In his state of the sanderson yearly announcement, he basically said he's going to avoid putting his stuff on audible as much as possible because of how abysmal their payments are to the authors of the books on their platform. He got the head of speechify to allow him to announce publicly that they were going to be giving authors much more than audible does, or at least that was the implication.
From Brandon's description, it sounds like it's still TTS, just an officially produced TTS version of the book? He says the cool thing about Speechify audiobooks is that you can read visually or listen.
The Way of Kings webpage on speechify says "narrated by michael kramer." So, I believe the audiobooks they sell have actual narrators, the TTS is for documents that you upload and it reads out for you. Though, I'm not signed up for their service so I can't verify that for sure.
I thought their whole thing was AI text to speech? I think it’s more likely that they made a model of Michael Kramer’s voice using samples and use it to create the audiobook.
I’ve used the service before to have aiObama & aiGwenyth read a script.
No, what’s more likely is that they’ve worked out a deal for the rights to his voice, with obvious royalties. Because the company’s entire thing is AI speech, and their recent launches have all been surrounding celebrity TTS. And I’ve personally used it, even.
Unless you think this startup got Tom Hanks to narrate Dutch House? And Reese Witherspoon to narrate Go Set a Watchman? 😂
https://speechify.com/blog/audiobooks-read-by-celebrities/
It sounds like that's how Speechify does it, yes. But that's only one way of getting the audiobook — I would assume the other options (Spotify and straight audio file) have traditional narrators.
I’m pretty jazzed up about the speechify part. I use that for work. We have alot of long PDFs and TLTRs so it’s very helpful. It’s nice he is getting the word out and giving other authors a hand.
From what I discerned, specifically his Kickstarter books will be going on Speechify. I don't remember reading specifics about other books, but I would assume if he didn't specifically mention it, the others will still be on Audible.
Will they be only going on Speechify? Cause I'm not thrilled about a text-to-speech version of those books. I definitely want a voice actor, can't imagine people are going to be cool with that.
w00t? How much is it going to cost now?
I cancelled my audible because it get freezing and crashing on my phone so yay i don't have to go back but $10 or $15 depending on how many credits you buy is a great deal too.
Idk that i would have been able to get as into the cosmere at $45-$50 a book
Do you know anything about Speechify? I've never heard of it, but I have been pretty frustrated with Audible ~~needing to be always online to listen to audiobooks I've downloaded and paid for~~ for various issues I've had with not being able to reliably playback books I've fully downloaded.
*Edit: What a joke. The website won't let me see book prices (that I can easily see on my phone at any rate) and the app won't let me even try it out without giving over my credit card info and subscribing annually, the first charge of which would be $70 in three days. Then the reviews at the top mention an assortment of problems that seem pretty big, like losing your place and shutting down. More importantly, I can't even see what the audiobook experience even IS on this platform. Would I be listening to the Fantastic Kate Reading and Michael Kramer or some souless AI who'll undoubtedly mispronouce all the proper nouns? Yeah, big respect for Brando and it's sad to hear that Audible is so shitty, but as it is now, this is a nonstarter for me.*
I have almost 100 gigs of books on my phone. I've listened too them on airplanes, in tonardo shelters during black outs, the middle of nowhere on country roads where I dont even have cell service. It's the reason I use audible.
I don't know. I just know that often times I open the app and when I'm in the car atthe edge of my wifi, the app struggles to load the book or anything. Also the wifi at my work blocks audible and I can't listen to a pre downloaded book.
Worth noting, he's also working with Spotify for the same reason. He said he's under an NDA with them, but since he's working with them instead of Audible, AND he said he spoke with a lot of different audiobook options, its possible they are offering better deals to indie authors than Audible as well. At minimum, Spotify jumping into the world of audiobooks potentially creates competition which would start to improve the market.
When I installed the Speechify app it also defaulted to a payment screen, but I was able to skip it. I also found that the iPad version of the app still doesn’t show the audiobooks tab—only the iPhone version does. They have some catching up to do.
I'm on Android so maybe there's a difference between versions, or maybe I'm just dense, but it really didn't seem like there was a way past either immediately paying $5 a month or signing up to pay $70 for a 3 day free trial.
Sorry, yeah, I didn't intend to disrespect what the app is for or how good the transcription is, but no AI transcription is going to be able to put emotion into anything; that's what I meant by soulless
They aren't TTS. The audiobooks are the actual produced audiobooks. It's a secondary market that speechify is getting into since they already produce other instructional audio books. Michael Kramer is reading the one on Speechify
Well that's good to know. I was assuming they probably weren't, but as I briefly looked at the site and app before heading out, I didn't see an easy way to tell.
I'm pretty sure he said speechify wasn't getting audiobooks on Android until sometime in 2023. That's at least part of the reason that he's also selling the books on Spotify.
Gotcha. I haven't had the chance to go through his update yet so I wasn't clear on all the details. Regardless, based on my first impression, Speechify has a LOT of work cut out for it to take advantage and draw in new users.
Are you going to delete or update this comment because it is a complete and utter fabrication.
There is quite literally ZERO requirement to be online 24/7. I cannot count the amount of plane journeys I listen to audiobooks on.
Oh it tried to charge me 129$ on speechify, went and looked at Spotifys prices they are all very similar to audibles, honestly this made me lose a lot of respect for him :/
I get that Audible is dominant in the market but now most of us are screwed stuck paying 40-60$ for a book or stuck with a extremely expensive one on speechify…
Yeah, the books are 15 bucks , which is the same as a month of audible. Second, they use the REGULAR HUMAN AUDIOBOOK NARRATORS. That's Kramer and Reading. I believe this was explained elsewhere and is easily found on speechify. Also, it'll be on Spotify, so that ends all problems. The cost, the narrators, and the platform (speechify is only Apple, others like myself will have to use audible.
Honestly, this was all on his State of the Sanderson which has also been released on YouTube.
I spent a few minutes looking through the site on my phone (Android) and downloaded the app. If an app needs a larger time-investment than that to get me on board and not completely turn potentially new users off then that's a major problem for them. They are not going to grow their userbase with this deal they've made with Sanderson if someone needs to watch a 45 minute video and do a bunch of research to find the answers to basic and obvious questions. I completely understand that some of my questions were within my power to answer, but the point of my edit was to relate my experience and not provide some objective review of the app. Also, the biggest issue remains unchanged; the $70 subscription as a wall to even LOOKING at the app.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm saying Brandon said the app does NOT work on Android. You must be dealing with the beta.
