Hello! I've been listening to some of your lovely podfics and looking through your tumblr, and my big question is, if I suddenly decide to do a podfic of someone's story do I just rock up and record and present to them saying 'ta dah! here you are'. What if they really hate what you've done? I have to say, I would like to do podficcing - I often read aloud to myself and enjoy reading to my children. I am also somewhat intimidated by the idea of trying sound like Sherlock/BC. Run out of space!
Hello Shineyfire! I hope you don't mind my answering publicly, as your questions come up for a lot of us podficcers.
if I suddenly decide to do a podfic of someone's story do I just rock up and record and present to them saying 'ta dah! here you are'
The polite thing to do is check the author's position on derivative works. I usually start by looking for them on the Blanket Permission to Podfic list, or more specific to our corner of fandom, the Sherlock Transformative Works Policy List. But those lists aren't super up-to-date, so next I'll haunt their profile pages (on A03 or tumblr or wherever) to see if they have a preference. If they don't declare an openness to derivatives in an obvious place, I contact them directly to ask if they would mind. Sometimes I run ahead and record before getting an answer, and if the author says no, the recording doesn't get posted (it's happened once or twice). But they say yes, most of the time, and they always recognize the compliment inherent in your desire to perform their words.
Sometimes authors have particular requests, like limits on changing content or the like, which I think is fair as their name and work will be associated with what you produce. If I'm planning something drastic, I try to check in to see if they care, but often don't get a message back (*sniff*) which I take as an OK to proceed.
By and large, permission to record isn't dependent on quality or interpretation. In this culture of not-for-profit transformative works, we are used distancing ourselves from our published products to facilitate the encouragement creativity, instead of feeling entitled to restrict production. I've never had an author request a change to something posted (though I've only been in this game a year, maybe others have stories?)
What if they really hate what you've done?
A weird by-product of that is authors can appreciate and even promote your podfic without actually liking it themselves. And that is hard to swallow as these recordings are often made in praise of them, but hey, they are only one (or two) people of many potential listeners. Podfic aren't everyone's cup of tea, and I'd rather someone let me play with their words for the enjoyment of others than tell me "Not unless I like it".
I have to say, I would like to do podficcing - I often read aloud to myself and enjoy reading to my children.
Yay! Do it! It's fun, and funny, and sometimes hard but lovely to share. If you are wondering about how, I've posted before about methods, with links to other resources from others.
I am also somewhat intimidated by the idea of trying sound like Sherlock/BC.
Ah ha, yes. Gods, won't it be lovely to sound like Cumberbatch. I would just lay about growling and smoldering all day, with the occasional titter and snerk for contrast.
There is no right way or standard for performing these characters in podfic. Some people do accents (and we all have accents already), some try to imitate speech patterns, some keep it clean by staying in their own voice.
I find my version of John and Sherlock change a lot with the fic as well. Authors have often said my take was different from how they imagined the text, which I don't doubt, but going from fic to fic, there are elements of the author's characterisations that really change what can be performed through their words. Going back to the Sherlock of ACFB for the alternate scenes is a bit of a shock because he feels so young compared to the version at the end of ACFB, not mention the contrast with BC's version through series 3.
Run out of space!
*grin* And I've taken unfair advantage of the limit less reply. Thanks for the ask, and I hope you enjoy podficcing soon!