KDP Audiobooks are Now Included in Kindle Unlimited (Now Kindle+)

First things first: Kindle Unlimited will forevermore be called Kindle+. This is a giant PITA for me, because I use my plus sign so infrequently, I have to hunt for it on my keyboard. But I digress...

It was announced yesterday that audiobooks created with KDP's virtual voice will now be included in Kindle+, as long as you are enrolled in Kindle Select. For now, this feature is only available to readers (listeners) in the US.

According to the email I received: 

"What this means for you:

You are reaching more readers with your audiobooks available in Kindle+, creating new opportunities to earn royalties through a new and growing audience."

Am I? Am I reaching more readers? I'm dubious. I'm not a fan of virtual voice narration at all, and not because a lot of the apps don't offer decent enough AI voices. Voice selection, discounting Spotify for Authors, has expanded in the past year or so, and most of the bot voices now sound like actual humans. It's that AI narration has deficiencies that have yet to be solved. Mispronunciations abound and word emphasis is above AI's pay grade. This second issue creates "robot speak", akin to the TV classic, Lost in Space.

When KDP's virtual voice was first offered, I took advantage of the feature for all my books except one. After all, it was free. I like free. I've never sold one audiobook, nor did I expect to. So, no, my Kindle Unlimited Kindle+ royalties won't be going up. But if you're wondering how royalties will work:

"Kindle+ listening activity is paid by page through the KDP Select Global Fund. We're investing additional funds to support this new and growing audiobook catalog." 
 

The reports are supposed to be revised to include page listens; however, my current report is not showing that, so it's apparently a work in progress. Unless...I did find that by clicking on KENP, it took me to a screen where I could choose "read" or "listened" in the KENP Format box:

   

I can also hover over the bar chart on the main report to view pages read/pages listened:

 

(Sorry, I couldn't screen capture it, but it's there.) 

Nothing like hiding the information. 

I won't be breathlessly anticipating any page listens. I barely get any page reads. I probably, though, should have listened to those audio versions when I first set them up, to find out how bad they actually are. That would have required multiple fixes, such as spelling "hard words" out phonetically, and I really didn't have the patience for that. Had it been something I took seriously, I would have expended the effort. But your mileage may vary.

If you're very invested in this process, here are a couple of hints for possibly adding emphasis (these are not 100% guaranteed to work):

• Use the Pronunciation Tool:
  Inside the Virtual Voice Studio, you can highlight a word and open the pronunciation editor. Here, you can type a phonetic spelling or a variation of the word to trick the AI into changing its pitch or length, all while leaving the actual text completely untouched.
• Insert Native Pauses: Instead of typing commas or periods into your text, use the studio's built-in "Add Pause" feature. Placing a micro-pause (like 0.2 seconds) right before a word creates a natural, dramatic beat that makes the word stand out to the listener.

Don't try adding single quote marks or any other punctuation to try to force emphasis. Those marks will also be added to your text version! 

Is it possible that some Kindle+ subscribers might choose an audiobook? Sure. People like things that are new. Unless these subscribers are very easy to please, I doubt that many will find their listen enjoyable, but I'm hardly an expert on...well, anything.

My job here is to report. The rest is up to you.