Sell Custom Voiceover Commissions From Your Bio

Voice actors can sell custom voiceover commissions by listing a priced custom request: the follower submits a script or line, pays upfront, and the actor records and delivers the audio file within a set turnaround — turning a "say this in your voice" comment into a scoped, paid offer instead of a favor. Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.

Brillay's pricing page confirms the follower pays only the price you publish, with the platform fee and card processing counted separately — no negotiated invoice after the fact.

Requests for a custom read show up constantly for voice actors with any audience — a character voice for a follower's video, a birthday message, a phone greeting, a demo line for someone's app, much the way illustrators turn DM requests into paid commissions once the ask becomes frequent enough to price. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median hourly wage for actors of $29.05 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Actors). The same BLS handbook entry notes that "some actors do voiceover or narration work for animated features, audiobooks, or other electronic media" (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Actors). The BLS median measures booked acting work, not follower commissions, so treat the $29.05 figure as an hourly-value reference point rather than a commission price.

What counts as a custom voiceover commission?

A custom voiceover commission is a short, defined recording made for one requester rather than a full production job: a fixed script length, a stated character or tone, one set of takes, and one delivered audio file. A custom voiceover commission is not an open-ended audition, a multi-episode contract, or union-covered production work carrying reuse cycles and residuals.

Common formats include a birthday or celebration message, a short character-voice line for a follower's video or game mod, a voicemail or phone-greeting recording, a podcast or stream intro/outro, a short demo read, or an ASMR-style whispered read. Each format is bounded: one script, one voice, one file — the audio equivalent of how singer-songwriters scope a custom song request to one lyric brief and one recorded take.

Because the follower sends a written request and the actor returns an audio recording, a custom voiceover commission is a custom request on Brillay. Brillay's Custom Work page explains that a creator delivers a written note plus up to five files, and/or a private link for anything too large to attach directly, and that the follower can also attach their own files when they order. A request that only needs a short typed answer fits Paid Questions.

Should a voiceover request be a custom request or a Paid Question?

Use a custom request whenever the deliverable is a recorded audio file, which covers essentially every custom voiceover commission.

Brillay's Paid Questions page describes the format as: "A follower pays your set price, sends their question, and you reply with a written answer". A Paid Question fits "what mic do you record with?," not a delivered recording. A custom request lets the follower attach a script or reference clip when ordering and lets the actor deliver the finished audio file, at a creator-set price and a creator-set delivery time. Any request ending in "send me the recording" belongs in a custom request.

How do you price a custom voiceover commission?

Price a voiceover commission by scope — finished audio length, voice complexity, number of takes, delivery requirements, and usage rights — rather than by guessing one flat number. A 10-second birthday line and a 60-second character read with three takes are different jobs. Publish the scope limit inside the listing so the follower knows exactly what the price buys.

The table below deliberately carries no dollar figures, showing how scope should be shaped rather than what anyone charges — the same scope-first approach pet portrait artists use when tiering their own custom commissions.

To anchor the actual numbers, use published references rather than intuition. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median hourly wage for actors of $29.05 in May 2025 (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Actors), which gives a published reference point for valuing the studio time a commission consumes. Voices.com charges talent a platform fee it defines as "a 20% fee calculated against the talent quote" (Voices.com FAQ: What is the Platform Fee?), so a quote written for a casting site already has 20% built into it.

Also price against what the same read costs a follower elsewhere. Fiverr's Help Center states that Fiverr adds a service fee at checkout of 5.5% on all orders plus an additional $3.00 USD on orders under $100 USD. Applying that published Fiverr fee, a $20 gig costs a buyer about $24.10 at checkout, while a $20 commission bought directly from a bio link costs the follower $20. Commissions on your own page work differently: you set your own price, the brief is collected at checkout, and the work is paid for before you start.

State how many takes are included in the one final delivery, and whether background music or basic editing is included or priced separately. A narrow listing ("one 15-second greeting, one take, delivered as MP3") is easier to buy than an open-ended "custom voiceover" offer.

How long should delivery time take for a voiceover commission?

