The Journal: AI Audiobooks?

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In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* AI Audiobooks?
* Of Interest

Quotes of the Day

“Try to catch up if doing so is possible and will be challenging. If impossible to catch up, then simply reset the challenge and start fresh.” Dean Wesley Smith on whether to try catching up when you fall behind on a challenge

“Ahh, the problems of being prolific.” Dean Wesley Smith

AI Audiobooks?

I currently have in my inbox (as probably do many of you) an email from Google Play Books. The subject reads “Create an auto-narrated audiobook.” As of this writing I hadn’t opened it.

I think I have a few titles available on Google Play Books. A few years ago, I uploaded a few, but the process was so clunky and time-consuming I gave up on it.

Now I’m thinking maybe I’ll revisit it, see whether the publishing process on that format has improved.

As to the “auto-narrated” (AI) audiobook, I don’t know. Guess I’ll take a look when I get there. But until then, in “Of Interest” today, there’s a link to an article about this very topic: Google Play Books’ new AI audiobooks.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Catching Up… To Do or Not To Do?” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/catching-up-to-do-or-not-to-do/. A good post.

See “True Crime Thursday – DEEPFAKES” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/04/true-crime-thursday-deepfakes.html. Wow. What an interesting post.

See “Google Play Books Expands AI Audiobook Narration – maybe” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/google-play-books-expands-ai-audiobook-narration-maybe/.

Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other opics.

8 thoughts on “The Journal: AI Audiobooks?”

  1. Re: deepfakes

    Season 5, episode 10 of the CBS drama S.W.A.T., which aired on April 10th of this year, features deep-faked police bodycam footage appearing to show the main protagonist, S.W.A.T. team leader Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, executing two fellow police officers. The deep-faked video was part of a plot by a despicable criminal to take revenge on Hondo for having killed the equally-if-not-more despicable son of the criminal in order to prevent the son from raping and murdering an innocent young woman in episode 2 of the season.

    • Thanks, Russ. I was going to ask you to drop by the OP and add that in a comment, but I see that you already did. Good man!

      • Indeed, I had already done so. However, I’ve just now posted a correction there because for some reason I got the episode number wrong. The episode in question was actually episode 16, not 10.

        • I do the same thing often. I wish one could change a comment without having to make a new comment. (grin)bThanks, Russ.

  2. Harvey, if you put a book up I would suggest copying the url to the Partner Center where your book is listed so you can find it again. Maybe I’m an idiot but I have had difficulty getting there from the google account I set up. I had to go back to the email offering the opportunity to find it.

  3. I never did auto-narrated audiobooks, but there’s an example of stories from contest read by Yandex Speech Engine.

    https://ru-grelka.livejournal.com/1024646.html

    You can just listen, does it sound natural for you. And of course it supports some tags to make parts of text louder or such a stuff.

    The same stories are read in both blocks, first in female and second in male voice.

    My story is Группа 3 -> 12. Там, где золотые мозги
    https://disk.yandex.ru/d/rtGvzbFyCFrMnw/12%20%D0%A2%D0%B0%D0%BC%2C%20%D0%B3%D0%B4%D0%B5%20%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%B5%20%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B3%D0%B8.mp3

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