What's New in Publishing for 2024: PART 1 by Maggie Lynch

 

It is that time of year when I try to stop and take stock of all that has happened this year and how I’ve done with publishing. This is my 11th blog for RTG on this topic. All the things I mentioned last year are still very much in play now.

https://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2022/12/whats-new-in-publishing-for-2023-books.html

https://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2022/12/2023-part-2-content-creation-is-king-by.html

In the past I’ve tracked a lot of changes in technology and social media and tried most everything to see what works and what doesn’t. I’ve invested thousands of advertising dollars in Amazon, Facebook, print and e-zines over the years. As I’ve said before, much of that worked well for me from 2011-2015, but it really hasn’t since then. I’ve been rarely advertising through FB or Amazon for the past three years; and stopped it completely this past year. Change in my sales? Nothing significant that can be attributed to stopping.

As I reported last year: “There are thousands of authors who will tell you that advertising on social media does increase sales. Yet traditional publishing, who increased their advertising budgets to tens of thousands every month on Facebook, Instagram, and with TikTok influencers, have now backed off. They did not increase sales enough to even break even on the vast majority of books.”

That is still true this year.  Big publishers are not investing in advertising and publicity unless the author is already a bestseller or has a big platform. Their investment is primarily to let everyone know that bestselling author or well-known celebrity or political person has now released their book. If you know the book is already going to sell 100K copies, the investment of money to let people know it’s out is primarily a way to get your return on the printing back faster.

What are the challenges facing both big traditional publishers and independent publishers?

1. The Struggle for Profitability in a Digital World

The rise of digital media and a significant shift in consumer behavior has significantly impacted the traditional revenue models in the traditional publishing industry. Printed books, which historically brought substantial revenues, now compete with eBooks and audiobooks for consumer attention. The chart below, from Statista shows some of the changes and challenges for publishers.

In 2022, data from the Publishers Association showed a 12% decrease in physical book sales, while digital formats continued to show strong growth. Despite the increasing popularity of digital formats, their pricing and the relatively low margins they provide have put pressure on the profitability of many publishing houses. Here is an article on Harper Collins which experienced a 45% drop in profitability.

Though self-publishers often don’t rely on printed books as much as traditional publishers, there is still that downward pricing pressure. For me, the days of keeping books at 99 cents or $2.99 and $3.99 are not sustainable. I’m taking a hard look at how my ebooks are priced, and reworking a pricing model that reflects a pricing model related to both popularity of the genre and length of the book. 

I do not recommend, however, doing what big publishers do which is price the ebook at the same price as the print book. They do that in the hopes readers will just buy the print book, where they already have larger profit margins. That is not a winning strategy. Consumers today want digital books and their expectation is significantly lower pricing because, in their mind, there are no costs for paper, printing, and shipping.

2. Market Saturation and Competition 

The publishing industry is not insulated from the impact of market saturation. With the rise of self-publishing platforms and a surge in content production, the industry has seen a significant increase in the number of books available to readers.

As reported by Bowker in 2023, over 2.8 million titles were self-published in the U.S. alone, a 21% increase from the previous year. This saturation has intensified competition, making it more challenging for traditional and self-published authors to capture readers’ attention and close sales.

Publishers and authors need to spend significant time finding and nurturing readers in order to compete at all. It used to be that publishers didn’t care about readers. They only cared about the end of the distribution chain. They expected bookstores, online websites, and others to be the reader contact. But with readers being primarily online for all their shopping, including books, those traditional book and mortar stores are also struggling to stay afloat as they learn how to do more business primarily online. 

Now, even big publishers are building email lists and doing more direct sales. Finding ways to nurture their readers and keep them close. Many self-publishers have known this for at least a decade, though we (I include myself in this) have strayed from that edict sinking money and time into advertising and other marketing. I’m returning to focusing on nurturing readers in 2024 and beyond. Don’t have an email list? Consider this article I wrote five years ago on why an email list is important.

3. Environmental Challenges

For those who are publishing print books, you probably noticed the big hike in author copies pricing. That is because the cost of paper has gone up and, even more importantly, the supply chain for paper is not reliable. Early last year when Amazon and Ingram sent me a message about the cost of print copies going up, I had to change the pricing on every book in order to make sure I still made some money on the sales. Most of my books went up by a dollar. A few were able to squeak through without a pricing change.