Set a delivery time you can hit reliably from your own recording calendar, and keep it inside Brillay's custom request delivery cap of up to 5 days. A single-line greeting recorded in one take needs the shortest window you can honor; a long multi-character script can consume most of the cap.

Brillay caps the creator-set delivery time for a custom request at up to 5 days (how Brillay works), so any listed delivery time must fit inside five days. Brillay's published delivery-time guidance is the cap; beyond it, choose the window from your own booking calendar rather than from a benchmark.

If a script arrives longer than listed or asks for content you don't want to record, decline the order rather than deliver something that doesn't match what you offered. Brillay's how-it-works page states: "You can decline it. You're always in control of what you take on".

What should a voiceover commission listing include?

Delivery is one-time. Every exclusion the listing leaves unnamed becomes a dispute later, so write the boundaries into the offer rather than into a reply after the follower orders.

• Script/line limit — for example, up to 20 words or 15 seconds of finished audio.
• Voice or character scope, and file format (MP3 or WAV, raw or lightly edited).
• Takes included — for example, one take delivered once.
• Usage rights — personal use only, unless commercial use is separately priced.
• Delivery time, and any exclusions (longer scripts, extra characters, commercial use) that need a custom quote instead.

The usage-rights line is the one worth writing carefully, because copyright in a recorded performance starts with the performer. The U.S. Copyright Office states in Circular 56 that "a sound recording typically includes the contributions of the parties whose performance is captured in the recording and the parties who captured and processed those sounds to make the final recording" (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 56: Copyright Registration for Sound Recordings). Paying for a commission is therefore not the same as buying the copyright, which is why a listing should say what the follower may do with the file.

Ownership transfers only under specific written conditions. The U.S. Copyright Office lists exactly nine categories of specially ordered or commissioned works that can be works made for hire, and a standalone sound recording is not among the nine — though a voice track supplied "as a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work" is one of them (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire).

"A specially ordered or commissioned work is considered a work made for hire if it satisfies all of the following four criteria… If a work fails to satisfy any of these requirements, it is not a work made for hire." — U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30: Works Made for Hire

In practice, that means a "personal use only" line plus a separately priced commercial tier is the safer default for a bio-link commission, and anything broader deserves a written agreement. This page is general information about scoping an offer, not legal advice.

Example listing text: "One 15-second greeting, one take, delivered as MP3, personal use only. Longer scripts or commercial use: message me for a custom quote." Writing a custom request offer this way keeps scope inside what the follower purchased.

How does selling direct to followers compare with a marketplace like Fiverr?

Selling from your own bio link means no annual membership and no listing fee before your first booking, and Brillay's platform fee applies only when a follower actually pays. A casting-site membership is owed for the year whether or not any audition converts, while a marketplace seller commission is charged only on orders that complete.

Fiverr's own Payment Terms set the seller's share of a completed order at 80%.

"As a Seller, each Order you sell and successfully complete, credits your account with Earnings equal to 80% of the purchase amount." — Fiverr Payment Terms of Service

Brillay's fee works the same way: it takes a percentage of each paid order, the same way a marketplace commission does. What a bio link removes is the standing annual membership and the marketplace's control over listing, pricing, and follower relationship — not the percentage itself.

Casting marketplaces are selling discovery — new clients who would never otherwise find you — while a bio link is built to serve followers who already know your voice. The two cost models differ in when money is owed: Fiverr's seller share of 80% applies only to orders that complete, while Voices.com's $499-per-year Premium membership and Voice123's $495-per-year plan are owed for the year whether or not a single audition converts. For an audience already built through content, dubs, or streams, a direct link avoids the annual outlay entirely. Card-processing costs still apply on any online payment: Stripe's published US pricing is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction (Stripe pricing), charged separately from Brillay's platform fee.

What if a request needs union scale or usage rights beyond a follower commission?

A follower commission is the wrong format for union-covered production work or broad commercial usage, both of which belong in a booked job or an agent-negotiated contract rather than a bio-link order. Union audio work is governed by a published contract with scheduled rate sheets, reuse cycles, and residuals that a flat-priced follower greeting does not carry.

