Tag Archives: Reading

Adventures in Audiobooks

As promised, here is my report on my experiences with the various free programs to convert ebooks into auto-generated audiobooks.

The first off Google.

Google’s conversion process offers 12 female and 12 male voice options with various accents.

You can use different voices for different characters within the book.

You can listen to the book, modify the pronunciation of words, and edit the text of the book. Improvements to the technology are automatically applied to all audio books.

You can charge and change your price as you like, including free.

The process is pretty simple, given the many options.

It takes only hours for the audiobook to be available for sale.

Next Apple via Draft2Digital.

This service offers you essentially no options. Apple/D2D chooses from 2 female and 2 male voices according to the story’s genre.

You can not listen to the narration before the book is released nor modify pronunciation or text.

You can charge what you like. Changes after release will cost money. You cannot withdraw the audiobook in the first six months.

The process takes a minute, given that you essentially have no options to choose from beyond price.

You can set your price, including free.

It takes months for audiobooks to be available for sale. Five of the twelve ebooks I uploaded on the first of January 2024 remain unconverted on the 29th of April 2024. Conversions appeared at random over the course of five months.

Lastly, Amazon.

You currently have a choice of five female voices including one with a British Accent, and three male voices. More are promised coming this summer.

Promised upgrades this summer include using different voices for different chapters, and improvements to the voices. It seems that you will need to manually republish the book to receive the upgrades.

You can listen to your audiobook and edit pronunciation and the speed a word is spoken prior to release.

You are limited to books under about 240K words, or 27 hours of audiobook narration.

Books require a table of contents. The Kindle Create app will add tables of contents automatically.

The process is simple, and depending on how much you want to review and modify, fast.

Minimum price is $3.99. Audiobooks are listed in both Audible and Amazon

Are auto-generated audiobooks worth it?

Note: My audiobooks are free on Google & Apple.

Google – First month sales 431 audiobooks vs 288 ebooks. Second month 1,179 audiobooks vs 506 ebooks, with 5,813 audiobooks sold April 2022 – Dec 2022. This month, April 2024 I’ve sold 461 copies of both audiobooks and ebooks to date.

Apple – Given the erratic release of my books, and the limits of D2D reports, I’ll offer my March and April-to-date numbers. In March I sold 33 audiobooks vs 63 ebooks. In April to date (28th) I’ve sold 51 audiobooks vs 83 ebooks. Five month total: 127 audiobooks sold.

Amazon – I am only including the sales of books at retail price. In March I sold five $3.99 audiobooks vs 40 paid books. Of those 40, 24 were my new releases. In April I sold 2 audiobooks vs 15 retail priced ebooks.

Major downsides.

Google – the necessity of converting your manuscript into an epub on your own which may not provide a perfect ebook to convert. The last book I converted missed chapter headings, so they did not appear in the table of contents for the audiobook, though the text was there. I changed the chapters titles to include them.

Apple – The lack of any options or control over the product and their whimsical attitude to actually publishing the audiobook.

Amazon – the limit to the length of the book, the limits to pricing.

My takeaway.

Audiobooks increase total sales significantly, and can boost ebook sales as well – in proportion to ebook sales volume. They extend your reach into a new and growing market. And, well, you’re in the game at no expense to you.

Auto-generated audiobooks provide an acceptable listening experience, especially if priced below human-voiced audiobooks. I’ve had no reviews critical of the narration, and rating parallel the ebook version. They will only get better over time. And probably fast.

All three programs are free to use vs hundreds to thousands of dollars needed for a human to read your book. This gives you flexibility in pricing.

Your Recipe for Writing

I’ve identified five ingredients that go into creative writing; talent, education, examples, practice, and life experiences. I wonder if and how everyone’s recipe for writing is different. So I am wondering, what’s your recipe for writing?

A talent for writing is an ability you’re born with enabling you to put words, sentences, paragraphs and stories together in a coherent manner. It’s the wellspring of inspiration, as well as the steel spring that drives you to write. Many people have stories in their head, but it takes a special talent to bring those stories out, find the words to fit them, and then, set them down – all the way to the end – without it being a class assignment.

Education can be a university MFA degree, college or night school courses taken, seminars attended in person or online, and/or reading and studying how-to-do books or articles on writing. Education offers a tool set of established conventions and techniques that can enhance, expand, and shape one’s intrinsic talent to write.

