How To Get Audio Versions Of My Books

I get lots of requests to put my books on Audible.com. This is the modern version of Books-On-Tape. Audible works well, and I'd love to have my books available that way.

But it is a big project, and I haven't gotten to it yet.

However, there is a new technology that is fast improving and may eventually render Audible obsolete.  It is Kindle's Text-To-Speech function.

You don't have to read your Kindle books, you can LISTEN.

Here's the basics of how it works. Most books available on Kindle have the text-to-speech function enabled. It says if that's the case on every book's detail page on Amazon. If you have a recent version of a Kindle, it will likely "read" those books.

My books, for example, are all available to listen to with Kindle's text-to-speech.

All you need to do is learn a few steps for how to make it work. You can choose the type of voice you like, female, male, American, British, etc. There are Many choices. You can control the speed, certain accents, and other qualities.

The voice can be projected through a Kindle with speakers or through a separate speaker. You can connect your Kindle up to your car speakers or to headphones so you can listen during your commute.

You are of course wondering if the voice sounds like a synthetic robot or a real human. I was initially prejudiced and assumed that only a recorded human voice would be a reasonable way to listen to a book.

Yet I've listened to several of the voices and have been pleasantly surprised at how realistic they are. In fact, I was shocked at how good they are. I recommend you give it a try.

There are many Youtube videos that explain and show the process of how to get your Kindle to "Read" books out loud. Here are some links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9SWqf8Ky18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2a9GoQe8QY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OswiTA0lts

If these videos don't make it clear enough, I'm sure you can search out one that will make the process clear.

No doubt you can also find a fellow Kindle reader who can help show you the process. Call your friends and ask. It won't take long before you will hook up with a Kindle "Listener" who can walk you through the process.

Enjoy! I think you'll be surprised at how good the voices are.