SAG-AFTRA publishes minimum session fees for voice work under its Audio Commercials Contract, and the rate sheet currently in force is the Year 2 sheet covering April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027 (SAG-AFTRA Audio Commercials Contract). Consult that SAG-AFTRA rate sheet for the exact session-fee minimum in a given category rather than quoting a rounded figure, because covered work also carries usage terms, reuse cycles, and residuals that a flat-priced follower commission does not.

Audiobook narration is a similar case: it is a large, growing market contracted per finished hour or by royalty share, not sold as a flat follower commission. The Audio Publishers Association reports that 58% of Americans aged 18 and older — an estimated 157 million people — have listened to an audiobook, and its annual sales survey puts U.S. audiobook publisher revenue at $2.43 billion in 2025.

"The Audio Publishers Association Sales Survey, conducted by Toluna, shows audiobook sales revenue continuing to grow, reaching $2.43 billion in 2025, 9% over the previous year." — Audio Publishers Association

What else can voice actors sell alongside custom commissions?

A custom voiceover commission does not have to be the only paid option on a voice actor's page. Brillay also supports Tips, Goals, Personalized Videos, and Brand Collaboration Inquiries, so unscripted messages, supporter contributions, and commercial approaches each get their own lane instead of crowding the scripted-commission queue.

• Tips: support your work without ordering a specific recording.
• Goals: cash toward a stated goal, such as a new microphone or acoustic treatment, shown with a funding progress bar.
• Personalized Videos: an unscripted video message in your own words, rather than a scripted line you read as written.
• Brand Collaboration Inquiries: a separate intake form for apps, game studios, or brands that want to discuss a commercial project, kept off your general order queue.

Each of those offers is toggled on or off individually on a Brillay page. Keep the commission listing focused on scripted, single-file recordings, and route unscripted messages or brand-scale inquiries elsewhere — the same lane-separating logic BookTok creators apply when pricing a custom reading list apart from general recommendations. Scoping a narrow offer like this turns your expertise into a paid micro-service, and how voice actors make money covers the wider income picture, including union work and marketplaces.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about selling voiceover commissions cover representation, format choice, oversized scripts, and cost. No agent or union card is required to sell a follower commission; recorded deliverables belong in a custom request; oversized scripts should be declined; and the last answer sets out what Brillay charges.

Do I need an agent or union membership to sell voiceover commissions to followers?

No. A follower commission is a direct transaction between the voice actor and the requester, separate from agency representation or SAG-AFTRA-covered production work. SAG-AFTRA's Audio Commercials Contract governs booked union jobs with published rate sheets, usage terms, and residuals, and its current rate sheet runs April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027 — a different arrangement from a short, personally-priced recording sold from a bio link.

Should a voiceover request be a custom request or a Paid Question?

Use a custom request whenever the deliverable is a recorded audio file. Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.

How is this different from selling on Fiverr or a casting marketplace?

Fiverr's Payment Terms credit a seller with 80% of the purchase amount on each completed order, and Voices.com charges talent $499 per year for a Premium membership. Selling from a bio link removes the annual membership and keeps pricing between the actor and the follower; Brillay's platform fee is owed only when a follower pays.

What if a follower sends a script that's longer or more involved than I priced?

Decline the order, or point the follower to a larger, separately priced tier before you start recording. A clear script-length or take limit in the listing up front reduces how often oversized requests arrive.

Who owns the recording after a follower pays for a commission?

Paying for a commission does not by itself transfer copyright. The U.S. Copyright Office lists nine categories of specially ordered or commissioned works eligible to be works made for hire and requires a signed written agreement in every case (U.S. Copyright Office). State the usage grant in the listing — for example, personal use only, with commercial use priced separately. This is general information, not legal advice.

What does Brillay charge for a voiceover commission?

No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate: Brillay runs payments and payouts through Stripe, a creator must complete Stripe onboarding before receiving money, and Stripe's published US card pricing of 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic transaction applies on top of the platform fee.

Create your free Brillay page and turn the next "can you record this?" comment into a priced commission instead of a favor.