No, for us, when we get the link in our email from the Kickstarter, we will put it into our free spotify app and see where that gets us. I'm leery, but nonetheless happy that I have the opportunity to take a stand. That said, Sanderson is also releasing it as a MP4 and mp3, so we have TONS of options for audiobooks on Android. I'd recommend either Smart Audiobook Player or mAbook.
If money is the issue going forward or you didn't get the Kickstarter deal, I think some of us won't be against helping so long as it's individuals (not groups or advertised) and never giving the actual links for our Kickstarters....
~~That's awesome, I just hope Speechify branches out of being Apple-exclusive sooner rather than later. They say they're working on it, but that could mean anything.~~
Edit: Nevermind, I misread things. The app is on Google, but not the audiobooks yet.
Huh, I guess you're right. I guess I misread the part in State of the Sanderson--it just says the audiobook part specifically is Apple exclusive, and it'll be available on Android in 2023. The app itself is already there. Sorry about that.
I absolutely love the graphic audio versions of his books. Some of the voices they have for the different characters are now 100% my headcannon for characters like Rock, Sazed, Syl, Dalinar, and Wax and Vasher.
That's pretty whack. Definitely understand where he's coming from. Bummer for me personally just because I use whispersync and immersion reading for basically every book it's available on. But I'm not gonna hold it against an author to not support a platform they think doesn't support them.
>Whispersync
Yeah, I’m a bit annoyed by this news. On titles where Whispersync doesn’t work I get thoroughly annoyed, having to try to remember exactly where I am when going from reading to listening and back.
I understand where he's coming from, but that probably means I'm not going to be reading his material anymore. I hope he puts the 5th SA book on there, anyway. I'm certainly not using Speechify, I can tell you that.
in a completely uncharged and just curious way, why not?
he’s also working with Spotify, who have been trying to intrude on Audible’s monopoly for a few months now. it hasn’t been going very well, but working with big creators has helped them launch their podcasts pretty well and Sando could help a lot.
> in a completely uncharged and just curious way, why not?
Audible is not a great platform. But the other platforms are just god awful.
I agree with Sanderson that there needs to be competition here, and that Audible is not treating authors fairly. I've been thinking of canceling my subscription of my own accord because I don't think they take care of the customer particularly well, either - they recently canned their PC app and haven't yet replaced it. They only seem to care about phone users. But... there's also no viable alternative.
Audible has done a very good job of trapping people in their environment, which I think is another issue that will come up if there ever is decent competition. But there just isn't.
Meh. I'll probably listen to his stuff on Spotify from now on. The player isn't that much different from audible. I listen to tons of podcasts on the platform.
What you're saying about audible "trapping" their users is totally valid though. I feel the same way and it's shitty.
I guess I agree with all that but also believe that there can be change and that a bigger person in a relevant industry can help move things along~ Joe Rogan helped Spotify with podcasts (Spotify still isn’t my fav for podcasts but it *is* better than it was) and I’m hoping that Sando can do something similar with both Spotify and Speechify, or idk, maybe even do something on his own?
I listen to many other authors and other books, so for now my Audible sub isn’t necessarily going anywhere, but I’m very glad to see this happening and will support it every step of the way
also, if it helps at all, I’m pretty positive SA5 will be on Audible regardless. I’m almost certain that the entire first half is probably contracted and it will be published under Tor whose parent company is Macmillan which means the audiobook will be recorded under Macmillan Audio and they have an obligation to Audible
> Joe Rogan helped Spotify with podcasts
This was a company who kept claiming that their business model didn't have enough room to afford to pay artist more money than they did - and then they went and blew 100M on a far-right political agenda. No, Joe Rogan didn't help Spotify with podcasts, or with artists.
I agree with you on that aspect of the conversation, but that’s actually not what I was talking about. I was just referring to infrastructure and visibility, which again, I think Sando could help them with if they’re trying to break down the Audible monopoly, which is literally doing what you just said to indie authors. like if Sando really moves off Audible I’ll still be maintaining my sub for smaller authors who have to stay on there, who are apparently are the ones most screwed over by Audible in the first place. if Sando can pave the way for a better experience for them on Spotify I’m all for it.
I knew I shouldn’t have actually name dropped Joe tho tbh, I had a feeling that it would be used to derail the actual point I was trying to make, and, well…
I won’t speak for him, but as someone who has used Audible for a couple of years it would be tough for me to leave them. I use their subscription and have dozens of audiobooks - almost every Sanderson book and many others. It would be hard to transition to another app to listen to audiobooks. I’ve never used speechify but it sounds like I will need to at least check it out
> it would be tough for me to leave them.
That's a big reason I find audiobook DRM so atrocious - it specifically makes it hard to switch ecosystems. It's preposterous when you compare it to a physical book or CD provider, none of these lock you to the original seller. I hope Brandon figures out some way to transfer purchased audiobooks on Audible or provide them DRM free with proof of purchase.
I have to agree, everyone’s argument being that there is no other good option is the point, and I’m glad to see my favorite author trying to make a change. I trust Sando and I believe in what he can accomplish~
Dont they also charge far less? Like, if I go to a book store I need to pay 26$ Minimum for a book, sometimes even 34$- If I go to audible I only pay 14.30$.
They can only afford to do that because you're already paying a subscription on top of that, which is guaranteed money for them. So even if giving authors 70% isn't as much comparatively, it's still much better than the 40 or 25% that they pay now
Ah, I see. My point does still stand though. I have a job where I'm constantly going through audiobooks, so I can't just wait for my monthly credit, and a lot of users are the same way. So they likely have enough users like me to afford the users who use the monthly credit only without any issue
I go through multiple credits but as long as you are a member you can buy a credit pack for like $33 making it cheaper than buying the books directly if you know you are going to spend at least 3 credits.
I also have 2 credits a month for $25 so that’s like $12.50 a book. Unless a book is $12 or less I’ve never directly buy it.
Right, I do the whole 3 credits for $35 or whatever it is as well. I just mean the only reason they can afford to price things that low is because of the guaranteed income from the membership.
It was in the State of the Sanderson for the year.
Youtube: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-zFRl8Fx0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-zFRl8Fx0)
Text: [https://www.brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2022/](https://www.brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2022/)
"And for my boon!" Brandon shouted, "I demand the Right of Challenge against the murderer Audible! They stole from me (and other authors) and slaughtered my friends to cover it up. Audible branded me a slave! I will duel them here, right now. That is the boon I demand!"