The publishing industry’s reliance on paper has significant environmental implications, notably contributing to deforestation. The World Wildlife Fund reported this year that around 40% of the world’s commercially cut timber is used for paper production. Publishers are under increasing pressure to source paper sustainably. This shift often involves working with certified providers who follow responsible forestry practices. However, these sources are more expensive.

The production and distribution of books also require substantial amounts of energy, contributing to carbon emissions. The carbon footprint encompasses all stages, from paper manufacturing and printing to transportation and disposal or recycling of unwanted books. In 2022, the Green Press Initiative reported that the U.S. book publishing industry emitted over 12.4 million metric tons of CO2 — equivalent to the annual emissions of 2.6 million cars.

Since the digital revolution of ebooks, I’ve often thought that might be a great way to help the environment. No need for paper production, no returns on e-books. Unfortunately, it is not without environmental impact. Digital reading devices require energy for production and use, and they become electronic waste at the end of their life cycle. The increased energy consumption of data centers that host digital content also contributes to environmental concerns. 

There are solutions to these environmental concerns and some publishers are investing in those solutions. Self-publishers need to determine if they want to be part of this change. You can do this by choosing distributors who are mindful of their environmental footprint and working to solve the problems. 

TUNE IN NEXT SATURDAY, 12-23, FOR PART 2:

About Maggie Lynch

Maggie Lynch is the author of 30+ published books, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction articles.  Her fiction tells stories of men and women making heroic choices one messy moment at a time. You can learn more about her in these venues. Website | Facebook | Pinterest | BookBub Fiction | Goodreads |

Artificial Intelligence: An author’s friend or foe?

 

By Bonnie Vanak

 http://www.bonnievanak.com/

I still remember the sound of dial-up internet on America Online. I’d sit there at the computer, hearing the static grumble of the phone line connecting to the modem and see the little man run across the screen (well, it was more like a leisurely stroll compared to today’s lightning speed). There was a sense of excitement knowing a door to a new and information-laden world opened for me.

Back then it was fascinating to watch an emerging technology. I was a fledgling writer itching to get published with a New York publisher and research was key to my historical romance novels. I used the internet to research Egypt and Arabian horses for my Khamsin Warriors of the Wind series, books that were eventually published by Dorchester Publishing. But, as a friend warned me back then, the “internet is a bathroom wall. Anyone can write anything on it.”

Never have I forgotten that advice. These days of another emerging technology – artificial intelligence – her advice is still valid and wise.

A few months ago, I became aware of using AI to write. I work for a large company as a copywriter and we were told to use an AI program in our work. This edict caused me to research it for my own personal work as an author. I started asking questions. A couple of friends who work in IT told me they had been using AI for years.

That was the day when I started exploring AI to see if I could utilize its benefits.

First, let me preface this by saying I am aware of AI’s potential for damage for creatives. AI can nudge aside artists and creatives and those using it could fail to give those creators fair compensation. It’s a new technology and what’s to prevent someone from taking another’s work, using AI to manipulate it and sell it as their own?

That being said, I decided to use it for my own benefit in writing books to see if I can write faster through AI’s brainstorming capabilities.

For those who don’t know, Open AI’s ChatGPT launched the end of 2022 and became available to the public. Open AI describes it this way: “We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.”

ChatGPT scours the internet for information. It’s free. You create an account, and plug into the prompt bar what you wish the program to write. It can be anything. Except sex or murder. ChatGPT refuses to write that and if you keep trying it will shut you down. That’s okay with me. Since I write romantic suspense, I like to be innovative with sex and killing someone.

I use AI to help sketch out scenes. I do not write a book with AI produced words. My work is my own and original. Instead, I use AI as an electronic brainstorming partner. I regard it with a healthy dose of skepticism and take from it what I can use.

It isn’t always accurate, so I do not use it for research. I’m also wary of plagiarism.

But it’s fast, so fast that if you use it the right way, it can help you write quicker. I could never write a book only using AI because I’m known for writing books that are dark, sexy and have heart. AI is not dark, not sexy and it certainly has no heart.