Examples are what I call the books, movies, and TV shows we’ve read, viewed and enjoyed which have informally informed our concepts of what storytelling is all about. These are sources of education and inspiration that we unconsciously absorb and inform the way we write. While we may absorb certain aspects of styles and subjects, they are not read as text books, though I suppose one can study them as such.

Practice is simply what we’ve learned about writing from writing, writing, writing, and writing over the hours, years, or decades we’ve done it.

Life experiences are what we bring to our writing from what we’ve experienced in living our real lives. It may also include the experiences of others that we have observed in our life. I’ve also placed mundane real world considerations, like having the place, the time, and the energy to write, as well as the tools to write, under this heading.

If you can think of any other ingredients that contribute to your ability to write, please feel free to include them. The question I have for you, dear readers, is what’s your recipe? Can you estimate the share of each of these ingredients in your writing? I expect that it varies from writer to writer and I’m certain other writers would be interested to see the different approach we take to do the one thing we all do.

To get the ball rolling, I’d say that, for me, I believe that talent accounts for 50% of my writing. I’m a big believer in talent. I had the desire to be a writer from the time I started reading. When I started college, I signed up as a journalism major. I wanted to learn to write, not read old books. But I realized that I was too shy to interview people, and decided that if I had the talent, I could write, and if I didn’t, education would not make up for the lack of it. So I switched majors and took my chances. I feel the same way today, some 50 plus years later. Talent is king.

For me, education only accounts for 5%. I took an agriculture journalism course in college, and later, a written communications class in night school when I was thinking of getting a certificate in technical writing. Neither of them had any influence on my writing. The 5% comes from just one class, the most useful class I ever took; my high school typing class. Learning to touch type on manual typewriters has been something I’ve used all my life. Of course you can write novels by hand, or by hunting and pecking, but being able to touch type makes getting ideas into words almost seamless. It’s only 5%, but It’s an important 5%.

Examples accounts for maybe 20% of my writing. I’ve read several thousand novels over the last 60 years and while they have certainly influenced my writing style, I don’t consciously try to imitate any particular writer or style. However, I do think they form the basis of what I think a story should be. Plus, some books, TV shows, and genre fiction have inspired me to write my own versions of their themes.

Practice probably accounts for 15% of my writing. I find it hard to tease this factor out from talent, as it is a direct expression of one’s talent. On one hand that number seems low, but on the other hand, for better or worse, I don’t see a lot of evolution in my writing over the years. Little things have gotten better; but I think I’ve always had a certain voice, and that goes back to my first adult work, some 40 years ago.

Lastly, there’s life experiences. I’m left with 10% to allocate to my life experiences. I don’t think I’m skimping too much in this category. Thankfully, I’ve lived a nice uneventful life, so my real life plays no part in my writing. The 10% in this category comes from the tools and time of life that I now enjoy; which is to say the time retirement has given me to write, and the computer – with spell checking, – that I use to write, as well as the internet, ebooks, and the self publishing opportunities that living in the 21st century has provided. All these things have made writing so much easier. I’ve written a novel and a long novella on a manual typewriter, and when I was working, so I know it is possible to do without all these modern inventions, but they never got published, and it is unlikely that I would have written what I have published, without computers, ebooks, and the prospect of self publishing my work, making effort worthwhile.

So my recipe is 50% talent, 5% education, 20% influences, 15% practice, and 10% life, which should add up to 100% if I got my math right. Now, what is your recipe?

Is “Good Writing” Worth the Effort?

Have you ever been surprised to see many 5-star ratings and enthusiastically positive reviews for a book that’s poorly written? Meaning typos, clunky sentences, and weak or repeated words? I’ve seen this often enough to conclude that it’s not explained by authors’ friends doing them favours.

Then I read a post via a link from the blog of the estimable blogger who calls himself Chris the Story Reading Ape. He searches the blogosphere for posts of interest to writers. The one that caught my interest is titled What is “Bad Writing?” (And How Can We Avoid It?)

For a direct link to the post, click HERE.

Janice Hardy’s post prompted the following unvarnished thoughts which I decided to share here. Remember that word as you read: unvarnished. (And maybe a bit snarky.)

