Keep with computer voice or look for reader?

[Cosmo Fur]

I have a very poor reading voice, but some time ago I use a fairly decent text to speech reader to create a 'podcast' version of a book I've been working on for years.

I sort of used to listening to text to speech things myself, so I personally am not a good judge if the quality is acceptable or not. Others have told me they have trouble listening to the computer voice.

I have the podcast style feed on mevio at RSS feed is http://www.mevio.com/feeds/nivwizard.xml

Do you think that podiobooks would be interested in this story if I removed the 'podcast style' bumpers? Or does it have to be a readers voice? I have zero budget and can't do the recording myself, so would there be volunteers to help?

I also have an another effort of a different story at http://www.cosmostories.com/pcast/pcast001a.xml but that's not complete and while the 'text version' of that story has continued I've not really been working on that audio version in a long time.

[Mike Sharpe]

Not listened to it. But here goes..

Evo/Podiobooks.com will accept your work since all their rules are Techical. So Chances are if you can meet them you can get it on the Site.

BUT The Audicance is differnt. Most of the readings by TTSes are emotionless or in rare cases unclear, this will be a turn off for some people.

I've also got a poor "Reading Voice." But I'm already in a book: PG HolyFields' Murder At Avadon Hill. I am Also Mike "the Nutter" in Erk Pod RT 12.

As for my recomendation? I'll be waiting until I get chance to listen to it.

[Evo Terra]

It's 2009. As of right now, there is no ability for any computer-generated text-to-speech software that is of acceptable quality.

If you are unable to narrate the book, find a willing party who will.

As Mike indicated, our requirements are only technical. But it would pain me greatly to put a book on the site that utilized text-to-speech rather than a human voice. As much as I'd like the technology to be there, it's just not.

E.

[Jeffrey Kafer - Male Voice talent]

Find someone. TTS is a joke and you'll be unhappy with the results. And frankly, no one will listen to your book beyond the first few minutes. Even doing it yourself will be better than a robot voice for 7 hours.

If you choose to look for someone, good narration won't be free, but narrators such as myself have a special podiobooks rate. You should be able to find someone good at a price you can afford. Go to http://podiobooks.com/authors/pbpro_samples.php for samples.

[Cosmo Fur]

After I posted this I noticed the number of posts from voices looking for payment. I guess we live in different worlds. I made my story with little hope of making money from it and posting it in the hope that someone might be entertained. When I said I had zero budget, I meant it. I guess I'll stick with the existing text to speech version I still manage to get a about a hundred listeners a month, perhaps one day I'll redo it myself.

[Nathan Lowell]

It's possible you're right about the different worlds. I can't imagine a world where you get a hundred new listeners a month on a computer voiced, incomplete work. A hundred downloads, maybe but new listeners?

I've listened to the first episode and, you're right. This is a fairly good TTS reader. I do a lot of work with TTS when dealing with my dayjob creating websites for people who are blind and visually impaired and who use TTS on a regular basis. This is one of the better ones.

But it's still bad when compared to a live voice.

The TTS timing is non-existant. The pronunciation frequently places the emphasis on the wrong syllable which throws the rhythm of the sentence in to the realm of "wtf did he say?" The enunciation is understandably mechanical, but I noticed that it drops letters that it thinks are silent ( the "y" in "yells" dissappeared somewhere, for example).

As a story-telling experience, this is less than optimal. For me this is unacceptable. I listened to the first, but I can't listen to any more -- and I'm used to it. The problem is that there's too much other good stuff out there that this just can't compete against it as TTS vs Live Voice.

Do yourself and your readers a favor. Before you submit this to Podiobooks,
- finish the text,
- edit it,
- then read it yourself.

I don't care HOW bad your reading is, it has to be better than TTS.

As for zero budget, you already have a recorder -- your computer. You need a microphone, but a cheap USB headset mic is like $20. If *that* is beyond your reach, then save your pennies for the next few weeks while you finish your text and save up for it. That's all you need.

[Jeffrey Kafer - Male Voice talent]

I agree with Nathan. My intent was not to pimp my wares. It was to tell you that there are options, and any of them are better than TTS. Those options are to do it yourself, or utilize the discounted narration services that Podiobooks offers.

[Evo Terra]

What he said.

[Mike Sharpe]

There are a few Amateurs who actually need the practice.