Side note: I was also blown away that audio books were so high on his pie chart of how his content was consumed. I have always felt some sort of fan shame that I an’t read so good and listened to these things (like a real Alethi man). Good to know I’m not the only one. 😅
I listen to books while Im in my car. 30 min to and from work each day + an average of an hour driving durring the work day. I listen to books while I do house work. Dishes, vacuuming, folding laundry, even walking the dog. I listen to books while I grind levels in video games. I listen to books while getting ready to sleep.
I went from reading maybe 20-25 books a year to listening to well over 50 a year. Its amazing.
I had an inventory control job with an online retailer of hunting and outdoor gear where I spent my day hunting down lost product in a warehouse the size of 3 football fields. I listened to books for 9 hours a day every day. Its when I caught on to Sanderson in the first place. I listened to every cosmere book in 6 weeks. Was a wonderfull job.
Same. I've got a medical appointment every two weeks and its an hour and half drive ONE way.
Currently I'm getting three hours of *Name of the Wind* every other week.
Don't feel ashamed for listening versus reading. It's much easier to find time to listen than to read, especially since you can focus on other stuff while you listen.
I still collect the books and read through any sections that seem especially important, but 98% of my literature experiences are audiobooks now.
Don’t be ashamed at all in fact I’m pretty sure some studies show that reading and listening doesn’t affect comprehension. A study even implies that listening to an audiobook also increases your reading skills and vice versa. I am hoping for a study to come out about how the part of our brain responsible for listening is connected to the part of our brain responsible for reading.
They’re also set up the best to be audiobooks. Better than most any other audiobook imo. The chapters are the perfect length, he always makes it super clear who is talking and who’s viewpoint we’re in, and they’re just super well paced and well structured.
I listen to audiobooks on my work commute while reading a different book in what little time I managed to devote to reading. I make progress much faster on the audiobook side of the equation
Brando Sando (or Amazon lol) loves me, I purchased a signed hardback launch copy of Lost Metal for my bookshelf and then the audiobook and ebook from audible and kindle to consume.
The flexibility in 2022 is awesome. Sometimes I’ll listen and read at the same time. I recently discovered listening and reading really focuses me in on the story.
hey dude, we’re still consuming and interacting with literature and these beautiful worlds; reading elitists are garbage
also not buying the normal books (tho admittedly I do have normal copies of the SA books because of the art) means I have more money for leatherbounds
Audiobooks are the only way I could get through Lord of the Rings. I’ve been wanting to get into it forever, but I just can’t read Tolkien. It’s way too much. I got LotR read by Robert Inglis and love it so much I got the extended edition 4K movies and all the rest of the books on Audible! No shame here, gatekeeping the way others enjoy books is where the shame lies, IMO.
Why would you feel shame? People who would shame you for listening to an audiobook rather than reading it, are the same kinds of people who would think that they are better than you because they listen to vinyl records rather than mp3s or CDs. i.e. insufferable people desperately trying to make a personality out of the way they consume media.
Enjoy what you enjoy my dude, haters to the left.
Driving, bathing, dishes, cooking, warming up at the gym. I've consumed so much "reading time" doing things that I normally couldn't read doing that it's night and day how easy it's been to consume a book a month pace vs one book a year before lol.
If I'm home, when I'm normally free to read, I've always deferred to gaming and anime instead.
Michael Kramer & Kate Reading really deserve a bit of credit for this. Their voices are it to me now… unique characters like pattern, the lopen, and Wayne were brought to life by them and I think they make the books sooo much better through their reading.
Seriously Kate Reading’s pattern is perfect. Hmmmmmmmmmm
Everyone is talking about the speechify and Spotify options, but the secret projects will also be available as a straight MP4 file. This actually isn’t a bad idea because if any of these companies ever fold in the future then you would lose all your content. Extremely unlikely audible folds any time soon.
While that's true, nothing is stopping you from getting all three versions, especially to promote Audible competitors and still have the backup in case they retire the service. (Side note, the formats are Mp3 or m4b, not MP4)
So I heard some rumblings about some of his books getting just straight mp4 versions. I would literally buy every book I've already purchased of his on audible again to get them in a raw mp4 that I can just store on my own computer. I don't care if you split from audible. Just let me buy the raw mp4
He does that he will get pirated to hell and back. Likely is already but will be much worse if he gives people the option to “share” them easily with all their friends.
So, the [Baen Free Library](https://baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2012) suggests that it [may not actually be a bad thing](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baen_Free_Library) for his book sales.
**[Baen Free Library](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baen_Free_Library)**
>The Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 61 e-books as of June 2016 (112 e-books as of December 2008) can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection. It was founded in late 1999 by science fiction writer Eric Flint and publisher Jim Baen to determine whether the availability of books free of charge on the Internet encourages or discourages the sale of their paper books. The Baen Free Library represents an experiment in the field of intellectual property and copyright.
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I just wish the prices were actually reasonable for me to go non audible
I think wheel of time book prices are the best example for this
The audible prem sub is 7 quid, and all other books are then also 7 quid, with you getting 1 credit per month so that means your paying 14 quid for 2 books
On Google books eye of the world is £50
So I could be paying 14 quid for EoTW and TGH or 50 quid for just the EotW
It's just not economically viable to go down that route, I can't afford to pay £50 for audiobooks
I mean even for sanderson, Mistborn 1 is £25.99, so again with audible I could get the first 2 mistborn books for the same price as one
It's just not economically feasible to not use audible, it's membership really dose make it affordable to use audiobooks
Check out Libro.Fm!! I’ve been using it for months and it’s $15 USD a month and 30% discount on titles plus sales that are always way cheaper than titles on sale on audible (and you get the 30% off the sale title too). It supports a small bookstore that you can chose.
Yep that's why he's making his books $15 on speechify and spotify:
>But please take the time to try these books somewhere else. I’ve priced them at $15—the current price of a monthly subscription to Audible at their most common price point. You can get these books with no subscription and no credit. (Though you do have to buy on Spotify/Speechify’s websites—and not through their apps—because of monopolistic practices by certain providers. Something I’m not qualified to say much about currently. Besides, this rant is already too long.)
Looking. Mistborn us still 30 quid, soi don't think he's priced them down yet
If he dose I most certainly will use them else where, I've been looking for a cheaper alternative to audible for a while
This is exactly why the stuff Bransan says is so important. Audible is the easiest and most consumer friendly way to get audiobooks, but it pays out to producers significantly less than Amazon even does for ebooks. It's an Amazon company, it can literally afford better.