The post questions the idea that fiction writers absolutely must produce polished prose if they want their novels to be read and appreciated.

For readers seeking undemanding entertainment, “good writing” (whatever that is) takes a back seat to the combination of good enough writing and a great story that piques curiosity. Quite simply, readers keep reading if a compelling question is posed at the beginning of a story or novel. They really don’t care if there are a few typos, along with “filter” words, words ending in “-ly,” or too many instances of “was.” They may not even care if there’s telling instead of showing, as long as the story being told moves along briskly toward an answer to the burning question. Who is the stalker? What’s in the box? What will X do when Y’s secret is revealed?

Some readers do care about the prose, though. Editors, for example, or readers who are also writers. These people read a lot and pay close attention to what they are reading. They notice sloppy sentences, bad habits, and careless use of language.

Some writers may wish to be strategic with their writing efforts, tailoring them for their intended readers and not bothering with effects those readers don’t appreciate. For self-published authors, that means potential book buyers; for writers seeking traditional publication, it’s agents and editors.

A successful self-published author of genre fiction knows that the most important element to attract readers is the urgent question, irresistible puzzle, or imminent threat. Plot is king. Next in importance is an amiable main character or engaging narrative voice. Less important are detailed descriptions, and possibly unimportant is artful prose, otherwise known as “beautiful writing.”

This author would direct their primary effort to devising irresistible situations and setting them up in the first few pages. After that, it’s a matter of structuring the plot in such a way that the reader is always thinking “What next?” And an ending that elicits a gasp or a sigh pretty much guarantees a five star rating.

The writer who intends to engage in querying traditional publishers must think in terms of creating a saleable written product. That means being aware of both current and recent trends. What might be about to peak, or what’s ready to make a comeback? Or what story elements push the envelope just enough that the gatekeepers will see it as potentially the next big thing?

In theory, the author aspiring to be trad-pubbed doesn’t need to worry much about honing and burnishing their prose, because if a publisher takes on their work, it will be put through the editing mill. What the writer absolutely does need to demonstrate is a willingness to be edited. That’s why a track record of publication in magazines, anthologies, and similar vehicles is advised.

At the same time, the writer’s submission must not irritate the people who read submissions for a living. Consider how many typos these folks see every day, not to mention eye rolls, shrugs, and raven-haired heroines. Clichés, excessive modifiers, typos, and tired tropes are not the best accessories in which to dress one’s original and edgy creation for its trip to the publishers’ gates. Spare and underdone might have a better chance than florid and breathless.

Except in the case of literary fiction, where some form of beautiful writing is definitely required. What that is depends on the tastes of the reader, which is why getting published is a crap shoot. Luck is definitely an element. To help tip the scales, the ambitious writer may find it worthwhile to direct their efforts as much to making personal connections with published authors as to polishing their prose. This is where pursuing an MFA in creative writing may pay off, or at least superior schmoozing skills deployed in carefully chosen workshops, courses, or retreats.

Setting aside all those tedious considerations, what about the personal standards of the indie author? Should we not aspire to produce gripping plots, relatable characters, intriguing settings, and artful prose? Aren’t these all necessary elements of good writing?

Yes, they are. And most authors at least intend to incorporate them all in their works. Exceptions may include successful authors who crank out several books a year to satisfy the many readers for whom they are an auto-buy. Their brand sells enough books that they don’t need to twiddle with every sentence.

To sum up, good writing isn’t always worth the effort, but often enough, it is. The wise writer will recognize those situations and act accordingly.

Fellow writers and authors, do you ever decide that “good enough” is good enough, or do you always strive for perfection in your published works?

Why?

— Mark Paxson

A sneak peek into our next video chat, which will be recorded this coming weekend …

One of the topics we’re going to discuss is “why do we read,” which I saw somebody ask on Twitter several months ago. Hell, it’s one of those questions I see people in the Twitter community ask at least once a week over on Twitter. But I thought it was an interesting question so I added it to our list for our conversations about writing.

Why?

Because, well, I guess if we don’t know why people read, how do we know what to write? And maybe even as important a question that grows out of that opening question of why we read is … why do we write?

So … in advance of our weekend chat, is there anybody out there who wants to share in the comments why they read? And for the writers out there, does that play at all into why or what they write?