More than a fifth of the US population has a smart speaker, and “Alexa, read me that ebook” doesn’t even require an audiobook edition
When we evaluated the viability of digital audiobooks for independent authors last July, we focused on the question of when audiobook production is worth what is usually a steep investment. Technical quality, choice of narrator, and most of all a strong existing market or sales foundation have been key drivers of success.
Since last summer, audiobooks have continued to show double-digit growth in the trade. The Association of American Publishers’ most recent StatShot report shows downloaded audio running 37.1 percent higher Jan.–Nov. 2018 than for the same period in 2017. As you’ll notice in our Links of Interest section, Publishers Weekly has started carrying audio clips from Penguin Random House review listings. And a report released earlier this month by NPR and Edison Research indicates that the potential value of audio, particularly in the Kindle ecosystem, may be going up even for indies because of smart speakers.
The study, called The Smart Audio Report, looks at the quick rise of smart speakers—Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, the Sonos One, JBL Link, and others. The survey was conducted between December 26 and 30, taking into account holiday gifts. It found that 53 million people—21 percent of people 18 years and older in the States—own a smart speaker. That’s a 78 percent increase in the total number of devices in homes year-over-year. One report predicts 75 percent of homes will have smart speakers by 2020.
Last summer, the Audio Publishers Association’s executive director, Michele Cobb, told Chris Kenneally in his Beyond the Book podcast, “A lot of people are listening [to smart speakers] in the evenings, listening to children’s stories, listening to audiobooks. … So we’re expecting to see a lot of growth in that particular area.”
One reason smart speakers hold potential for authors’ audio is that they don’t require authors to produce an audiobook. While a smart speaker can play a finely produced audiobook with a large cast and plenty of great sound effects, it can also read your book right off the page; if a consumer has the Kindle edition of any book in their digital content library with Amazon, Alexa can read it to them. And, as many people are finding out, Alexa’s not as bad at reading a book to you as you might expect, especially for service-oriented nonfiction.
In the Kindle system, Alexa’s reading capability falls under the long-available text-to-speech functionality. Keep in mind that publishers and authors can block this functionality by request with Amazon, as some believe that it infringes on the rights of authors and publishers, who get no additional royalties when consumers listen to Alexa read an ebook.
Bottom line: Authors weighing the expense of producing an audiobook with ACX may find that ebook-reading smart speakers are their friends, especially as more consumers discover that their smart speakers can do the job of reading—and as they become more accustomed to machine-rendered voices. The limitations of an Audible subscription (one audiobook and two Audible Originals per month) may be another factor in the decision. For more insights and to learn about varied consumer behavior with smart speakers, especially based on time of day or the job to be done, read up on the magazine industry’s experiments thus far. Also, over at Joanna Penn’s blog, you can find a discussion of some of the original storytelling platforms emerging for smart speakers as well as a January 2019 interview with Digital Book World’s Bradley Metrock on voice technology for authors.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