Perhaps the best way to explain ChatGPT is to give you this example. I logged into my free account, and entered this into the prompt bar: Make yourself a best-selling romance author and write a short scene in which Jase, an FBI agent working undercover in a dangerous motorcycle gang, goes to his seedy apartment to relax and finds out someone has broken into his home. He is worried and wonders if his cover has been blown. [My current WIP for Harlequin romantic suspense’s line is about Jase]

Here’s what AI wrote:

Jase stepped out of his unmarked car and entered the dimly lit hallway of his rundown apartment building. The stench of stale cigarettes and cheap liquor assaulted his senses, reminding him of the less-than-ideal cover he had adopted for the past year. He ascended the creaking stairs, his heart pounding with a mix of exhaustion and anticipation.

Unlocking the door to his cramped apartment, Jase paused for a moment to take a deep breath, ready to let go of the burdensome persona he had worn all day. But as he stepped inside, a cold shiver ran down his spine. Something wasn't right. The air felt heavy with a palpable tension, and the eerie silence only deepened his concern.

The sight that greeted him sent a wave of adrenaline rushing through his veins. His small, cluttered living room was in disarray, furniture upturned, and personal belongings scattered haphazardly across the floor. The sense of violation washed over him, threatening to shatter the fragile sense of security he had built.

Not bad. However, it’s too simplified. Jase is a biker. He doesn’t drive a car. Also, the writing doesn’t take into account Jase’s personality. He’s an FBI agent and former Army Ranger. He’s dealt with danger before and he’s undercover. He HAS no “fragile sense of security” because he’s aware that his cover could get blown. Paranoia keeps him alive!

Here’s how I rewrote those paragraphs and added to them to make the scene longer:

Jase pulled his bike into the assigned parking spot and scanned the area as always. Tension rode his neck muscles as he pulled off the black helmet and placed it on his bike. This place was a former Florida motel in the heydays of pink flamingoes and signs advertising COLOR TELEVISION and AIR CONDITIONING, but it was a dump even then. More of a dump now. Still, it was safe for this assignment. Most tenants never spoke to one another and minded their own business. He dismounted and trod up the stairs, avoiding the rusty iron railing that wobbled with each touch. Landlord didn’t care about repairs, only the rent getting paid.

A tingle rushed down his spine as he neared his apartment. Jase stopped, scanned the area again. No one around. Not even the stray cat that chased away the rats snacking on the garbage overflowing the dumpster. He inched closer, muscles knotted and his body ready for action.

His door stood slightly ajar. Perhaps a crack. Jase removed the Glock tucked into his waistband and chambered a round.

With the tip of one steel-toed boot, he kicked the door open. Son of a … The postage stamp studio looked like someone dumped the contents into a blender and spat them out. Frayed sofa torn open, stuffing spilling out. Same with the old armchair he’d found at a thrift shop. Coffee table broken and lying in pieces.

Weapon cupped in his hands, he advanced. It took less than a minute for his head to assure him “all clear” and tuck away the Glock. He studied the refrigerator standing open, the eggs spilled onto the floor and the bread smashed. Inching closer, he saw the clear indent of a biker boot on the store-bought loaf. Yeah, no surprise here. Lance sent his crew to upend Jase’s place to search for the stolen jewels. He peered at the fridge’s wire shelves and shook his head. Beer was gone as well. No surprise there, either. The gang never wasted a beer, not even when they wrecked someone’s place.

You can see what I wrote is nothing like what AI produced. Then why use the program?

I use it to visualize the scene quicker so I can rewrite in my voice and add depth to the scene and the characters to advance the plot. I added more color to the setting so the reader would get a sense of exactly what kind of apartment building Jase calls home for this assignment. I added Jase’s personality, his caution and coolness in an emergency.

AI is a guideline that helps me brainstorm and “see” the scene almost as if someone else were talking about it.

We’re entering the artificial intelligence technology age. Like all tools, AI can be beneficial or dangerous, depending upon its use. Whether you choose to use it wisely or not, or simply ignore it, is up to you. But like the internet, AI is here to stay and will likely be the next wave of the future.

Bonnie Vanak is the author of paranormal and romantic suspense novels. Her next book, Her Secret Protector, is out October 2023 from Harlequin. Visit her website, www.bonnievanak.com for more information.

What’s New in Publishing: Preparing for 2022 by Maggie Lynch

Whenever I start to prepare this post every December, I look back at my previous posts. My post last year focused on four major areas of change:  1) the impact of the pandemic on book products and fan events; 2) the rise in sales of subscription services across the board; 3) International sales expanding at a higher rate than U.S. sales; and 4) Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to make a major difference in 2021.