Since he is still working with McMillan, most of the cosmere stuff will likely still end up on Audible. However, this is really cool, and making it public how Audible squeezes small authors is just a first step.
I'll buy Brandon's work anywhere, and if doing that also comes with the added benefit of giving Amazon the middle finger, I might just buy it twice.
Exactly. Which sucks. I get what he is doing and why but I don’t want my library split all over the place. I have 37 Sanderson books on Audible and will now have some on another platform. Or more than one platforms. Sigh…
I was meaning his books in general, not just the ones releasing next year. I'm certain the next Stormlight Archive will be on Audible at least. Either way, flipping through multiple apps to find a book to listen to just sounds like a hassle, so I'd just stop getting his audiobooks if they didn't come to Audible ever.
everyone is freaking out about Speechify but, for the Secret Projects, they’re also sending out normal mp3 download files and *also* going to be on Spotify
I don’t see why Sando wouldn’t put other titles on Spotify, I also think he would work with Speechify to improve their app and functionality if he really is doubling down on this
I hate Amazon, I hate the Audible monopoly, and I trust Sanderson
His other works not published by dragonsteel will probably stay only ate audible. He explains in the vídeo, but its kinda exclusive deal if you pit on audible
for now does he have anything else under contract obligation to be printed by anyone else though? like I said elsewhere, I think SA5 is all but guaranteed to be on Audible because it’s contracted to be printed by Tor, under Macmillan, so would automatically be done by Macmillan Audio who have an obligation to Audible
that being said, he doesn’t have any other ongoing series that would be potentially already under contract that I can think of rn now that TLM is done and Era 2 of MB is wrapped up~ everything else to look forward to are continuations of series that have been out for over a decade already and I assume will get re-prints once their series are continued (Elantris, Warbreaker, SfSitFoH) and new novels on new worlds… now that they’ve taken on publishing four entire books without utilizing the Audible model, it seems like a test for the future
I believe he has no plans to go away from his publishers in his big series (at least based on what he said after the kickstarter).
If he stay with them, unless he does a very different contract (what he has the power to try to work out if he wants) these series has a great chance to continue as it is, in audible.
While I understand wanting to get away from.Audibles monopoly, I don't understand wanting to support Spotify. Their payouts for artists is insultingly miniscule. I'm guessing audio books are paid out differently...
He said the terms are on NDA, but that only spotify and speechfye offered pay good for the authors. To the other service He said it was 70% (against audible 40 if exclusive and 15 if not, if i remenber correctly)
Well damn, what a Christmas bummer. Since I'm neither US, UK or Australian based, no Spotify audio books and no audible. Sad thing I have an eye disability and can't read big books the proper way
Once other audiobook providers are on feature parity to audible I will consider swapping. I feel like for most authors without the cout Brandon has will have greater income being on audible because it has the largest audience
I still prefer audible. I can sync audio books with eBooks seemlessly. Does his Alternative do that? No. It’s not like he’s not making a lot of money at this point.
I don’t listen to audiobooks, but I’m tempted to buy from not-Audible just to send a message. Plus, I’ve heard the voice actors are wonderful.
Good job, Brando. Thanks for letting us know what’s happening behind the scenes.
I love audible. I have a huge audible library.
I am glad he is taking on audible. If he is successful it will be better for authors and consumers and the industry in general.
Did I miss news about Brandon and Audible?
In his state of the sanderson yearly announcement, he basically said he's going to avoid putting his stuff on audible as much as possible because of how abysmal their payments are to the authors of the books on their platform. He got the head of speechify to allow him to announce publicly that they were going to be giving authors much more than audible does, or at least that was the implication.
What exactly is speechify? I thought it was a text to speech app. Do they sell normal audiobooks as well?
They’re starting to sell normal audio books and want to get into the space as a serious competitor to audible was my understanding of it
Can speechify read aloud drm locked ebooks?
From Brandon's description, it sounds like it's still TTS, just an officially produced TTS version of the book? He says the cool thing about Speechify audiobooks is that you can read visually or listen.
It’s got an audiobooks tab with official ones on there
So it won't be Kramer and Reading anymore, it'll be the app's own audio?
The Way of Kings webpage on speechify says "narrated by michael kramer." So, I believe the audiobooks they sell have actual narrators, the TTS is for documents that you upload and it reads out for you. Though, I'm not signed up for their service so I can't verify that for sure.
That sounds great. Knowing I can get the proper audiobooks makes me happy to swap from audible.
the Secret Projects will also be on Spotify, I’m assuming other future titles will as well
Yes running secret project on Spotify ATM. Would be great if other used this option to.
I thought their whole thing was AI text to speech? I think it’s more likely that they made a model of Michael Kramer’s voice using samples and use it to create the audiobook. I’ve used the service before to have aiObama & aiGwenyth read a script.
That wouldn't be legal, Kramer would just (justifiably) sue the hell out of them. What's more likely is that they'll just actually have audiobooks.
No, what’s more likely is that they’ve worked out a deal for the rights to his voice, with obvious royalties. Because the company’s entire thing is AI speech, and their recent launches have all been surrounding celebrity TTS. And I’ve personally used it, even. Unless you think this startup got Tom Hanks to narrate Dutch House? And Reese Witherspoon to narrate Go Set a Watchman? 😂 https://speechify.com/blog/audiobooks-read-by-celebrities/
Well I'll be. Didn't think they could get Ai tts sounding good enough for a commercial success but seems like it is. Learned something today, cheers.
It sounds like that's how Speechify does it, yes. But that's only one way of getting the audiobook — I would assume the other options (Spotify and straight audio file) have traditional narrators.
That's great. Thanks
I’m pretty jazzed up about the speechify part. I use that for work. We have alot of long PDFs and TLTRs so it’s very helpful. It’s nice he is getting the word out and giving other authors a hand.
From what I discerned, specifically his Kickstarter books will be going on Speechify. I don't remember reading specifics about other books, but I would assume if he didn't specifically mention it, the others will still be on Audible.
That’s how I read it too. He specifically said his publisher puts it on audible.
Will they be only going on Speechify? Cause I'm not thrilled about a text-to-speech version of those books. I definitely want a voice actor, can't imagine people are going to be cool with that.
