FAQ | APA September 2021 Online Speed Dating

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 (time TBD)

Open to members of the Audio Publishers Association: Lottery-chosen narrators will present themselves and their skills to audiobook producers online using Zoom for short introductions. Unlike our in-person Speed Dating sessions, this will not be one-on-one with each publisher, but there will be a wide range of publishers and producers dialed in and listening to your pitch. To be entered into the selection lottery, a prospective Speed Dater will register at www.AudioPub.org, create a profile on Erggo.US and upload a clip to the profile for evaluation. You must not have participated in APA Speed Dating for the past 2 years to be eligible.

Candidates must be registered and have created their Erggo profiles (complete with at least one uploaded clip) by 5pm ET, Sunday, August 22, 2021.

The final list of participants will be selected no later than September 7.

FAQs:

What should my clip include?

Your clip should be short (maximum 5 minutes), just one source, and should highlight your best skills – include dialogue and/or accents if that’s what you do well, but don’t feel you MUST include those.

Which publishers will be participating?

We won’t know until the week before the event, but we expect to have even wider participation than our in-person Speed Dating. Selected narrators will be sent a list of the attending publisher/producers. You will not be speaking to publisher/producers one-on-one, but rather presenting your skills to ALL the publisher/producers simultaneously.

I’ve never used Zoom, how will that work?

The selected narrators will be invited to a Zoom test session before the actual event to work out any issues with access, video and audio. We encourage you to try out Zoom for yourself first – call a friend and get a sense of how it works.

What will I need to complete my Erggo profile?

Before you create your profile, gather what you’ll need:

- a great photo - an appealing, straight-on shot.

- urls for on-line press about you. (Think self-promotion.)

- urls for websites you constantly use in your work. (Think dictionaries, pronunciation databases, etc.)

- your social media links.

- audio clips you’ll want the APA judges (and potential clients) to hear. (We recommend that you select your three strongest performances.)

Does it have to be perfect the first time?

No. You’ll be able to edit your Erggo profile any time you’d like. Just click profile in the lower menu bar, then settings. You can make all the changes there.

How do I subscribe to the speed-dating event?

You can subscribe to the event once you’ve registered as an Erggo user. When you’ve completed the sign-up and activation, click on events in the menu bar. In the “enter event code” field, type the code you received in the APA registration email. Click “go.” That’s it. You’re in!

Why does my photo load sideways or upside-down?

If you create your profile from a mobile device, the photo may load incorrectly. Here’s a link that will help.

I can’t activate my account, because I never received an activation email. What do I do?

Some mail clients grab the activation emails in spam filters. Have a quick look in the junk folder. When you find the Erggo email, just click the activation link. You’ll be all set.

I’m having trouble uploading samples to my profile. What’s happening?

There are file restrictions on samples: 10MB limit on MP3, WAV, FLAC, and MOV formats. If you try to upload larger files or other formats, the system will reject the activity. Our advice: Use MP3 files smaller than 10MB.

I’m STILL having trouble uploading samples to my profile. What’s going on?

Browser extensions (like AdBlock or Dashlane) can interfere with uploading files to your profile. Try disabling extensions, or in Adblock, whitelist the Erggo site. That should do it. (BTW Whitelisting should also clear up problems you may have with activation emails redirected to junk folders or spam filters.)

Any other questions?

Ask them in the comments section at the bottom of this page. We’ll answer them as soon as we can.