Honestly, I think all of those things have continued to accelerate in 2021 and I’m sure will continue into 2022. Anyone who was hoping for a return to a time when online and virtual products are not the primary way of consuming content needs to let go of that dream. Do whatever grieving ritual works for you and, if you haven’t already, prepare to embrace the digital and virtual world if you want to be involved in a career as an author.

Today, I’m going to once again focus on only three of the most important trends I see: 1) the continued impact of the pandemic on book products and fan events; 2) the importance of understanding web-based discovery tools and social media engagement; and 3) the expanding reach and use of AI coming into its own in 2022.

The Continued Impact of the Pandemic on Book Products and Fan Events

The Changing Investment in Print Books

I don’ think print books are going away. Instead, I believe they are being seen as a “premium” product by the majority of readers. There was a good number of readers (primarily those over age 50) who preferred print books or simply didn’t like the idea of reading on an electronic device. However, the pandemic changed that for many of them. Libraries closed, bookstores closed, buying print books became not only more expensive but required shipping. They were no longer a spur-of-the-moment purchase. Supply chain issues frustrated many. 

Reluctantly, this older group began trying e-readers or tablets. With practice over the past 20 months, they realized it wasn’t so bad. In fact, there were a lot of reasons for not doing print. You could get books faster and usually cheaper. Even libraries were encouraging digital downloads of ebooks because they’d been closed for so long. With the relative ease of downloading and storing hundreds or thousands of ebooks, the consumer no longer had to worry about where to store another print book, or whether/when they needed to purchase or make another bookcase. 

This translated to readers deciding only to invest in a print book if it was special, unique to the times, or may become a collectible. To reach that level of investment requires something extra. The reader loves the author already or, after reading the ebook, loved it so much she wanted it in print for her “collection.” Perhaps one would buy a print book by a favorite celebrity or political leader or highly respected writer as a way to save that as an important piece of history—in a similar way that people still buy Life Magazines as collectibles, even though the final issue came out in 2000, more than two decades ago.  

There is one type of print book that continues to be very viable, that is children’s picture books and Early Readers Books—for up to third or fourth grade. Beginning at the Middle Grade level (age 9-13) it starts tipping 70/30 toward ebooks. Print books are bought primarily by libraries and schools instead of consumers. It is not at all unusual that by the age of 9 or 10, children are reading on tablets. Part of that is because of what happened with virtual schooling for the past two years. Parents who never thought their children should be on tablets or computers had to make it happen for school. Even Kindergartners were doing online school. I still believe the value of print for middle grade is there, but I’d also not be surprised if those percentages became 50/50 by 2025.

The Death Knell of Conferences and Book Tours

In 2022, I believe that it will be unusual, costly, and only sold as a premium offering to have in-person conferences, signings, and fan interactions. Now that many libraries, bookstores, and  major conference providers, including publishers, invested heavily in the last two years to move those interactions online. I don’t see them returning in the numbers they used to be. 

The increase of relatively inexpensive, yet engagement measurable web-based solutions, make it very appealing to big and small publishers alike. Why send staff to a conference and incur the costs of airfare, hotels, food, and paying for booth space when you can put on a virtual event and get all the metadata on attendees to follow-up?  This also extends to cutting back on the costly big sales-force that travels to stores and libraries, colleges and conventions. Why do that when you can save hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars with virtual one-on-one meetings and events. 

I don’t think conferences, symposiums and big book events will completely disappear. I believe instead businesses, publishers, authors and fans will choose carefully which one or two events are “worth it” to attend. Among my own followers, many fans have said they save all year for ONE big conference (e.g., Comic Con or a big genre-based conference like the annual Fantasy & Science Fiction Convention or a Romance specific convention). Because of the cost of travel, hotels, food, that they instead plan it as a vacation event. They want authors, free books, break-out discussions, maybe cosplay, etc. So, they will pick the largest and most prestigious events to go to.

What changes this dynamic of going virtual rather than in-person? Paid events. If the publisher or author can make money from a convention or author tour by charging fees to be seen, then it becomes viable again. Sure, they’ll sell books (or maybe give them away if the fee is high enough); but the money is made on the fees not the books. I’ve already seen some of these author tours with NYT authors or celebrity authors. Fans pay to see the author at the same prices they would pay to attend a sporting event or a touring Broadway show. 

