Kompera
patreon
Audiobooks
🕑 Added 2024-03-06 18:29:25 +0000 UTCThe audio chapters I make will have ongoing revisions and updates as the technology improves and as I can afford better quality outputs. The software is expensive and time-consuming, as there’s also the issue of the learning curve. The output is finicky and constantly produces deranged pronunciations & bizarre fragment noises. Some voices randomly start whispering creepily or speaking in other languages. The settings fluctuate erratically for no conceivable reason. Sometimes the settings just misrepresent themselves. Like I might have the Clarity setting on 16 but actually it’s secretly on 70. Oh, and high clarity is a bad thing for some reason, so now I get to redo everything. Hell yeah!
It has certainly been interesting. I was listening to these chapters on repeat for days and days with a notepad, picking out the infinite errors as I was drained of the last vestiges of my sanity. In short, voice narration technology has a long way to go. But also, it’s kind of amusing.
Obviously I still have a lot to learn, and I will continue to tweak and improve the audio as you can see I have between my first try with the Campus - Chapter 1 narration and the latest version I posted today.
At this time, I will post audio chapters here in a new tier. $30 may seem pricey, but it includes everything in the $20 tier and below, so it’s a $10 price difference for this new content. Additionally, this tier will be where I post every audio chapter that I make, with chapters added every month. You may start to notice my audiobooks up for sale individually on audiobook platforms, but patreon is where you will find all of them together in one tier. Paying for them individually will be much more expensive based on the prices I’ve seen in my online browsing. So here is where I will post audiobooks for the time being until I learn more about individual audiobook platforms & see whether they allow the level of coupon generation that smashwords has permitted.
Additionally, there is no need to stay in the tier. I'll made sure to add chapters every month, but you can always join for a month then take 6 months off then rejoin to see what’s new.
I do agree that my content is more enjoyable when you read it than when you listen to it. For some people, audio can be a convenient bonus feature, but there is no obligation. It is certainly not a necessity.
Anyway, this has been fun. Until the next random thing.
Comments
Kompera
This definitely piques my interest, but the general prices I've seen just aren't affordable to me. It would be around $500+ per story, and I doubt I would ever break even from that sort of thing. Additionally the voice actor platforms I've seen request ludicrous amounts of my personal information for unknown reasons. Some voice actors require royalties. I can't say it's an industry I'm very familiar with, but I'm open to looking into the people you recommend. Feel free to shoot me a message.
Zaceria
I loved the idea and it has potential. But having just listened to 2 chapters I must say the cold detacted AI narrator ruins what should be a hot scene. I've written scripts for other preg content creators on Patreon and hearing the words you wrote spoken by professional voice actors feels amazing! I can recommend a few if you'd like? It will be expensive, but preferable to supporting AI that damages the creative industry. You could try converting 1 or 2 popular scenes first; That snippet from Shark you posted on DA featuring Kim's clothing room expansion would be amazing, with added sound effects for her belly and dress ripping.
Kompera
I was interested in hiring a voice actor for a while, but because of the cost and time commitment, it's been on hold for a few years. Now it looks like all the big players in audiobooks are moving on to AI narration. I think all the people in the creative industries are very much doomed, myself included. ☠
tom
Why not hire an actor to read the story?
