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Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, and the 2 big changes include AI audiobooks
Unlike narrated audiobooks from Audible and other providers, the audiobooks created with Virtual Voice in Kindle+ will instead be narrated by AI.
Amazon just rebranded its Kindle Unlimited subscription to become Kindle+, and will continue to offer unlimited reading from an eligible Kindle catalog for $12 a month. It will also expand its audiobook category to include more titles, including some read by AI narrators.
Kindle+ remains a separate subscription from Prime, and users will still be able to borrow up to 20 titles at once.
The upgrade expands the already available audiobook category through the subscription. It’ll also give authors the option to include more eligible audiobooks in Kindle+, including AI-narrated titles.
Amazon hopes to enhance the reading experience by letting users continue their ebooks with virtual narration as they go about their day after putting down their Kindle. Users will now be able to choose from many more available audiobooks, from traditional narrators to those created with Virtual Voice.
Amazon is offering the Virtual Voice service free to authors in the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. With Virtual Voice, authors can have their books narrated by AI at no cost, potentially reaching a wider audience.
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The Amazon KDP program lets authors self-publish their ebooks on Kindle and enroll in Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited) to reach more readers. Kindle+-enrolled authors earn money for pages read, not per download. The author’s earnings through Kindle+ depend on the month’s payout rate and the total number of pages read.
As a loyal reader and audiobook listener, I could argue that an AI-narrated book detracts from the human dimension of audiobooks. The service could take jobs away from professional narrators, many of whom have followings of their own.
Also: Why the Paperwhite is still my top Kindle choice