[ongoing] Voices wanted for fanfiction readings

[Quinch 1,119]

The Obligatory Introduction
Hello everybody, and welcome to the grand{...ish?} recruiting drive for the Golden Oaks Memorial Library Fanfiction Reading Project, hereafter referred to as just GOL because dang this whole thing is a hassle to read, let alone to write.
 -  A bit of historical context

Spoiler

Some time ago, a mod by the name of Sunset Rose brought forth an idea of having a part of MLPForums dedicated to live readings of fanfiction - fanfic audiobooks, essentially. Unfortunately, life and other things intervened as they are wont to, and the project sort of ground to a stop for a while. Later still, it got rebooted with less focus on live readings and after having dug out the Poniverse YouTube channel out of the mothballs. Unfortunately, life continued to claim readers from our rather small pool at the time until there were only two left - myself and Randimaxis. This is not to say that the two of us have carried the entire project entirely on our own - there have been several excellent collaborations, but truthfully, it is long past time to give everyone a chance - and encouragement - to be a part of this.

 -  Get to the point already

Spoiler

Well, you've probably guessed by now. This is an open call to anyone who wishes to take part in the GOL fanfiction readings. That's right - anyone. If you want to try your hand at lending your voice for fanfic readings, simply say so here and we'll add you to the roster.

 -  That sounds nice and all, but I've never done voice acting in my life.

 

Neither had I until I did. This is not a professional project - it's a thing built for enjoyment and fun. The only question worth asking is "Do I think I'll like doing this?" If the answer is anywhere north of "Maaaaaaybe?", then let us know!

 -  Okay, let's go with "maaaaaaybe" for now, but I'm not sure I can commit to this thing.

 

There is no commitment involved. Anyone's participation - and the degree of that participation - is completely voluntary. The basic idea is, when a fic goes up for reading, a casting call will go out with all active readers being pinged in the post, with a list of characters up for the taking. Anyone who wants to take one can sound off, and that’s that. It’s a hobby kinda thing, not a job.

 -  I’d like to help out, but I sound terrible.

 

First, I wouldn’t be so sure – while, true, you might sound as bad as you think, you probably don’t. After all, we tend to be our own worst critics. Secondly, it doesn’t matter. The main part is that you have fun. If you can produce words that are recognizable as the English Language, that’s all it takes. And besides – this is one of the things where practice will help you improve, if you want to. I’m also willing to help out if anyone needs feedback or advice, but it bears stressing that I’m no expert either – just an enthusiastic amateur.

 -  What if I don’t have a microphone to record with?

 

Odds are, you do. If you have a laptop, that has a built-in mike. A webcam does too. If all else fails, you can even record off your phone. Yes, having dedicated hardware is fine and dandy, but anything that you have on hand is good enough.

 -  What if I don’t want others to know what I sound like?

 

If you’re shy about putting your real self online, that’s perfectly fine – rather than posting openly that you’d like to be a part of GOL, send me a PM instead. Likewise, when a reading gets posted, your role can be credited anonymously.

 -  What kind of stories are we looking at here anyway?

 

Right now, a bit of everything. Adventure, drama, comedy, travel, philosophy and navel-gazing and who knows what else – my personal to-do list is over fifty stories long right now. However, if you want to request a story to be read, you can do it in the fanfic requests section. And if you want to submit a reading of your own, that works too.

 -  So I can record a story on my own – or with others – to be posted as part of GOL if I wanted to?

 

Indeedyrooney. It will need to be vetted by a GOL lead member to make sure there’s no inappropriate content – gore, overly sexual content, carpet F-bombing or other forum-rule-breaking stuff – but individual contributions are very encouraged. The only other caveat would be to obtain a permission from the fic’s author for a reading. There’s no legal or rule-based reason for it, but it’s the decent thing to do.

 -  If I’ve never heard of GOL before, what should I be looking at?

