Over the past few days, I’ve been exploring Digital Narration for my books and I must say:
I’m impressed.
I played around with this tech a year or so ago, and I wasn’t that wooed. It was good—definitely better than Siri reading my books—but it still had that “tinny” sound that made me want to hide in a bucket of cold water.
Fast forward to March 2025, and the marketplace is seemingly bursting at the seams with the number of tools available to authors.
In fact, it seems a new one is springing up every day.
More:
Companies like Spotify, Amazon, and a slew of other publishing companies are racing to stock digitally narrated audiobooks, and for good reason, too.
Digitally narrated audiobooks are much quicker to produce and provide an affordable option for readers to access audio versions of their favourite books. I know the use of AI technology attracts its critics (mostly among writers for some reason), but I see it as a win-win for all — including human narrators.
Allow me to explain…
Most human-narrated audiobooks outside of an Audible subscription can set you back a whopping $20-$30. Per book. A digital voice audiobook, on the other hand, will not even cost you half of that (at least at my Storehouse it won’t).
As far as my masterplan (if you can call it that) goes:
I plan on stocking a Digital Voice version of my audiobooks and then using the proceeds of those sales to hire a human narrator for that man-made “finish”… and then offer both versions alongside each other.
I know, mind-blowing stuff, right? 🤯
I mean, it doesn’t get any (un)sexier than that.
And I share this masterplan not to win the cheers and back scratches of my loyal Legionnaires (though you’re more than welcome to respond accordingly…), but rather because that’s exactly what I’m doing right now alongside the edits of Book #5.
I’ve picked a tool.
I’m learning its ways.
I am tweaking the audiobooks to ensure pronunciations are correct, and there’s a very real possibility you could get your sticky little mitts on them by next week.
Oh yes, Legionnaire. I wasn’t having a giraffe when I spoke about efficiency.
In the meantime, why not get yourself acquainted with its digital counterpart — the ebooks?
You can find them here:
DJJW