Don’t believe me? I’ve already seen several events posted in central Willamette Valley in Oregon (well outside of the big city of Portland) with authors at a big arena where prices range from $25 in the nose bleed seats to over $100 to have a seat in the orchestra seats—the large section closest to the stage. These are 5,000 + auditoriums.

The Critical Importance of Web-based Discovery Tools and Social Media Engagement

Whether it is print books, ebooks, or audiobooks—or any new digital publishing opportunities, 2022 will continue to accelerate the many digital trends that began taking hold in 2018 and have only grown during the pandemic. The strongest developments relate to niche development and search engine optimization (SEO), with the development of online communities a strong contender for the top trend. Niche publishers continue to flourish, and they will increase in popularity, especially in the digital publishing realm.

Increase Your Expertise and/or Your Partnership with Knowledgeable Web-based Companies

The need to understand and leverage web-based services has only grown. With the plethora of electronic delivery mechanisms for content (including books) you can no longer be competitive with only a blog or a single social media site like Facebook. You definitely MUST have a website if you want to build brand loyalty. You need to be and several social media platforms, and you need a consistent fan engagement strategy. All of this requires either training to understand how all these elements work together or to partner with a company or person who does understand it and will keep your presence alive. 

Money follows ease of use, so authors and publishers need to focus most on website speed and infrastructure. Plan for tomorrow, not just what you are doing today. Emerging content importance includes podcasting, 4K video, and other bandwidth hogs. It is even more critical to understand the role off mobile users which have far outpaced laptop or desktop users. Mobile users expect all content to load just as quickly and easily on their phone as on their desktop computer. Website design plays a vital role in brand building and SEO. 

You may need to look into a redesign that focuses on redistributing the information, the navigation, and the SEO to make it much easier for consumers to find your products and content.

Niche Publishing Grows Faster than General Publishing

Small online publishers have honed their niches. Digital publications will further rely on user trust built from quality editorial content. This means that even large publishers are now creating platforms that can collect and visualize niche audiences, use community data to segment their offering, and therefore actually capture more sales through individualized search and follow-up. This is where understanding your unique brand and the “niche” you serve helps you to grow faster than attempting to reach the entire world with a more general approach.

In 2022, it will all be all about building brand loyalty.  The best publishers, traditional or indie, will develop content, experiences, and customer service channels for their loyal customers to cultivate “community.” Marketing campaigns will combine networked events with increased partnerships—whether they are other publishers working together or a group of authors working together toward common marketing goals. 

Building the audience only begins the process. Publishers also need to monetize traffic, and one 2022 trend is their development of new revenue streams. This may be doing subscription-based or fan-loyalty discounts. Making certain content paid (e.g., select blog posts or podcasts; bonus content; networking options for fans)

Social Media’s Continued and Changing Viability

Just as niche engagement has grown, so has the diversification of social media use both for regular engagement and for advertising. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter still remain with the largest number of users. However, the lack of transparency and continue algorithm changes that limit page reach has made Facebook the least used platform in publishing now. Facebook and Instagram are still good platforms for staying engaged with those who already like you and your brand. They are not considered good platforms for those needing to find new fans. 

Twitter has remained relevant for publishers, but it’s short form messaging continues to challenge sales-related opportunities. With a change in Twitter’s leadership beginning in 2022, many people are taking a wait-and-see attitude as to if it is worth sticking with in the future. 

Video-based content has grown exponentially in the past year and is likely to continue its rise in 2022. Though YouTube and Vimeo are still a good place for long form video content, their increased reliance on commercial/ad use has made them less interesting for book consumers. And the ease of producing quality video for these platforms is still daunting to the average user.

This is what has made a platform like TikTok so relevant. TikTok has grown far beyond its beginnings in silly dances, pranking, and outrageous humor (though that is still available there). An entire author/publisher network around “booktok” and “authortok” has done very well. I would predict there will be competitive platforms similar to TikTok coming by the end of 2022—perhaps with the allocation of longer videos. The critical design that has propelled TikTok to such wide use is that it is easy to use on a cell phone and one doesn’t have to have a lot of video editing skills to make it work. The downside for some content creators but beloved by many consumers is the shortness of the videos (currently limited to three minutes). This also helps to ensure no bandwidth or buffering problems because of the three-minute limit.