I've listened to a few episodes, I've got a deal for you. I'm willing to record and edit the Audio at least one story for $0, BUT only If you're willing for be a test reader and/or listener for my Podiobooks. All it will be is the story and the bare minimum extras such as Credits. I'd be adding stuff to the Outro such as "Find our more about the Reader at .."

Since I live in England, I've got a English Accent.

Since I will have to "build" my studio, so I won't be doing so until my own work is ready. So as well as one COMPLETE Story, I also want a feedback on my own text before I sit before the Mic.

Just to make easier.. I'd insist on contacting Via IMs.. or Even Skype.. even if you don't even have a Mic.

[Dave Hitt]

I grabbed one at random – chapter 16. Your intro is a list of reasons to stop listening. Random listeners don't care if you wrote it overnight or labored over it for years, or that you listened to it in your car, or that you might get it published but it would be self publishing, or even how to contact you at this point. Most of that stuff should be eliminated, and the rest should be at the end of the show.

After I got through the two minute intro I could only handle about another 30 seconds of the robo-voice. I might listen to Stephen Hawking doing one of his books that way, but no one else.

The worst human voice is better than the best robo-voice. Give it a shot.

You're right about different worlds. Narrating a podiobook is an enormous amount of work, and no one is going to do the whole thing for free. No one else is going to be as passionate about your book as you are. As far as your customers (the general public) are concerned, the greatest novel is the world is still just another novel among millions. A reader/listener might give you 10-20 hours of their time to consume it, but they're not going to give you 100-200 hours to create a voice version. They don't care about it that much and it's unreasonable to expect them to.

You're going to have to spend some money to do it yourself, but I doesn't have to be a lot. A Bherenger XM 8500 mike is a good copy of the Sure SM-58 and is available for about $25. Sennhiser makes a great pair of $30 headphones (HD 202). Add a mike cable and a cheap mike stand and you're in for well under a hundred dollars. That's buying new – you might be able to do even better on Craig's list or a well stocked Salvation Army.

[Margy Rydzynski]

I also use a synthesized voice to proofread my writing. I don't recommend it Even the best ones don't come that close to the inflections in a human voice. Also, even the best readers still have some pronunciation problems.

Perhaps your voice has more potential than you think. Have you thought about looking for some public speaking techniques? I'm sure there are hints and tips online that you could find for free. Also, there are some very inexpensive ways you can record and edit your voice. I've got a $10.00 headset and use Audacity, a free online audio editor, to improve the quality of the recording.

Best,
Margy Rydzynski

[Margaret Taylor]

What the other posters have said is right. We've got a decent community here; if you poke around on the boards, you should be able to find somebody who is willing to volunteer or work for barter.

[Mark Butler]

I have used the tts system quite a bit. First I used it before podiobooks and others like it were available. I wrote a small program that I could feed downloaded textfiles into and burned the resultant audio to disk for my long commutes. After a while you get used to the robot voice and can concentrate on the story (and it beat the heck out of buying 3 new audiobooks a week).

These days I use tts to proofread my work back to me. Despite my best efforts I still seem to mentally auto-correct while reading and its quite surprising to hear the computer mangle something and discover it was accurately reciting my incorrect words!

However, I don't think it is a solution that is acceptable as a published work out to the public any more.

In terms of real-world solutions you have several options:
if you don't have a microphone, ebay has them for less than $5, you may also be able to pick up a cheapie at the local computer guy, they typically have a ton of old used parts in bins in the back.

Assuming you have the hardware... you mention you have a poor reading voice. Remember, most people don't sound like the professional voice actors!

Keep in mind that you are allowed to flub your lines. My first audio-file was two hours long and when I got done removing all of the errors, repeats, hiccups, mangled enunciation and "oops, lets try that again" I ended up with about 20 minutes of acceptable audio (though some may argue about the "acceptable" label)

if you are really unhappy about your abilities may I suggest looking for friends/family/neighbors. Have a close friend over for a few sessions of laughs, reading and fun. Just let the audio run, you can edit out the jokes, cars driving by, drinking sounds, Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions, etc. later. I used this technique to good effect when I wanted a different voice for a part. I brought my neighbor over and spent an afternoon doing just his lines, which I eventually added in to the appropriate spots in the narrative.

I am sure with some creative ingenuity you will be able to muster the resources you need to make it happen, and once you are done post the results for us to hear!