Audible vs Whispersync vs ??

[Sandy VDH]

New to Audio books. Should have been doing all the while I had a long commute.

Any know why some books are available via Kindle Whispersync at cheap prices and some are NOT avail via whispersync. Even books in the same series.

Audible trial membership is filling in where book is only available via Audible for an expensive price, but I'm not sure why this is the case.

So far my whispersync book also shows up in my Audible list, I guess the cheap whispersync add on for $3.99 is really the Audible version in that case.

I also discovered you need to read amazon well, some books offer whispersync, some don't. Bundles are also problematic, unless the bundle sells you individual books. Couldn't get audio for bundle that I bought. I have had to get amazon to refund me 2 purchases over the last few days because I discovered some gotchas.

Since I'm new any experiences to share on these or other audio formats.

Trying to listen....LOL

 

[Talent312]

Haven't done an audio-book in years, so can't address this issue, but will say...

An optometrist recently asked me what my reading distance was. Huh?
"Show me where you hold your books."

My Reply:
I don't use books. I don't know anyone who does. But this is where I hold my Kindle.
.
.

 

[Sandy]

I just made a recent discovery (some of you may already know this little gem). I was getting ready to join Audible.com and begin listening to audio books on my kindle or phone. I know I can get the books from the library, but my library is small and limited. So why not give it a chance.

I get a book for free for the month. But after that it is $15 per month, for only ONE CREDIT! After a little sleuthing, here is what I found out, in no particular order:

1. My friend says that she only pays about $8 per month for unlimited books. Turns out that she is NOT using Audible, but rather she is using TUNEIN radio Premium. They allow you to listen to as many as you want for the one monthly price. This is a streaming service, so you don't actually own the books. Sounds like a better deal than Audible so far. See here: http://tunein.com/premium/

2. Upon further searching, I found out that many of the books I already have are Whispersync ready. This means, for about $2-3 I can listen to those books I already own. People who have discovered this say that the audio version of a book might cost, say, $15-25 But if you buy the kindle version for, let's say, $6-7, and then you can add the whispersync for about $2.00. Costs are much less IF the book has a whispersync availability. Amazon has made it easy to see which of the books you already own have whispersync capability, go to your Amazon page and type in "whispersync" in the search engine. You will see: "View Audio companions for your kindle books" at the top under the first heading. Click this and all of your current books will be visible. You will find that many of the books you already own will only require an upgrade to an audible version. Isn't this great?

3. In my case, when I first got my kindle I began snooping out free kindle books. As many of you know, there are tons and tons of these every day. So I began downloading these books. I may have only bought 15-20 books with money so far. But when I go to my whispersync page, I see that many books are ready for audio. So I tested this out by "upgrading" to the audible version and now I have an audio book to listen to for about $3.00. Thus, I spent $0 for the book, and $3 for the audio version.

4. As a Prime member I get one free book per month. I always grab this book. These books are also in my account and many of them now cost $20-25 or so. But I got them for free, so I just can add audio version (whispersync) for about $3.

I hope this is helpful.
sandy

New to Audio books. Should have been doing all the while I had a long commute.

Any know why some books are available via Kindle Whispersync at cheap prices and some are NOT avail via whispersync. Even books in the same series.

Audible trial membership is filling in where book is only available via Audible for an expensive price, but I'm not sure why this is the case.

So far my whispersync book also shows up in my Audible list, I guess the cheap whispersync add on for $3.99 is really the Audible version in that case.

I also discovered you need to read amazon well, some books offer whispersync, some don't. Bundles are also problematic, unless the bundle sells you individual books. Couldn't get audio for bundle that I bought. I have had to get amazon to refund me 2 purchases over the last few days because I discovered some gotchas.

Since I'm new any experiences to share on these or other audio formats.

Trying to listen....LOL

 

[isisdave]

Are Audible books and Whispersync the same recording? This article says they are. In that case, the Audible pricing doesn't make sense.

Even if you live in a small town, you may be eligible for a library account at a big city that has lots of audiobooks. For example, in California every resident can borrow from every public library in the state. (You may have to visit to sign up.) We have accounts at Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and Carlsbad -- and we can usually find what we need. There is still a bit of confusion due to multiple formats, but many of the libraries link to the same web services, so it's getting easier.

 

[Sandy VDH]

I started this post about a year ago. Obviously I have more Audible experience now.

Whispersync is an feature whereby the Kindle ebook and the Audible version of that same book, which you must OWN both versions of, work together in synchronization. Pages turn on the kindle version as you listen to the audio version. You can listen for awhile, then open the ebook and it will be where you left off on the audio version.