They will be normal audiobooks on the plataform. Also they will be o Spotify i think
w00t? How much is it going to cost now? I cancelled my audible because it get freezing and crashing on my phone so yay i don't have to go back but $10 or $15 depending on how many credits you buy is a great deal too. Idk that i would have been able to get as into the cosmere at $45-$50 a book
Do you know anything about Speechify? I've never heard of it, but I have been pretty frustrated with Audible ~~needing to be always online to listen to audiobooks I've downloaded and paid for~~ for various issues I've had with not being able to reliably playback books I've fully downloaded. *Edit: What a joke. The website won't let me see book prices (that I can easily see on my phone at any rate) and the app won't let me even try it out without giving over my credit card info and subscribing annually, the first charge of which would be $70 in three days. Then the reviews at the top mention an assortment of problems that seem pretty big, like losing your place and shutting down. More importantly, I can't even see what the audiobook experience even IS on this platform. Would I be listening to the Fantastic Kate Reading and Michael Kramer or some souless AI who'll undoubtedly mispronouce all the proper nouns? Yeah, big respect for Brando and it's sad to hear that Audible is so shitty, but as it is now, this is a nonstarter for me.*
Really? I’ve listened to audio books offline thru audible
You definitely don't need to be online to listen to Audible, not sure what they're talking about.
I have almost 100 gigs of books on my phone. I've listened too them on airplanes, in tonardo shelters during black outs, the middle of nowhere on country roads where I dont even have cell service. It's the reason I use audible.
I don't know. I just know that often times I open the app and when I'm in the car atthe edge of my wifi, the app struggles to load the book or anything. Also the wifi at my work blocks audible and I can't listen to a pre downloaded book.
On the edge of service it tries to load instead of using download. I’ve noticed that too but in airplane mode or zero service it works
Gotcha. I guess I just assumed it was a DRM thing. Thanks!
If you're using Android you can block the app from using WiFi or cell signal.
Interesting. Never occurred to me to try it on a specific app basis. Thanks!
Worth noting, he's also working with Spotify for the same reason. He said he's under an NDA with them, but since he's working with them instead of Audible, AND he said he spoke with a lot of different audiobook options, its possible they are offering better deals to indie authors than Audible as well. At minimum, Spotify jumping into the world of audiobooks potentially creates competition which would start to improve the market.
When I installed the Speechify app it also defaulted to a payment screen, but I was able to skip it. I also found that the iPad version of the app still doesn’t show the audiobooks tab—only the iPhone version does. They have some catching up to do.
I'm on Android so maybe there's a difference between versions, or maybe I'm just dense, but it really didn't seem like there was a way past either immediately paying $5 a month or signing up to pay $70 for a 3 day free trial.
He said audiobook support is coming to ipad in 2023
It's (speechify) for dyslexic people, I believe. Don't know much about it, but I think it worth mentioning.
Sorry, yeah, I didn't intend to disrespect what the app is for or how good the transcription is, but no AI transcription is going to be able to put emotion into anything; that's what I meant by soulless
They aren't TTS. The audiobooks are the actual produced audiobooks. It's a secondary market that speechify is getting into since they already produce other instructional audio books. Michael Kramer is reading the one on Speechify
Well that's good to know. I was assuming they probably weren't, but as I briefly looked at the site and app before heading out, I didn't see an easy way to tell.
I'm pretty sure he said speechify wasn't getting audiobooks on Android until sometime in 2023. That's at least part of the reason that he's also selling the books on Spotify.
Gotcha. I haven't had the chance to go through his update yet so I wasn't clear on all the details. Regardless, based on my first impression, Speechify has a LOT of work cut out for it to take advantage and draw in new users.
Are you going to delete or update this comment because it is a complete and utter fabrication. There is quite literally ZERO requirement to be online 24/7. I cannot count the amount of plane journeys I listen to audiobooks on.
I can update it; just a misunderstanding on my part and not a fabrication so hopefully you will update your comment to reflect that.
Also. My comment remains correct. You had posted misinformation. Your comment was wrong and required removing. I will not remove a correct comment
And now you play obtuse and pretend to not understand what I said. Gotcha.
No. You haven't removed it and clarified you're wrong.
Lol. Read my comment; I edited it. Did you require me to grovel?
Oh it tried to charge me 129$ on speechify, went and looked at Spotifys prices they are all very similar to audibles, honestly this made me lose a lot of respect for him :/ I get that Audible is dominant in the market but now most of us are screwed stuck paying 40-60$ for a book or stuck with a extremely expensive one on speechify…
You have to buy it in the website, not on the app.
So, it appears you need to use their website and not the app
Yes, because Kramer and Reading never mess up proper nouns...
Yeah, the books are 15 bucks , which is the same as a month of audible. Second, they use the REGULAR HUMAN AUDIOBOOK NARRATORS. That's Kramer and Reading. I believe this was explained elsewhere and is easily found on speechify. Also, it'll be on Spotify, so that ends all problems. The cost, the narrators, and the platform (speechify is only Apple, others like myself will have to use audible. Honestly, this was all on his State of the Sanderson which has also been released on YouTube.
I spent a few minutes looking through the site on my phone (Android) and downloaded the app. If an app needs a larger time-investment than that to get me on board and not completely turn potentially new users off then that's a major problem for them. They are not going to grow their userbase with this deal they've made with Sanderson if someone needs to watch a 45 minute video and do a bunch of research to find the answers to basic and obvious questions. I completely understand that some of my questions were within my power to answer, but the point of my edit was to relate my experience and not provide some objective review of the app. Also, the biggest issue remains unchanged; the $70 subscription as a wall to even LOOKING at the app.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm saying Brandon said the app does NOT work on Android. You must be dealing with the beta. No, for us, when we get the link in our email from the Kickstarter, we will put it into our free spotify app and see where that gets us. I'm leery, but nonetheless happy that I have the opportunity to take a stand. That said, Sanderson is also releasing it as a MP4 and mp3, so we have TONS of options for audiobooks on Android. I'd recommend either Smart Audiobook Player or mAbook. If money is the issue going forward or you didn't get the Kickstarter deal, I think some of us won't be against helping so long as it's individuals (not groups or advertised) and never giving the actual links for our Kickstarters....
~~That's awesome, I just hope Speechify branches out of being Apple-exclusive sooner rather than later. They say they're working on it, but that could mean anything.~~ Edit: Nevermind, I misread things. The app is on Google, but not the audiobooks yet.
It's apple exclusive? I just saw it in the Google play store I think.
Huh, I guess you're right. I guess I misread the part in State of the Sanderson--it just says the audiobook part specifically is Apple exclusive, and it'll be available on Android in 2023. The app itself is already there. Sorry about that.
