Audio Books

AndreWright90 said:
Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do ;) I understand what you mean to be honest, but sometimes it's better that way
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Maybe it's tolerable to some people, but I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to try an audiobook because it's very likely to put them off audiobooks entirely. A skilled voice actor doing a proper job makes a great deal of difference to an audiobook. Text to speech software is a completely different thing. It's more than the difference between highest quality fresh ground coffee and lowest quality instant coffee powder swept up from the dregs of dried coffee. Technically the same thing, but really rather different things.

What you'd need for a good automated text to speech audiobook is a program that can understand a book in the same way a person can and make the subtle changes in speech that people make to indicate context, emotions, thoughts, distractions...everything that's included in writing. It would also have to be able to determine which text was being spoken by which character in order to make the voicing consistent, in addition to the aforementioned changes applied correctly for each character and for text not spoken by a character. That's not currently possible. TTS is far better than it used to be and it's a very useful aid to people who can't read or have trouble reading easily, but it's not comparable with a good voice actor for reading a book.
 
Hi guys,

I started a 30 day audible trial and nearly finished the book I chose. I was under the assumption that £7.99 a month allowed me to pick and choose whatever book I wanted but it sounds like this isn't the case. If I get one credit a month, how do I pay for another book?
 
Andybtsn said:
Hi guys,

I started a 30 day audible trial and nearly finished the book I chose. I was under the assumption that £7.99 a month allowed me to pick and choose whatever book I wanted but it sounds like this isn't the case. If I get one credit a month, how do I pay for another book?
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You can either buy 3 extra credits for £17 - https://www.audible.co.uk/extra-credits
Or, you can buy the books direct through their web site, Amazon, or the app. You can use any payment method you've got linked up in Amazon.
 
Andybtsn said:
Hi guys,

I started a 30 day audible trial and nearly finished the book I chose. I was under the assumption that £7.99 a month allowed me to pick and choose whatever book I wanted but it sounds like this isn't the case. If I get one credit a month, how do I pay for another book?
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I started listening about 6 weeks ago and after I'd finished a book I returned it and got my credit back.
That worked for 8 titles and I'm not eligible to return the 2 since.
Bought 3 credits for £18 though so still better than ~£20 per book.

I try and get books that are 9+ hours so it's better value!
 
Andybtsn said:
Thank you, I've listened to this first book within a week so I'm guessing the more expensive sub might make sense for me.
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Also keep an eye open for the sales you get access to as a member (£3 a title seems to happen once a month or so for a couple of hundred titles), 2 for 1 offers and if you keep an eye on the kindle offers you can potentially pick up an ebook for £1 then add the audible version for £3-5 as they discount the audible cash price if you have the ebook ;)
 
Andybtsn said:
Thank you, I've listened to this first book within a week so I'm guessing the more expensive sub might make sense for me.
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I'm on the 2 book subscription and have been for 10 years I think. Sitting at close to 1000 books now. 90% of them listened to. Very few returns over that period as well. Daily deals, 2 for 1's, general freebies... dread to think how much it's cost me over that time, but it's been worth it. My sanity remains... Just about anyway. ;)
 
I highly recommend the free Audible production about the hunt for the Golden State Killer.

At first I had my doubts and was contemplating abandoning the audiobook because the surviving victims (before he became a killer) describe, in their own words, the ordeals they endured. Normally I really don't like this sort of stuff, but it must have taken so much courage for them to tell their stories, after years of keeping quiet because of the stigma attached to rape victims in the past, I figured I owe it to them to hear what they had to say.

I'm so glad I stuck with this book. The detectives, many now retired, describe how they managed to connect the crimes, then connect the rapes cases to the later rapes and killings, then finally realise it isn't 3 different serial offenders. It's one man.

Then as technology finally progresses they hunt for the owner of the killers DNA and finally ID their man, then gather evidence and move in on him.

It's a superb book, loads of ups and downs, twists and turns and all recounted by the people involved.

Another good free Audible production is the hunt for the DC sniper, I won't go on about that one but it's also in the same format and really good.
 
[FnG]magnolia said:
The one that turned me on to audio books was:

"11-22-63
One of the more recent Stephen King audiobooks on this list, 11-22-63 is King’s sci-fi alternate history novel in which Jake Epping, a 35-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, goes back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination. 11-22-63 is consistently praised for its story, its meticulous research, and Craig Wasson’s awesome narration. This one clocks in at 30 hours and 40 minutes, which at this point in the list probably feels like nothing to you. You got this."

He's very, very good. He's also done some James Ellroy and John Grisham work so one out of two isn't bad.
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@[FnG]magnolia I’ve nearly finished 11-22-63 and want more Wasson. I’ve read some Ellroy but I can’t find Ellroy/Wasson combinations on Audible. Am I a half-wit?
 
Listening to the Witcher books again because the TV series was just on. I’m a massive fan of Peter Kenny and he reads them all. He also read Iain M Banks books and the Culture novels are some of my favourite books. If you like the fantasy genre of books I highly recommend The Witcher series.
 
Tombstone said:
If you want a superb series of audiobooks. Then I have 3 words for you.

The Bobiverse series.

/endthread
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Yup. They're great. Bobiverse #4 and #5 should be out this year. Original plan was to be about a month apart in release date.

http://dennisetaylor.org/status-of-things/ said:
Status of Things
I’ll be trying to keep this page up to date with the current status of my projects. Check here for updates.

As of 2019-12-02

I’ve now finished writing, and I’ve handed the manuscripts to my editor. The final titles will be:

Heaven’s River – Part 1 – The Search for Bender

Heaven’s River – Part 2 – Perverse Instantiations

I’ve mentioned this before, but this is how the schedule goes:

The editing process consists of a set of back-and-forths that could take weeks up to a couple of months, depending on schedules. Then it goes into production, which means Ray records it and the post-production people do their magic. Then we establish a publishing date.

My intention is to release the two books a month apart, although Audible might have something to say about that. My agent would like to see them released at the same time. Right now, I’m thinking first half of 2020. I’m hoping spring, but as mentioned before, my estimating sucks. This project has taught me, though, that I need more discipline in my writing, so I’m going to start imposing deadlines on myself. My intention is to produce a new book every six to eight months for the next little while.
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The coming storm was a freebie last year on Audible and it was a great listen, esp about Noaa, accuweather and how rich companies are making billions from the free information they get from publicly funded NOAA.
 
I've been listening to Jo Nesbo's "The Thirst". I think it may be the unfamiliar Norwegian streets, towns, names etc.. but it got me thinking that as well as a good narrator, the character's lines could be acted out by other actors which would avoid the male narrator trying to do different voices for everyone, including the females.

Obviously it would be more costly to produce.
 
Dirk Diggler said:
I've been listening to Jo Nesbo's "The Thirst". I think it may be the unfamiliar Norwegian streets, towns, names etc.. but it got me thinking that as well as a good narrator, the character's lines could be acted out by other actors which would avoid the male narrator trying to do different voices for everyone, including the females.

Obviously it would be more costly to produce.
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I think what you've just described is an audio drama, or radio play;)
 
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