Audiobooks

 by Sybil Johnson

I'm a firm believer that every book should be available in as many formats as possible. They all serve their own purpose. I admit I prefer print books in general, but I don't hate the other versions. I like ebooks for when I travel or when my eyes are tired. Enlarging the font in the latter case is a big help. I've listened to audiobooks a fair amount, sometimes because it's the only version available of an older book. I even have a few favorite narrators who I think do a particularly good job. Audiobooks are also important so those who are blind or have particularly bad eyesight can enjoy the books.

One of the things I waned when my Auora Anderson mystey series came out was it to be available in audiobook format. I listen to music, podcasts and audiobooks when I paint. I’m sure other crafters do this as well so I thought this would be a good fit. Especially since the books are set in the world of decorative painting.

So I was pretty excited when the first 3 books came out from Tantor Media. I got an advance for each one. I also got to put my two cents in for whch voice over aritist would narrate the book. Unfortunately, they didn't sell well enough for Tantor to pick up books 4 (Designed For Haunting) and 5.(Ghosts of Painting Past.)

Recently, I discovered that audiobooks for books 4 and 5 are available through Amazon. They are AI generated. Apparently, they've been available for a while. I just didn't know about it.

I have mixed feelings about AI narrated audiobooks. On the one hand, they make books available in audio that probably wouldn’t be otherwise. On the other hand, they take away work from voice over artists who would do a better job than any AI narration.

I was curious so I bought the audio narration for books 4 (Designed For Haunting) and 5 (Ghosts of Painting Past) to see what they’re like. It only cost me $1.99 since I had bought the ebook versions. Otherwise, they are $9.99. Still cheaper than ones created the traditional way. Or, if you have an Audible subscription, you can listen to them through that.

They actually weren’t that bad. They start by saying that it uses “virtual voice computer gnerated narration for audio books”. The voice that was chosen by my publisher was nice. In general, it did a good job. Dialog wasn’t bad (probably would be better if voiced by a real person). Some syllables were stressed differently than I would do it, but overall it was good. It didn’t say “guacamole” correctly, leaving off that last –e syllable. That was the only issue I heard. Overall, I could listen to it without cringing. (Okay, I cringed when I heard the words I wrote, but that’s just me.)

This was probably a good solution for these two books since it was unlikely any company would want to put out those two books as audiobooks.

As I see it, the advantages for AI narrated audio:

• Cheaper to produce
• Cheaper for customer to buy
• The fact it’s cheaper to produce means more books that wouldn’t have audio book versions would have them.

The disadvantages:

• Takes away work from voice over artists
• Voice over artists still do a better job of narration

I know some authors who are exploring this option for their books. I’m curious about how even to do it. What’s the process? How many options are there in terms of voice? Can you have multiple voices? So many questions.

I think I will be looking into this in the future. I’ll let you know what I find out.

What are your opinions about AI narration for audiobooks?