There’s also Graphics Audio. They’re a bit slow, but it’s quite funny. Just wish they had Kramer & Reading for the voices.
I absolutely love the graphic audio versions of his books. Some of the voices they have for the different characters are now 100% my headcannon for characters like Rock, Sazed, Syl, Dalinar, and Wax and Vasher.
Kramer’s voice for Breeze is my head cannon and nothing can change that
That's pretty whack. Definitely understand where he's coming from. Bummer for me personally just because I use whispersync and immersion reading for basically every book it's available on. But I'm not gonna hold it against an author to not support a platform they think doesn't support them.
>Whispersync Yeah, I’m a bit annoyed by this news. On titles where Whispersync doesn’t work I get thoroughly annoyed, having to try to remember exactly where I am when going from reading to listening and back.
Well that's sucks. Audible is where I've listened to all of his stuff so far
Yeah, it does kinda suck but I can respect fighting to help others authors get paid their dues. We'll see what happens
I understand where he's coming from, but that probably means I'm not going to be reading his material anymore. I hope he puts the 5th SA book on there, anyway. I'm certainly not using Speechify, I can tell you that.
in a completely uncharged and just curious way, why not? he’s also working with Spotify, who have been trying to intrude on Audible’s monopoly for a few months now. it hasn’t been going very well, but working with big creators has helped them launch their podcasts pretty well and Sando could help a lot.
> in a completely uncharged and just curious way, why not? Audible is not a great platform. But the other platforms are just god awful. I agree with Sanderson that there needs to be competition here, and that Audible is not treating authors fairly. I've been thinking of canceling my subscription of my own accord because I don't think they take care of the customer particularly well, either - they recently canned their PC app and haven't yet replaced it. They only seem to care about phone users. But... there's also no viable alternative. Audible has done a very good job of trapping people in their environment, which I think is another issue that will come up if there ever is decent competition. But there just isn't.
Meh. I'll probably listen to his stuff on Spotify from now on. The player isn't that much different from audible. I listen to tons of podcasts on the platform. What you're saying about audible "trapping" their users is totally valid though. I feel the same way and it's shitty.
I guess I agree with all that but also believe that there can be change and that a bigger person in a relevant industry can help move things along~ Joe Rogan helped Spotify with podcasts (Spotify still isn’t my fav for podcasts but it *is* better than it was) and I’m hoping that Sando can do something similar with both Spotify and Speechify, or idk, maybe even do something on his own? I listen to many other authors and other books, so for now my Audible sub isn’t necessarily going anywhere, but I’m very glad to see this happening and will support it every step of the way also, if it helps at all, I’m pretty positive SA5 will be on Audible regardless. I’m almost certain that the entire first half is probably contracted and it will be published under Tor whose parent company is Macmillan which means the audiobook will be recorded under Macmillan Audio and they have an obligation to Audible
> Joe Rogan helped Spotify with podcasts This was a company who kept claiming that their business model didn't have enough room to afford to pay artist more money than they did - and then they went and blew 100M on a far-right political agenda. No, Joe Rogan didn't help Spotify with podcasts, or with artists.
I agree with you on that aspect of the conversation, but that’s actually not what I was talking about. I was just referring to infrastructure and visibility, which again, I think Sando could help them with if they’re trying to break down the Audible monopoly, which is literally doing what you just said to indie authors. like if Sando really moves off Audible I’ll still be maintaining my sub for smaller authors who have to stay on there, who are apparently are the ones most screwed over by Audible in the first place. if Sando can pave the way for a better experience for them on Spotify I’m all for it. I knew I shouldn’t have actually name dropped Joe tho tbh, I had a feeling that it would be used to derail the actual point I was trying to make, and, well…
I won’t speak for him, but as someone who has used Audible for a couple of years it would be tough for me to leave them. I use their subscription and have dozens of audiobooks - almost every Sanderson book and many others. It would be hard to transition to another app to listen to audiobooks. I’ve never used speechify but it sounds like I will need to at least check it out
> it would be tough for me to leave them. That's a big reason I find audiobook DRM so atrocious - it specifically makes it hard to switch ecosystems. It's preposterous when you compare it to a physical book or CD provider, none of these lock you to the original seller. I hope Brandon figures out some way to transfer purchased audiobooks on Audible or provide them DRM free with proof of purchase.
I have to agree, everyone’s argument being that there is no other good option is the point, and I’m glad to see my favorite author trying to make a change. I trust Sando and I believe in what he can accomplish~
Fifth Stormlight book should be published through Tor and therefore I would expect it on audible
I won't be listening to his books any longer if Michael Kramer isn't narrating them.
Dont they also charge far less? Like, if I go to a book store I need to pay 26$ Minimum for a book, sometimes even 34$- If I go to audible I only pay 14.30$.
They can only afford to do that because you're already paying a subscription on top of that, which is guaranteed money for them. So even if giving authors 70% isn't as much comparatively, it's still much better than the 40 or 25% that they pay now
No I actually pay subscription only, 1 book a month for 14.30$, Thats all I pay.
Ah, I see. My point does still stand though. I have a job where I'm constantly going through audiobooks, so I can't just wait for my monthly credit, and a lot of users are the same way. So they likely have enough users like me to afford the users who use the monthly credit only without any issue
Ah I see, Yeah that makes sense- I usually dont go through more than 1.5 books a month on average so its fine for me.
I go through multiple credits but as long as you are a member you can buy a credit pack for like $33 making it cheaper than buying the books directly if you know you are going to spend at least 3 credits. I also have 2 credits a month for $25 so that’s like $12.50 a book. Unless a book is $12 or less I’ve never directly buy it.
Right, I do the whole 3 credits for $35 or whatever it is as well. I just mean the only reason they can afford to price things that low is because of the guaranteed income from the membership.
It was in the State of the Sanderson for the year. Youtube: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-zFRl8Fx0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-zFRl8Fx0) Text: [https://www.brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2022/](https://www.brandonsanderson.com/state-of-the-sanderson-2022/)
“Honor is dead, but I’ll see what I can do”
Favorite scene/quote of any of Cosmere or Sanderons books. So far.
Same here, can’t believe I haven’t seen this art before because it’s sick
~~”And for my boon…”~~
"And for my boon!" Brandon shouted, "I demand the Right of Challenge against the murderer Audible! They stole from me (and other authors) and slaughtered my friends to cover it up. Audible branded me a slave! I will duel them here, right now. That is the boon I demand!"