 

The videos themselves are hosted on the Poniverse YouTube channel. The GOL subforums are here – you can also find them under the main forum banner under “Fic Readings”, which is where finished readings are posted on the forums’ side, as well as featuring a requests forum in which you can both request fics to be read, and where casting calls will go out, whether it’s for a fic you wish to organize, or by a GOL team lead.

 -  So, who are team leads?

 

Lord Valtasar is the head honcho, with C. Discord and myself supporting.

And that’s more or less it. If you have any questions at all, let us know and I look forward to working with you all.

-Quinch

Edited December 29, 2019 by Quinch
Edited for formatting derpyculties

[Derpy Pon-3 5,649]

This looks like a great idea, I’ll have to look over the details but for now you can count me in

[Quinch 1,119]

Hey there, @Derpy Pon-3, awesome to have you aboard!

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

Let me in! LEMME IIINNNNNNNN~

So we're voicing characters, right? or whole fanfic readings, like we've had on Discord before?

Either way, write me down.

[Quinch 1,119]

4 hours ago, Feather Spiral said:

Let me in! LEMME IIINNNNNNNN~

You gotta do the gif, or it doesn't work!

[Cagey 4,207]

If one were to sign up for this, what sort of recording software would one use? 

[Quinch 1,119]

@Cagey Pretty much anything that can save to an audio file. I'm partial to Audacity, but you can even go with something web-based, like Vocaroo.

[Feather Spiral 1,892]

21 hours ago, Quinch said:

You gotta do the gif, or it doesn't work!

Laptop is acting up, I don't trust it right now sorry.

Here, imma just

[Quinch 1,119]

@Feather Spiral Theeere we go! 

Yep, whether it's just individual voices in a fic or a whole fic itself. Right now I'm putting out casting calls for stories as I think we can handle them, but everyone is encouraged to either record stories themselves, or invite others to read with them as well. 

 

[PlzDelete 2,455]

Hey I got your message! I would love to join!

[Quinch 1,119]

@PuddingPonyPal Awesome, welcome aboard! If you're interested, there's two projects in the works right now - there's Trixie's Great And Powerful Adventure which is mostly filled but there's two small parts still open, and Fahreneigh 451 which is mostly unfilled so far.

[GreenLeaf 1]

Count me in. This sounds super interesting and I've been wanting to get into fanfic reading again.

[Quinch 1,119]

34 minutes ago, GreenLeaf said:

Count me in. This sounds super interesting and I've been wanting to get into fanfic reading again.

Perfect! Glad to have you on board!

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

Are there any upcoming projects for the future?

Spoiler

I just really wanna voice something, I haven’t done so in a long time 

It’s okay if there isn’t anything, I was just curious 

 

[Splashee 28,537]

18 hours ago, ExplosionMare said:

Are there any upcoming projects for the future?

  Reveal hidden contents

I just really wanna voice something, I haven’t done so in a long time 

It’s okay if there isn’t anything, I was just curious 

 

I just wanna hear your voice again

 

Make it happen!

[Quinch 1,119]

22 hours ago, ExplosionMare said:

Are there any upcoming projects for the future?

I'm not sure - possibly. For the past few months, I've been working on The Needle - fortunately, that project is about to wrap up. The next one in the queue is a short book called Mythic Dawn, and there might be openings available - I began working on and casting it at the same time as The Needle, while I was under the optimistically misguided notion that I could publish both on a weekly schedule, and I have to follow up with everyone to see if they're still interested and available. So if anything opens up, I'll give you a holler.

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

13 hours ago, Quinch said:

I'm not sure - possibly. For the past few months, I've been working on The Needle - fortunately, that project is about to wrap up. The next one in the queue is a short book called Mythic Dawn, and there might be openings available - I began working on and casting it at the same time as The Needle, while I was under the optimistically misguided notion that I could publish both on a weekly schedule, and I have to follow up with everyone to see if they're still interested and available. So if anything opens up, I'll give you a holler.

Sounds good!