Audiobooks have been popular for years, but did you know that only around 5% of books are released as audiobooks? This is because, to date, audiobook production has been slow, complex, and cost-restrictive. ElevenLabs hopes to change all this with the launch of ElevenReader Publishing, allowing authors to make audiobooks with AI voices.
Over the last few months, ElevenLabs has partnered with several well-known personalities to help them turn their written works into audiobooks. Now, the company is opening this up to everyone, letting anyone quickly turn books into professional audiobooks.
While ElevenLabs has some excellent text-to-speech technology, authors may want to adjust certain aspects of audiobooks they publish. ElevenLabs Studio gives authors more control over their books, allowing for fine-grained voice customization, pacing control, and multi-speaker selection.
For authors concerned about reach, ElevenLabs recently announced that Spotify is now accepting audiobooks narrated by ElevenLabs. After publishing on ElevenReader, authors can also publish on Spotify to reach more users.
One caveat prospective users should be aware of is that only English-language audiobooks are supported right now. The good news is that ElevenLabs is preparing to add support for another 31 languages, which are “coming soon.”
ElevenLabs is also allowing authors to monetize their work. It said that for every user who listens to a book for more than 11 minutes, the author will earn $1.10. This is far below the cost of an audiobook that a user may purchase, so it'll be interesting to see how authors respond to this and whether any alterations are made. It's worth noting that this feature is currently only available to US residents for tax reasons.
Anyone who wants to use ElevenReader Publishing, be it amateurs or professionals, can head over to the ElevenReader Publishing website.
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