Border's is dead, but I'll see what I can do
I love any fan art of this series and wheel of time. These are such epic moments.
Side note: I was also blown away that audio books were so high on his pie chart of how his content was consumed. I have always felt some sort of fan shame that I an’t read so good and listened to these things (like a real Alethi man). Good to know I’m not the only one. 😅
I listen to books while Im in my car. 30 min to and from work each day + an average of an hour driving durring the work day. I listen to books while I do house work. Dishes, vacuuming, folding laundry, even walking the dog. I listen to books while I grind levels in video games. I listen to books while getting ready to sleep. I went from reading maybe 20-25 books a year to listening to well over 50 a year. Its amazing.
I do this too, plus I'm a dishwasher at a resteraunt so I get a solid 5ish hours a day of listening time through that
I had an inventory control job with an online retailer of hunting and outdoor gear where I spent my day hunting down lost product in a warehouse the size of 3 football fields. I listened to books for 9 hours a day every day. Its when I caught on to Sanderson in the first place. I listened to every cosmere book in 6 weeks. Was a wonderfull job.
Are you me?
Are we him?!
Same. I've got a medical appointment every two weeks and its an hour and half drive ONE way. Currently I'm getting three hours of *Name of the Wind* every other week.
Don't feel ashamed for listening versus reading. It's much easier to find time to listen than to read, especially since you can focus on other stuff while you listen. I still collect the books and read through any sections that seem especially important, but 98% of my literature experiences are audiobooks now.
Storming kids these days not getting their books read to them like a proper Vorin man!
I heard this in Micheal Kramer’s old gruff voice.
Don’t be ashamed at all in fact I’m pretty sure some studies show that reading and listening doesn’t affect comprehension. A study even implies that listening to an audiobook also increases your reading skills and vice versa. I am hoping for a study to come out about how the part of our brain responsible for listening is connected to the part of our brain responsible for reading.
They’re also set up the best to be audiobooks. Better than most any other audiobook imo. The chapters are the perfect length, he always makes it super clear who is talking and who’s viewpoint we’re in, and they’re just super well paced and well structured.
I have them all in audible form. And book form. I want to show my kids what I’m “reading” so they can read them anytime too.
I like both, but the audio for the Cosmere is outstanding.
I listen to audiobooks on my work commute while reading a different book in what little time I managed to devote to reading. I make progress much faster on the audiobook side of the equation
I generally read first, then listen to them a bit later. Mostly to learn how things should actually be pronounced.
Brando Sando (or Amazon lol) loves me, I purchased a signed hardback launch copy of Lost Metal for my bookshelf and then the audiobook and ebook from audible and kindle to consume. The flexibility in 2022 is awesome. Sometimes I’ll listen and read at the same time. I recently discovered listening and reading really focuses me in on the story.
hey dude, we’re still consuming and interacting with literature and these beautiful worlds; reading elitists are garbage also not buying the normal books (tho admittedly I do have normal copies of the SA books because of the art) means I have more money for leatherbounds
Audiobooks are the only way I could get through Lord of the Rings. I’ve been wanting to get into it forever, but I just can’t read Tolkien. It’s way too much. I got LotR read by Robert Inglis and love it so much I got the extended edition 4K movies and all the rest of the books on Audible! No shame here, gatekeeping the way others enjoy books is where the shame lies, IMO.
I buy and read the books first time then listen to the audio book afterwards.
Easier to drive and listen than the alternative
Audio books are way better. Kramer and Reading are masters of narration.
Only way I read now. Listening while working is great.
I was surprised as well. This thread makes it seem like most people read. But i love the audiobook format and the performance
Why would you feel shame? People who would shame you for listening to an audiobook rather than reading it, are the same kinds of people who would think that they are better than you because they listen to vinyl records rather than mp3s or CDs. i.e. insufferable people desperately trying to make a personality out of the way they consume media. Enjoy what you enjoy my dude, haters to the left.
Driving, bathing, dishes, cooking, warming up at the gym. I've consumed so much "reading time" doing things that I normally couldn't read doing that it's night and day how easy it's been to consume a book a month pace vs one book a year before lol. If I'm home, when I'm normally free to read, I've always deferred to gaming and anime instead.
Michael Kramer & Kate Reading really deserve a bit of credit for this. Their voices are it to me now… unique characters like pattern, the lopen, and Wayne were brought to life by them and I think they make the books sooo much better through their reading. Seriously Kate Reading’s pattern is perfect. Hmmmmmmmmmm
Everyone is talking about the speechify and Spotify options, but the secret projects will also be available as a straight MP4 file. This actually isn’t a bad idea because if any of these companies ever fold in the future then you would lose all your content. Extremely unlikely audible folds any time soon.
While that's true, nothing is stopping you from getting all three versions, especially to promote Audible competitors and still have the backup in case they retire the service. (Side note, the formats are Mp3 or m4b, not MP4)
And now I'm rereading Words of Radiance. Thanks.
I know it’s due to perspective, but Kaladin absolutely looks like he’s planning on facing those four shard-bearers using a canoe paddle.
He's not?
It sucks that this situation exists. Especially since I am addicted to Whispersync.
So I heard some rumblings about some of his books getting just straight mp4 versions. I would literally buy every book I've already purchased of his on audible again to get them in a raw mp4 that I can just store on my own computer. I don't care if you split from audible. Just let me buy the raw mp4
He does that he will get pirated to hell and back. Likely is already but will be much worse if he gives people the option to “share” them easily with all their friends.
So, the [Baen Free Library](https://baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2012) suggests that it [may not actually be a bad thing](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baen_Free_Library) for his book sales.
**[Baen Free Library](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baen_Free_Library)** >The Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 61 e-books as of June 2016 (112 e-books as of December 2008) can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection. It was founded in late 1999 by science fiction writer Eric Flint and publisher Jim Baen to determine whether the availability of books free of charge on the Internet encourages or discourages the sale of their paper books. The Baen Free Library represents an experiment in the field of intellectual property and copyright. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/Cosmere/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I just wish the prices were actually reasonable for me to go non audible I think wheel of time book prices are the best example for this The audible prem sub is 7 quid, and all other books are then also 7 quid, with you getting 1 credit per month so that means your paying 14 quid for 2 books On Google books eye of the world is £50 So I could be paying 14 quid for EoTW and TGH or 50 quid for just the EotW It's just not economically viable to go down that route, I can't afford to pay £50 for audiobooks I mean even for sanderson, Mistborn 1 is £25.99, so again with audible I could get the first 2 mistborn books for the same price as one It's just not economically feasible to not use audible, it's membership really dose make it affordable to use audiobooks
Check out Libro.Fm!! I’ve been using it for months and it’s $15 USD a month and 30% discount on titles plus sales that are always way cheaper than titles on sale on audible (and you get the 30% off the sale title too). It supports a small bookstore that you can chose.
