Demand for audiobooks is growing fast. I have some experience with traditional narration, but the financial challenges of audiobooks led me to look at Amazon’s AI narration technology.

Her pronunciation of my name sold me. I say “her”, because the AI voice was female, not because the AI understood the meaning of gender. But nine times out of ten, a human unfamiliar with my last name will mispronounce it and need correction. The proposed AI narrator for The Mother Earth Insurgency said “Follansbee” correctly the first time, without special training.

Audiobooks in high demand

Audiobooks are one of the fastest growing segments in publishing today, rising 13 percent in 2024, according to Publishers Weekly. Sales have grown by more than 10 percent nearly every year over the past several years, and there’s no end in sight. All those people wearing noise-cancelling headphones on their walk or on the bus or at the grocery store are probably listening to an audiobook.

Independent authors such as myself would be foolish to ignore this trend. I jumped on board several years ago, when I hired actor Joshua Young to voice Fall of the Green Land, the first novel in my fantasy series, The Future History of the Grail. He did a brilliant job, and I’m forever grateful. For one thing, the government financed the project. Remember when Covid-19 hit in 2020, and the IRS sent every taxpayer checks to stimulate the economy? I used my money to pay Joshua. I did my bit to help America thrive in a difficult time. Maybe Joshua as well.

So-so sales, despite promotion

Unfortunately, sales of the audiobook have fallen short of the investment. I advertised, posted on my blog, posted on social media, did all the things. As every self-published author knows, breaking through the noise of literally millions of choices available to readers, including those who love audiobooks, is extremely difficult.

Naturally, I wanted to turn the other stories in the series into audiobooks, and perhaps the books in my science fiction series, Tales From a Warming Planet. Looking at current rates, I’d have to invest $10,000 or more. I couldn’t justify that expense based on my experience with Fall of the Green Land. So I set aside my dream of a catalog of audiobooks for the time being.

A trial of ‘virtual voice’

Then Amazon announced a trial of its “virtual voice narration” feature. It’s an invitation-only project that’s been in beta for about two years. I got my invitation some time ago, but I struggled whether to accept. I’m very aware of the concern over the potential for artificial intelligence to upset the job market for creatives, even as it creates new opportunities. That said, even in my tiny sliver of the publishing business, I have to serve customers’ needs and expectations. It’s clear they want audio versions of books.

Having gained some experience with using AI in my work, I accepted the invitation. On a page of options, I could choose the gender of the AI voice. I chose female as the most appropriate for the story. As soon as I heard the voice say “by J.G. Follansbee” and pronounce my name correctly, I was hooked. Here was a way to reach my dream of meeting customers needs and building an audiobook catalog with my name on it.

I may still have a human voice future books, depending on how sales of AI-voiced books go.

Audiobooks available now

The Mother Earth Insurgency is now available at Amazon.com or Audible. It’s priced at $3.99, the lowest price available for an audiobook. Amazon gets a portion of the sale. I get a generous royalty. Over the next few weeks, I plan to make all my Kindle books available with the virtual voice technology. The human-voiced version of Fall of the Green Land will remain in the catalog forever.

Update 8/24/2025: All my fiction titles, except The Stowaway’s Secret, are now available with narration. These include the series The Future History of the Grail, and Tales From a Warming Planet.

Frequently asked questions

Why did you decide to use Amazon’s virtual voice option? I’ve always wanted to offer audio versions of my books, but the expense was too high and the chance at recovering that investment too low. Amazon only earns money when a copy is sold, which made the risk for me much more palatable.

Which books do you plan to offer as audiobooks with virtual voice? All of my fiction, including the series Tales From a Warming Planet and The Future History of the Grail, as well as my young adult novel and possibly one of my maritime history books.

Would you recommend other Kindle authors try virtual voice? Yes! I tried it first with a novelette. You may have a short novel or a short story that might work, if you receive an invitation from Amazon to participate. In our rapidly changing creative landscape, a bit of experimenting would do no harm, in my opinion.

Would you buy an audiobook voiced by a virtual narrator?