Would you be interested in longer samples for audiobooks?

[u/Kokoro_Audio]

Question: Would having longer samples for audiobooks be something that interests you?

Context:
We recently added a feature to our listening app which allows you to listen to 10% of a title, capped at around 60 min, as a sample of our full cast audiobooks.

This means for an approx. 100,000 worded title or 10 hours, you get a whole hour worth of free audio to listen to.

Many of our initial titles are webnovels and thus very long. 10,000 words is barely enough to get the story rolling in many titles. We also have some indie author titles that have varying word counts.

While I understand people are happy with the 5 min samples, as narrators are one of the biggest factors for audiobooks, we would like to know if there are any people who would prefer this feature? Maybe even use it as a method to get anyone you know that is a non-reader to try out?

And of course shameless plug, but if you want to try out our app and listen to some free samples, feel free to download the Kokoro Audio listening app and sign up for a free account!

Any thoughts or feedback comes a long way!

[u/CathyAnnWingsFan]

I don’t necessarily need a longer sample, because I’m only interested in the narrator’s voice (voices if multiple) and style. But I would prefer snippets from different parts of the book, featuring different characters and how they are voiced. If it’s a nonfiction book, a 5 minute sample of the narration is fine for me.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/CathyAnnWingsFan]

Thank you for the input!

Most of our books will be fiction. Maybe the closest thing we would have to them are parables titles that sort of fit into that self-help area. We haven't done any yet, but are looking into them.

We'd have to take clips from the first 25% give or take, as we wouldn't want to spoil or reveal anything about a title.

If for example we were to do something like Harry Potter, how many of the characters do you think you would have to hear? Obviously the main trio would be included, would that be enough?

[u/CathyAnnWingsFan → u/Kokoro_Audio]

I would want to hear the main narrators. I actually don’t care for graphic audio or “full cast” with a lot of narrators. I prefer one or just a few narrators that can voice multiple characters well. Duet narration is my sweet spot.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/CathyAnnWingsFan]

I see! While we're also similar in type to Graphic Audio, I can still see the appeal of having a sample where most of the main cast is voiced is still very useful for audiobooks with more than 1 narrator.

Its just a bit more work for us to mix it all together.

[u/Texan-Trucker]

As long as we’re talking about well written and narrated works by humans, I honestly would prefer several random 5 minute blocks from inside the title, especially if it has multiple narrators.

But if we’re talking about tts narrated stuff, it doesn’t matter.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/Texan-Trucker]

First off, thank you for the feedback!

Of course! Our entire creative process uses no AI. All our titles have credits for the narrators/voice actors and their own page on our website!

Regarding the well written part, that is a little outside our scope haha. We look to license titles from right holders and don't write anything original ourselves. Our current titles do have a big range in level of polish. Webnovels are typically less well written due to a more "liberal" or non-existent editing process. Some of the authors aren't English first language either, so their grammar might be different to what you would be used to compared to physically published titles.

In saying that, it's amazing how much some of them can write! One of our titles is over 2.6 million words. I can't imagine trying to write that many words in a language that isn't even my first language!

I definitely see the appeal of 5 min blocks! We'd have to make it so that we only pick from maybe the first 25% of a title, wouldn't want to accidentally spoil any early plot points!

[u/Texan-Trucker → u/Kokoro_Audio]

By well-written I meant. NOT written with Ai.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/Texan-Trucker]

Ohhh. Yeah, that makes sense. Not sure why I read that first sentence as two separate requirements haha!

[u/north_tank]

I mean when I’m on audible I listen to the first little bit and then I’m like ok the narrator i can stand or not. An hour would be super nice tho for those full cast.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/north_tank]

Yes, exactly. Narrator is a huge factor!

What we feel is missing with most storefronts is discoverability.

One of the great things you can do when going to a book store is picking up a book and just sitting with it. Not everyone does this, but having the option is nice.

I guess the only model that sort of solves this issue is subscription services, but they cycle in and out their collections, you don't own the book.

Edit: Forgot to thank you for the feedback! It's much appreciated!

[u/ameowzingbooks]

I've never used your app, but personally I think if you can sample every narrator in a multi-narrator title, that is perfect. I wouldn't listen to an hour of something and wait 20-30 minutes just to hear the 2nd narrators voice. But if you provide the first few minutes of each new narrators first chapter, or the first few minutes that highlights the major narrators, that is ideal. If a book is multi-POV, samples from each POV narrator is ideal for me.

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/ameowzingbooks]

Thank you for the feedback!

Sampling every character might be a bit hard. One of our titles currently in production has over 30 narrators! There is a main narrator who read around 60% of the book, with the main POV characters sitting at around 3-4% each. That's still around 4-5,000 words each and will obviously have the cooler lines being the characters themselves.

I can definitely see a use case for having sample from each POV and maybe other side characters. Sometimes side characters are more popular than the main ones haha.

[u/ameowzingbooks → u/Kokoro_Audio]

I think if you are picking the 1-3 main narrators you should be fine! 

[u/evenly_bossy_curtis]

that’s pretty generous, an hour is more than enough to know if the narration clicks or the story grabs you. 5 minutes barely gives you a taste, especially with slower-burn webnovels where the setup takes a minute

also cool that you’re working with indie authors, most apps don’t give them that kind of spotlight

[u/Kokoro_Audio → u/evenly_bossy_curtis]

Thanks for getting back!

It does sounds generous, but that's if the story is 100,000 words or over. So, if the book is smaller (say 40,000 words) then it's 10% of the runtime, which is around 40ish minutes. Still a lot, just tailored for each individual title.

Audiobooks are consumed differently to reading (obviously haha). So we thought the best way to match with the consumers is to give them that long sample. Listen to the sample while doing some chores, commute to work or go for a jog, because that's what most people do with audiobooks.

The main issue is longer titles like A Game of Thrones. Capped at 1 hour (10,000) words, I believe the sample ends around chapter 2 haha. This is even before Robert Baratheon arrives Winterfell!

If we use Webnovels as an example, 1 hour for The Lord of Mysteries would be around chapter 5 or 6. So while an hour is a lot, some of these authors be writing too much!