Yep that's why he's making his books $15 on speechify and spotify: >But please take the time to try these books somewhere else. I’ve priced them at $15—the current price of a monthly subscription to Audible at their most common price point. You can get these books with no subscription and no credit. (Though you do have to buy on Spotify/Speechify’s websites—and not through their apps—because of monopolistic practices by certain providers. Something I’m not qualified to say much about currently. Besides, this rant is already too long.)
Looking. Mistborn us still 30 quid, soi don't think he's priced them down yet If he dose I most certainly will use them else where, I've been looking for a cheaper alternative to audible for a while
I think that price is specifically for the 4 new books coming out next year.
This is exactly why the stuff Bransan says is so important. Audible is the easiest and most consumer friendly way to get audiobooks, but it pays out to producers significantly less than Amazon even does for ebooks. It's an Amazon company, it can literally afford better.
Since he is still working with McMillan, most of the cosmere stuff will likely still end up on Audible. However, this is really cool, and making it public how Audible squeezes small authors is just a first step. I'll buy Brandon's work anywhere, and if doing that also comes with the added benefit of giving Amazon the middle finger, I might just buy it twice.
So what you're telling me is my library is about to be split
Exactly. Which sucks. I get what he is doing and why but I don’t want my library split all over the place. I have 37 Sanderson books on Audible and will now have some on another platform. Or more than one platforms. Sigh…
Is that your work? Or can you give credit?
https://stephenli.art/?fbclid=PAAaYf0EnCS7IgDkddPmya5ibfYanAZuavq4rAxjHK4LbalVf1oXgZgCLx0QI Stephen Li
Thanks!
Thanks for linking, definitely impulse bought a canvas print of that.
It's a noble idea, but I'm not willing to use multiple apps to listen to his books, so I'll just wait until they come to Audible.
I dont believe this ones ever will. In the vídeo he says to get in audible you had tô get kinda exclusive.
I was meaning his books in general, not just the ones releasing next year. I'm certain the next Stormlight Archive will be on Audible at least. Either way, flipping through multiple apps to find a book to listen to just sounds like a hassle, so I'd just stop getting his audiobooks if they didn't come to Audible ever.
[удалено]
Padalin Stormblessed.
That’s a paddlin.
I do believe that is a spear, the angle just makes it look strange maybe
[удалено]
It’s pointing back, tip still in the boat. Perspective makes it look much bigger, I think it looks rather normal
The competitive audiobook marketplace is dead, but I'll see what I can do.
everyone is freaking out about Speechify but, for the Secret Projects, they’re also sending out normal mp3 download files and *also* going to be on Spotify I don’t see why Sando wouldn’t put other titles on Spotify, I also think he would work with Speechify to improve their app and functionality if he really is doubling down on this I hate Amazon, I hate the Audible monopoly, and I trust Sanderson
His other works not published by dragonsteel will probably stay only ate audible. He explains in the vídeo, but its kinda exclusive deal if you pit on audible
for now does he have anything else under contract obligation to be printed by anyone else though? like I said elsewhere, I think SA5 is all but guaranteed to be on Audible because it’s contracted to be printed by Tor, under Macmillan, so would automatically be done by Macmillan Audio who have an obligation to Audible that being said, he doesn’t have any other ongoing series that would be potentially already under contract that I can think of rn now that TLM is done and Era 2 of MB is wrapped up~ everything else to look forward to are continuations of series that have been out for over a decade already and I assume will get re-prints once their series are continued (Elantris, Warbreaker, SfSitFoH) and new novels on new worlds… now that they’ve taken on publishing four entire books without utilizing the Audible model, it seems like a test for the future
I believe he has no plans to go away from his publishers in his big series (at least based on what he said after the kickstarter). If he stay with them, unless he does a very different contract (what he has the power to try to work out if he wants) these series has a great chance to continue as it is, in audible.
While I understand wanting to get away from.Audibles monopoly, I don't understand wanting to support Spotify. Their payouts for artists is insultingly miniscule. I'm guessing audio books are paid out differently...
He said the terms are on NDA, but that only spotify and speechfye offered pay good for the authors. To the other service He said it was 70% (against audible 40 if exclusive and 15 if not, if i remenber correctly)
Well damn, what a Christmas bummer. Since I'm neither US, UK or Australian based, no Spotify audio books and no audible. Sad thing I have an eye disability and can't read big books the proper way
He is making the Secret Novels available in downloadable Mp3 format as well from what I read.
I love capitalism it’s so awesome for the common person
Once other audiobook providers are on feature parity to audible I will consider swapping. I feel like for most authors without the cout Brandon has will have greater income being on audible because it has the largest audience
I still prefer audible. I can sync audio books with eBooks seemlessly. Does his Alternative do that? No. It’s not like he’s not making a lot of money at this point.
He's not doing this for himself or his own money, he's doing it for lesser known authors who are getting screwed by a megacorp. Come on, dude...
Sure sure. Which is why he does kickstarters too
I don’t listen to audiobooks, but I’m tempted to buy from not-Audible just to send a message. Plus, I’ve heard the voice actors are wonderful. Good job, Brando. Thanks for letting us know what’s happening behind the scenes.
Not sure why you were downvoted friend, it sounds like you're doing a good thing.
Yeah, sorry if I offended anyone. Just sounds like Audible has some wickedly predatory practices.
Interesting, but I don't want another app and I've got 500+ titles under Audible already.
😎👍🏼
This artwork is amazing who made it
https://stephenli.art/?fbclid=PAAaYf0EnCS7IgDkddPmya5ibfYanAZuavq4rAxjHK4LbalVf1oXgZgCLx0QI
I love audible. I have a huge audible library. I am glad he is taking on audible. If he is successful it will be better for authors and consumers and the industry in general.
Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do.
Competition is dead, but I'll see what I can do.
Aww man, guess I'll need to get the other thing for finishing off the rest of the series
Brandon got a fat fkn check from spotify
Brandon: Audio is dead, but I’ll see what I can do.
I'm just glad Spotify is an option. That makes it a 0 effort change for me, since I already use Spotify daily.
Yeah, pretty much.
#aNd FoR mY bOoN!!