Most interesting to me has been the return to long-form content in some way—blogging , weekly or more newsletters, subscription services for long-form content. For the past three to five years it seemed that many authors/publishers had abandoned the blog to engage in social media and sought out a lot of AI-based solutions for building fans. However, that has slowed much more significantly and people have returned to the long-form content is best at building brand loyalty. In addition, the longer form written content lends itself to increased SEO, which would argue for a way to make newsletters public or post the most important content in a blog to capture that SEO benefit.

An important consideration for Video or Audio-based content is to also have available a transcription of the content. This is good for those with hearing difficulty. It is also excellent for that increased SEO that is critical for indexing your content for search.

The Expanding Reach and Use of AI in All Aspects of Publishing

I’ve been talking about AI for at least three years now, maybe more. And every year, people think I’m crazy. Perhaps it’s because of my technical background. I’ve seen the growth of AI over the past two decades, and it has certainly accelerated in the past three years. In the past I’ve talked about AI in terms of software for productivity—like plotting, all types of story structure building, formatting, and even for creating SEO without having to really understand the back-end coding at all.

But for 2022, AI has exploded in major ways that can make communication easier, reach into foreign markets easier, and the ability for authors and publishers to get more derivative products out the door quickly and with less expense.

You may remember that last year I talked about how foreign sales of books were growing much faster than books sold in the English language market. Part of that is simply a matter of population. Countries like India (1.3 billion people) and China (1.45 billion people) together comprise 37% of the entire world population. It is also a matter of reading habits. You may remember this little infographic from last year (Data from 2017. I haven’t seen an updated one) where both India and China citizens read a lot more hours per week than the US, UK, Canada, or Australia—primarily English-speaking markets.

Translation AI

Think about some of the most exciting holiday gifts this year—things that not that long ago were science fiction. You can now buy a pocket translator that carries anywhere from a dozen languages up to over one hundred. You select the two languages, speak into the device and it’ll quickly say the phrase in the intended language. Because pocket translators are designed specifically for translation, these devices are much faster and more advanced than your normal smartphone translator app or Google Translate. This is based 100% on AI--software programs built to learn and get better as they are used and corrected over time. 

Why does that matter to authors and publishers? Because the cost of translating a book has now gone down significantly. Instead of the usual $5,000+ for the average novel, it has come down to under $100. Will you want to use a professional translator to check it? Probably—especially if you use a lot of slang or colloquial speech, or onomatopoeia—in your book. But, in my experience, with using DeepL and having native speaker/readers (not translators) review the entire book, it is 95% or more already there. The cost for me? One month’s payment of $6.99 which allows for up to 5 files to be generated. So, for $6.99 I can go from English to German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese if I like. Or whatever mix of the 24 language selections DeepL currently processes. It is 100% AI, using neural networks and learning so it gets better with the number of users and reported corrections.

With good translation I have the ability to take a book in English and potentially make it 24 products. But translating to languages spoken in countries with high reading rates would make the most sense. Equally important is that translation helps with other AI partners as well. 

Text to Speech AI for Audio

Audiobooks are another area that has been booming. Still increasing in double digits, data for 2021 is look at about 25% increase year over year. In the past text to speech AI has sounded very robotic. It then improved to not being so robotic but still devoid of emotion (think of Data in StarTrek before he got an emotion chip). It has now, at least in short iterations, become more realistic. In fact, in each of the ones featured here, one can go back and tweak the algorithm in certain passages or as a whole to be more “emotional”.

I’ve listened to a number of short parts AI narration for each of the platforms mentioned below. Is it perfect? Darn close. After listening to an entire chapter (15-20 minutes) one can start to hear/feel the repetitive pattern of the voice. But I’m not sure it makes it less real. After all, every narrator has a certain pattern to their voice. Clearly, I think one could use AI without a problem for nonfiction. 

In terms of fiction, I think it has more to do with each author’s expectations of emotion and the possible desire for a change in pitch or character voice that only a professional actor provides. Also a change in softness or loudness that can sometimes add to the scene. For some fiction authors, none of that is important. They aren’t looking for an “acted” narration, instead preferring a “reading.” In that case the quick timing and price may be well worth it. 

Here are three top AI Narration tools that I’ve looked into: Deep Zen,  Scribe Audio, and Speechki. All of these have some similar mechanisms. They all have a catalog of voices that have already been input into the system. These are voices from professional narrators who have agreed to have their voice “cloned.” What that means is that the system has an understanding of how each narrator’s voice rises and falls during a sentence, how long of a pause they typically make at a comma or a period. What types of markings (e.g., an explanation point vs a semi-colon) or keywords (sad, mad, angry, quiet, loud, etc.) indicates a change in voice level or pacing. Then the AI processes all that and, just like the language translator I mentioned above, learns how to put words together and make them sound “natural.” 

