I’m Fine but The Industry Isn’t: Audiobooks and SAG-AFTRA Upcoming Strike – Pt. 2

I wrote about SAG-AFTRA’s potential strike and how it affects audiobooks, particularly mine. Long story short, I’m fine since I’m indie and already have a contract with SAG-AFTRA. I also chatted some more with the audiobook person at SAG-AFTRA about this and was told basically: all audiobooks are safe, it’s just TV/Theatrical productions that are being struck. No change in response time, work rules, nada. It’s all business as usual in the land of making audiobooks.

This is good. One, good for me because I don’t have to worry about strike stuff as I onboard the new narrator. Two, good for actors in general because while doing audiobooks isn’t a star in a Marvel movie, it sure can pay the bills during these lean times (audiobook pay is nyot cheap, a four hour audiobook could certainly pay someone’s rent in a single check, if not a whole streak of bills alternatively) and it is not as intense as, say, video game voice acting. You sit there in a padded room (literally could be a closet) with your water and green apples (reduces mouth noises), recite a book with emotion and performance and thar ya go. Striking is hard, especially on the pockets of the workers, so it is a good thing that it is not all dead end in terms of accruing money to live on.