have to put up with you, the person who does not need to be there.
Especially for roles that specifically call for BIPoC actors and you are not any shade of BIPoC. I found the newest narrator through the PGM VO list, which lists only BIPoC voice over actors, but I wanted to cast my net wider since the list does not have everyone on it and not every BIPoC actor is aware of such a list (if you are a BIPoC voice over actor, join it if you haven’t. They also have a list call for queer people in general also). I wanted to make sure even newbies who still do not fully know the ropes professionally but do know how to act and fit the background of the role call could audition and I did get a few of those. But I got way too many White people that simply didn’t know how to follow basic directions and in this field, that’s an extremely bad sign. I’ll probably be sticking with that list from now on because I can hyper select what actors to work with and I won’t have to worry about people who shouldn’t be auditioning for the role popping up in my inbox.
If a random BIPoC actor shows up in my inbox and says “Hey, I see you’re auditioning for this role. I don’t fit and thus I’m not trying for it but I still wanted to be on your radar” and shows a site containing demo reels, I’m at least willing to take a gander because at least they were up-front and clear. The most I would do is, if their demos are good enough, tuck their name to the side and suggest they put their names on the voice actor lists I check (PGM and AAVADB) but still inform them to mind the role call descriptor. Is it a promise I’ll use their talents or have a call for their talents? Nope. But I do want to make sure I have as wide a net for BIPoC and QBIPoC* actors as possible.
No matter what, always pay attention if you want to do well in the performing arts.
*QBIPoC – Queer Black, Indigenous, People of Color
MultiMind Publishing 
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