Yes many libraries system have access to audio and to ebooks. Whispersync will not work from library books, as you do not receive an Audible version of the book, you get either an Overdrive or Hoopla version which is not compatible, (AFAIK) with Kindle books. If there is a way to get those sources into Audible, I do not know now how.

As an earlier posted commented, if you own the Kindle version of a book, often purchasing the audio version may only be a few dollars more, not $15-20. So picking up Audible versions of what you own is an option, very discounted. But do you really want to own both versions. Not usually, So I did discover a neat trick if you just want to buy the cheap audio version and not a full priced audio. What you need to do is you get a kindle book version as a library loan, Audible doesn't know where that book came from, it just knows it is in your library. You can then purchase the cheap version of the audio for the $2-4 bucks. Then return the library book. Your audio version is still in your library. I do this in cases where I have read the book, and would like to reread it and listen while I drive to work. I have several books I like to reread. I reread Outlander about once every year.

NOTE: This will ONLY work with Kindle versions of the book, it will not work with ePUB books, as these load into the OverDrive app.

Also, even if Kindle version and Audible version exist, they may NOT yet be Whispersync enabled. They have some process that they must go through to make these two media types sync together. You can check on the amazon page description of the book. It will list if it is enabled or not.

It is worth noting that all libraries DO NOT carry the same ebooks and audio. I have 3 different system eLibrary accounts (Boston, Houston and Harris County) which I access to, it amazes me that even though the books are available via OverDrive, some libraries carry the title, yet other don't.

 

[Sandy]

Where I live I can only get books from the library in my local county. Of course, I can join another county library and pay the membership fee, but then I discovered the audible books and the process I described in the earlier post.

What I did not know, and just now learned, is that I may be able to borrow a kindle version from a library and then upgrade the audible/whispersync to my kindle or phone for listening. I will try that next time I find one of these at the library. First I must become more familiar with how to get these books to my kindle through Overdrive service.

Also, I have never used whispersync to have the book read to me while I listen. Usually I am listening on my phone or kindle while working around the house. For many readers, good to know you can also see the words on the kindle and hear them simultaneously. For me, that might be a problem because I am a fast reader and this would not be helpful and could slow me down. My eyes travel faster than the speaker narrates.

 

[Sandy VDH]

What I did not know, and just now learned, is that I may be able to borrow a kindle version from a library and then upgrade the audible/whispersync to my kindle or phone for listening. I will try that next time I find one of these at the library. First I must become more familiar with how to get these books to my kindle through Overdrive service.

In Overdrive on the computer, when you open the detail page about a book, it lists the Available FORMATS. Look there for KINDLE BOOK format. If it is has kindle format, then once you borrow the book, In the drop down you then select Kindle as the download option, it will then open a Amazon Kindle page that gives you a green button to download onto your default kindle device or app. What devices you can download to depends on what devices you set up on Amazon.

Try to borrow a book that has a Kindle format, it is really easy. Try a title you know whispersync is ready. Those books that are whispersync ready have the cheap audio that goes with the book.

To see what Narrations you can add to your existing kindle library, 1) go to "Kindle books" in the department dropdown on amazon (left top of screen). Once the splash screen for the Kindle books store opens, notice in small text above the picture on the page are menu options. 2) The last menu option is "Books with Narration", click on that. Once you select that, there is a new splash screen with boxes inside the picture. 3) The last box is "Add Audible Narration to books you own". It will scan all the books in your library, and offer you the price on any book you don't already have an audible whispersync ready version for. You can purchase anything from that screen.

 

[Sandy]

Thanks Sandy,

OK, I think I got it. Whispersync and narration are not the same. Narration allows me to listen while I read, and whispersync allows me to listen on my phone, kindle, etc without having the book in front of me. Do I have this correct?

 

[Sandy VDH]

No not really. There are two types of media formats, eBook or Audio.

Now when I say Audio, that is where the audio is a professional narraration of performed and recorded voices. It is NOT the "text to speech" option, that some eBooks are enabled. In Text to Speech, a computer voice reads the printed words on a page, there is NO performance, just somewhat monotone voice that reads the text. That is not an Audio product, that is an eBook feature.

An eBook may have the Text to Speech feature enabled, it may also have an Audible Narration feature which you may purchase, which is basically the purchase of the Audio version of a book. Some eBooks have BOTH properties, an Audible Audio Narration and The Text to Speech option.

So Whispersync is a trademark branding where there is the condition that the two media types, eBook and Audio, are produced to sync content and are aligned to work together. Whispersync is a feature of the eBook and Audio combined. Whispersync is NOT any form of Narration itself.

Some eBooks have an Audio version, BUT THEY ARE NOT Whispersync enabled, because the two media formats do NOT work together.