All three of these systems also have the ability for the author, or any chosen narrator, to provide their own voice to be “cloned” and then used to narrate the book with the AI processing. Kind of a way to sound like yourself but not have to do the hours and hours of recording. ☺ 

The time it takes to produce an audiobook ranges from a month, in the case of DeepZen, to 15 minutes if it is total AI. The cost also varies typically from $500 on the low end for more the more “common” voices to $1,000 on the high end for a “high quality” voice. That is about 1/3  to ½ the likely cost to pay the minimum SAG/AFTRA price of $225 per finished hour, which for a 65K book would be a little over $1,500.  

Of the three mentioned above, Scribe says they also employ a team of “literature analysts” who go through each page and enter metadata that will help to increase the emotion when the AI does the narration. Being a metadata geek from the old days of building standardized modules, that intrigues me. I suspect it also means the end product costs more because they’ve employed a real human to interpret things in advance. They don’t provide pricing on their website and it appears their primary immediate aim is to work with big publishers who want to take a large portion of their catalog through this system to put out audiobooks.

Speechki also excites me because they are the only one with a mission to provide narration beyond the English language. The idea is that the end user (the listener) can choose which language they wish to listen in. So Speechki would have the ability to switch to any one of 72 languages. They currently have  251 voices in 72 languages, including more than 50 American voices. They have already processed upward of 1,000 books, mostly in Swedish and Russian.  I am unsure exactly how this process works as there is not a lot of discussion about it on the website. I also wonder (perhaps assume) that one would have to provide a translation for each language in order for it to be but to a specific language AI, but am unsure.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There is no doubt that competition as a whole is increasing. There are more books and book products being put out every year by both traditional publishers and indie publishers. Just in the decade I’ve been immersed in publishing I’ve seen a big shift in both the competitiveness and the costs to individual authors and to big publisher. This means that the more one can differentiate themselves from the masses the more likely you are to succeed. 

This doesn’t mean your book needs to be wacky or completely different from any book out there. Nor does it mean if you write tropey genre fiction that you don’t stand a chance of success. But it does mean it needs to have a unique hook or presence in the zeitgeist to make it stand out and rise in the marketplace. Each book is competing against big publishing and the market and money it controls, against authors who already have a solid platform and track record of excellence, and everyone else who writes books with similar themes, goals, or genre tropes as your book. So, how do you stand out? That goes back to knowing your niche, and building a brand that people want. 

Books are just one creative product that is developed from the words you write, the stories you tell. In 2022 and beyond, it may be that the written word will no longer be the primary product. It may be that audiobooks, or video content, or some combination of print, ebook, audio, and video will be needed to compete. The more you see your book as a single product that has the capability of being many products, the more likely you are to make money off of your creations. Also, the more likely you are to gain fans who can access your creation in a way that they most enjoy.

I now automatically think of every book I create as a minimum of three products: ebook, print book, and audiobook. But I also think beyond that if I’m writing in series or connected stand-alones. I think of box sets of ebooks, print and audio. I think of possible serials of a single book or a group of books. I think of potential NFT products (collectible special books that add things no other book of that title contains). I think of a product that combines ebook and audiobook in one product. I think of a product that perhaps contains video or some enhanced interactivity in addition to the ebook and audio. In other words, every story or nonfiction content I write has the possibility for multiple derivative and combined products. 

I believe AI will help in the creation of some of those combinations. I believe licensing rights will help in the creation of some of those combinations. I believe learning to create those combinations myself is another possibility. In the end, what I really want is for the story, the narrative to get out there; and for it to speak to someone who finds joy or learning, or is simply entertained.

Happy 2022 Writers and Readers! May your creations find their niche and bring meaning

and joy to all those who encounter them.

Maggie Lynch is the author of 27 published books, as well as numerous short stories and non-fiction articles. Her non-fiction focuses on guiding authors to business success in their career.

Her fiction spans romance, suspense, fantasy and science fiction telling stories of men and women making heroic choices one messy moment at a time.

You can learn more about Maggie and her books at https://maggielynch.com Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn |