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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | Parlay one of your most basic natural assets--your voice--into an exciting career in the entertainment industry In How to Make a Million Dollars with Your Voice, legendary voice artist Gary Owens draws upon his four decades in radio, TV, film, and animation to show you how to break into the voice business and carve out a million-dollar niche for yourself once you get there. With the help of priceless anecdotes and insider tips from well-known actors, producers, and agents, he gives you the inside track on becoming a successful DJ, newscaster, announcer, sportscaster, commercial or cartoon voice, or other type of voice artist. Here's everything you need to know about how to: *Zero in on and promote your vocal talents
*Develop realistic career goals and an action plan
*Produce a demo CD that sells
*Find and land an agent
*Write winning cover letters and resumes
*Ace interviews and auditions | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Gary Owens | | Paperback: | 238 pages | | Publisher: | McGraw-Hill | | Publication Date: | August 11, 2004 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0071424105 | | Package Length: | 8.9 inches | | Package Width: | 5.9 inches | | Package Height: | 0.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 8 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 How To Make A Million Dollars - If You're Gary Owens Sep 17, 2009
I've never met Walt Disney, Larry King, Lucille Ball, Mickey Mantle, Don Rickles, or Bill Cosby. Gary Owens has, though, and he's not at all shy about telling you. In fact, Gary Owens has met lots of incredible people, done many wonderful things, and made vast amounts of money. Good for him. However, those of us interested in a finding a single useful piece of advice, the smallest crumb of wisdom, just one quantifiable technique for developing a career in VO work, would be wise to look elsewhere.
This book is an autobiography poorly disguised as a "how to" manual, its chapters positively bulging with self-aggrandizing photographs and anecdotes. Honestly, how is seeing a picture of Gary Owens getting his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame going to help me be a better voice actor? Most annoying are the constant lists of talented people Mr. Owens rubs shoulders with. Here is a direct quote: "Recently, Animation magazine, for its fifteenth-anniversary issue, named the 'fifteen top TV voice actors' of all time. Rounding out this prestigious list were Lucille Bliss, Daws Butler, Mel Blanc, June Foray, Stan Freberg, Paul Frees, Don Messick, Gary Owens, Bill Scott, John Stephenson, Jean VaderPyl, Janet Waldo, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker, and Paul Winchell. I'm so happy to have made that wonderful list." Well, congratulations Gary, I'm glad you're happy.
Lists like the one above are frequent throughout the book, often ending with a little bit of faux humbleness from the author expressing his gratitude and good fortune. Occasionally, Mr. Owens seems to remember that this is supposed to be an informative guide, and attempts to proffer some bits of wisdom. In a way, these are the most offensive parts of the book, as they are merely more stories from the author's life dressed up as advice. A particularly painful read was "the Gary Owens Twelve Steps To Superstardom, Success, and Other Big Words Starting with the Letter S" -- oh, and that's a common thread by the way, silly jokes used to cover Owen's lack of practical advice. Included in Gary's list is "Step 4: Know Station Call Letters When Seeking Employment". Seems like common sense, right? Well, it's also a great way to pad out a chapter with yet another goofy story. How about "Step 5: Develop A Great On-Air Personality"? Great advice, absolutely top shelf, goes along great with "Step 8: Have A Sense Of Humor." Perhaps Mr. Owens should have added another step to his list: Write A Completely Useless Book And Advertise It Falsely So It Sells Lots Of Copies And You Can Laugh All The Way To The Bank.
I know I may seem bitter about my experience reading "How To Make A Million Dollars With Your Voice," but I have good reason. Hollywood is a tough town, no breaking news there, and when people who have made it to the top want to offer tips to the rest of us, that's great. But they have an obligation, particularly if they're charging money, to provide good, sound advice, not a trumped up resume. Those who have "made it" know more than anybody that there are hundreds of thousands of people in this town who are desperate for a break, and to take advantage of them by fobbing off nonsense like this is shameful.
So if you're a Gary Owens fan, that's fine, but before you click on "not helpful" in a blind rage after reading my review, take a moment to consider the responsibility that an author assumes when they ask time and money of their readers, particularly when dubbing themselves an expert in their field. What are the implications of that responsibility, and what do they owe their audience? Thanks for reading.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Jody's Review Jul 31, 2009
I already had this book. Gary Owens had sent me a copy in thanks for some
thing I had given him. I am 74 so Gary's career has spanned most of my lifetime. This is a great book to read for the fun of it. His sense of humor sparkles on every page. Lots of pictures; it is nostalgic for me
too because I remember him on Laugh-In, and many other T.V. shows over the years.
So when a friend of mine, told me that he wanted to get into doing "voice overs" professionally, I told him I have the PERFECT
book for you to read, and I bought him a copy of Gary's book. The book is very informative and offers suggestions and tips as well as Gary's personal experiences . Chapter by chapter, it outlines different aspects of the business of making a Million Dollars with your Voice by one of the most famous and successful fellows in the entertaiment industry who has been there, done that.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
ENJOYABLE; INFORMATIVE Jun 15, 2009
I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining and informative Gary Owens book. Interspersed with sound advice of a personal nature (including health issues and human relationships), together with an insiders career counsel for those with aspirations in the highly competitive voice over industry based upon Owens' own intensive and extensive real life experience, the humor throughout the book often made me laugh out loud.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Gary Talks About Gary Aug 20, 2006
Sorry Gary but this is not what I wanted. A "how-to" book it's not. This book skims over the industry and is mostly all "Gary" and his wonderful past. Okay, I concede, he's had a excellent career and I'd enjoy reading his bio but I did not intend to get it out of this book! I think Gary owes me a free VO session!
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 How to Make a Million Dollars with Your Book Sales... Dec 27, 2005
This book is padded with a lot of anecdotes--including a liberal amount of name-dropping--from Gary Owens' career. (And it's only a little over 200 pages at that.) If you look forward to reading some of his reminiscences (which admittedly can be amusing at times), then you might enjoy this book. But if you are hoping for much in-depth discussion or expert advice about the voiceover business, it's best to look elsewhere.
It's a shame, really--with Owens' experience and long career, he should have been able to produce a much better "how to" manual than this collection of self-indulgent musings. Although, it seems by his own narrative he came by most of his jobs through serendipity or knowing other people in show business, so maybe he just didn't have that much practical advice to impart to modern voice acting students. Anyway, he should have written a much different book, or at least given this one a title more indicative of the actual contents.
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