🎧 The Zero Dashboard, an Empty Nest, and the World of Audiobooks
It’s officially June, and the month hasn't started well for me in terms of sales. My KDP dashboard is currently staring back at me with a big fat zero. No sales, no page reads.
Years ago, my family used to have a furniture shop here in Peterborough. On certain Saturdays, we wouldn't even have enough staff to cope because the shop would be absolutely inundated with customers and browsers. But on other days, you’d sit there wondering why you’d even bothered to open the doors. I had eight-hour shifts where not a single soul entered the shop—nobody even looked through the window.
Back then, it was always about the monthly totals, not the odd bad day or slow week. You had good days and you had terrible days, but as long as the totals were where they should be by the end of the month, all was good in the world.
It’s exactly the same with books. I know that with my limited resources, I’m going to hit weeks with absolutely no action. Luckily, I don’t rely on this venture to pay my household bills. If nobody wants to read my books this week, then so be it.
🎧 Exploring the World of AI Audiobooks
While I wait for that first June sale or page read to tick over, what have I actually been up to?
I’ve been watching a few publishing podcasts, and one in particular caught my attention regarding audiobook production. A New York Times bestselling author (whose name has completely slipped my mind) was discussing a new software she is currently using called Spoken. She claimed that this is the exact program all the top traditional publishers will be using before very long.
Now, here is the catch: it is an AI text-to-speech program. I know a lot of people absolutely hate AI, and it will undoubtedly put some folks out of work. But this is the direction the world is heading, and there is nothing any of us can do to stop it. If a New York Times bestselling author and major publishers are starting to adopt this technology as the new norm, then I’m sorry, but I owe it to myself to take a look.
So, what is Spoken? It is an advanced software that converts your manuscript into a full audio production. Authors are turning to it primarily for the price, but the biggest shocker is just how authentic it sounds. I was deeply worried it would sound robotic, like those dreary, automated audiobooks that drive you mad after five minutes. Instead, it sounds like studio quality.
🎛️ Putting An Irish Mystery Through the Machine
The features are incredible. You can do a full multi-narration project with a completely different voice assigned to each character. You simply upload your EPUB file and let the system analyze it. Once it compiles a synopsis, you choose whether you want single, dual, or multi-voice narration.
Next, it analyzes the manuscript chapter by chapter, detecting the emotional context of the text—whether a character should sound sad, happy, or confused at any given moment. This takes some time to compile, so I left it running overnight.
The next day, I sat down to review the results. Before transcribing the full passages, you can audition each voice. I needed a mix of British voices and German-accented characters, and I was genuinely impressed with about 90% of what the AI chose.
The system also allows you to merge characters. For example, the software had flagged "Daniela" and "Daniela Fischer" as two separate people and assigned them different voices. I just clicked the merge tab, selected both names, picked the voice I preferred, and every single one of her passages instantly became unified. It really is that simple.
I did hit a few formatting snags in the early chapters where a character's voice suddenly changed to something completely wrong. I discovered that if you click on the troubled passage, change the generation setting from "Magic" to standard "text-to-speech," and regenerate that specific line, it fixes itself. It’s a bit of a long-winded process, but the final result was outstanding. Even if you dislike a voice halfway through the book, you can swap the character's voice model and regenerate their lines chapter by chapter.
💰 The Financial Reality
But just like a written manuscript, an audiobook requires a mountain of editing. The exact same work has to be done; the only difference is that you are listening to your story rather than reading it. It truly amazed me how different my own writing sounded when spoken aloud. You have to listen closely for mispronunciations, but there is a handy "Lexicon" tab where you can phonetically spell out a word to make it sound exactly how you want.
Once you’re happy with the edit, it’s time to part with your hard-earned cash. Spoken costs $20 for every 5,000 words processed, and a live counter sits in the top-left corner of your dashboard. My first book, An Irish Mystery, is 83,898 words long, which brings the final bill to roughly $340 (around £265).
Think about that. A professional human narrator typically costs anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500+ upfront, or you have to agree to a permanent royalty split. For me, hiring a voice actor simply isn't a financial option, I quite frankly couldn't afford it. If this technology opens up a door that would otherwise be slammed shut for indie authors, why wouldn't we look at it?
Almost all top authors are using AI in some form now. Bestsellers like J.F. Penn openly promote ProWritingAid (which is entirely AI-driven), and top indie authors use it daily for marketing and graphics. I have said countless times that AI should never replace true human creativity. But using it as a tool to format an audio version of my own human-written story isn't taking a job away from a narrator, because it’s a job I never would have been able to commission in the first place.
🔗 Try Spoken For Yourself
If you are an author yourself and would like to check out Spoken, you can head over to their website. The best part is that you can try out the software completely for free; it doesn't cost you a single penny to upload your manuscript, fiddle with the voice actors, and edit your chapters until you are ready to hit publish.
🐕 An Empty Nest and Next Steps
Outside of the audiobook experiment, I haven’t been up to a lot. Sometimes the day job and life just completely take over.
My youngest son moved out into his and his girlfriend's first flat just over a week ago. The house feels incredibly empty now with just me, the wife, and the dog. Speaking of the dog, he turned 5 on Monday. Happy Birthday, Bear!
So, I’m currently standing at a crossroads: do I focus entirely on getting Book 3 out, or do I put the time and money into getting the existing books narrated through this program?
When I look at the physical copies of An Irish Mystery and An American Treasure lined up on the shelf behind me, I really just want to get Book 3 out into the world. But I also know how well audiobooks sell. My original plan was to release An American Treasure in early 2026 (tick!) and then have Book 3 ready by the end of the year. An audiobook version would just be a fantastic bonus.
With that in mind, I think my focus has to stay on the writing. Tune in next week, where I’ll be talking all about what you can expect from Book 3. Stay tuned!
📚 What I’m Reading...
(Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Supporting indie authors helps the whole community thrive!)
Thiago by Dante Coman
I have officially finished Thiago by fellow indie author Dante Coman, and I have some thoughts. While it started as a definitive slow burn, as the pages turned, you could see how all the setup at the beginning of the story was actually like puzzle pieces. Dante was carefully creating a much bigger picture of what was to come.
Having crossed the finish line, I feel that some of the critical reviews I saw before buying the book were simply unjust. The characters were entirely believable and the writing was genuinely good. Could it have done with a bit more substance? Maybe, but that's just the way I personally prefer to write my own books. Dante clearly wanted to focus on telling a rich story first, meaning the explosive action didn't arrive until well over halfway through.
I highly commend him for what he did here. If you are after a short weekend read with a healthy dose of mystery, I absolutely recommend giving this a go. Dante's debut novel deserves a bit more love!
Enjoyed the ride? 📖
I balance my writing life with a full-time day job, which means covers, research, and advertising all come out of my own pocket. If you’d like to see these books reach more readers—and help me stay caffeinated while I write them—you can support my work here. Your help keeps the "Stream" flowing and the books coming.
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📚 The Newman Adventures
An Irish Mystery A fast-paced historical adventure about stolen treasures, hidden histories, and the cost of obsession. The story that started it all.
An American Treasure The journey continues! Cedric Newman returns in a high-stakes hunt for the lost riches of Mosby's Rangers. Action, mystery, and a new enemy await.
Available in Ebook, Kindle Unlimited, Paperback & Hardcover
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