In the past I had three of my novels done in audiobook form:

“Mama Kodo”

“Blue Planet”

“Class Fives: Origins”

 And the process to have them narrated by a professional voice talent is both lengthy and expensive (for good reason).

 But now I have been selected to try out the beta testing version of the new Amazon virtual voice audiobook system, and I’m in the process of converting the majority of my 31 current novels to this format.

 Why?

 I’m one of those people who love being emersed in stories, but have little time to read, simply because reading requires full concentration. (Try reading a book while driving or doing some kind of other task. It won’t end well.)

 As a result I’ve always preferred audiobooks for my own entertainment.

 Well Amazon Kindle has just launched a new beta feature for authors like myself: 

 Virtual voice audio reading.

 Now at first I was skeptical, until it struck me that the narration on an overwhelming number of YouTube videos are, in fact, virtual voices. And the technology has reached the point now where it is sometimes indistinguishable from those “performed” by live narrators.

 The advantage for potential readers?

 Price.

 Because I don’t have to hire someone to spend hours reading my work out loud, the cost to convert them to this new format is very low. As a result, instead of having to charge something like twenty bucks, just to cover those creation costs, I can sell them for something like five dollars apiece. 

 And the quality is perfectly acceptable. As mentioned above, a large number of posts on YouTube and other platforms are already being narrated by virtual voice, and it does nothing to damage the experience or the information being communicated.

 So if, like me, you enjoy (or prefer) audiobooks over device (Kindle) or paper bound reading, why not give one a try?

 You can find them on Amazon (and in most cases on the Audible app itself) for no more than five dollars. Normally that format costs at least fifteen or twenty bucks.

 Just go on Amazon and do a search by my pen name (Jon H. Thompson), or look up a specific title on the Audible app.

 Since I have two different book series (the “Class Fives” and the “Johnny Sundown casebook” stories) you can experience them as you drive around or while doing other tasks and get the full experience of the series, rather than just those that are already audio.

 And please, if you like the stories, leave a rating or review on Amazon or GoodReads. I actually do read the reviews and want to know your opinion of my work.

 Thanks, and enjoy the show!