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If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?
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@sorujin yeah keep us posted! I know I've prepared for a YouTube setup (built pc, editing software, condenser Mic) but had trouble deciding on where to go with it. I wouldn't mind putting my name in the hat just in case.
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If someone were willing to edit you have a small stable of volunteers for a cast already. Some of whom are podcasters, youtubers, and twitch streamers. I tend to prefer a single narrator to an overproduced presentation but when you have multiple pov characters it's an awesome touch and gives variety to the performance.
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Also with audio you can add a forward or afterward from the translation and adaptation staff at J Novel Club. Even just a mission statement or thanks for being a part of the community would go a long way.
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@canadadesu said in If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?:
If someone were willing to edit you have a small stable of volunteers for a cast already.
I'll voice the British / Noble characters with my horrible fake accent (on second thought, my audio recording equipment is as bad as my voice, so...).
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I can pitch in if we ever get a latino character in a Light Novel xD. It'd be a 100% genuine accent! (like that would even happen lol)
This looks like a nice initiative but I'm not sure, I used to be subscribed to audible but after a few months I realized I just wasn't enjoying listenning to books as much as I enjoyed actually reading them.
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If it ever came to it I would gladly play First Murder Victim in any series.
I could scream things like
“Ahhhhhhh”
“Ruuuuuuuunnnn”
“My leeeeegggggg”
Etc
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I don't recall any Aussie characters in any of the books so I guess I'm out. Though I reckon I could do a whiny Ranta voice for Grimgar, lol.
Seriously though, I'd be happy with a single reader doing a good job. I really enjoyed the Stephen Fry version of the Potter series, he puts on voices for all the characters himself & his Hagrid is piss funny! Mind you, there's a fine line between fantastic and lame with doing voices like that, so just a good reader with really clear enunciation would be fine.
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@paulnamida said in If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?:
This looks like a nice initiative but I'm not sure, I used to be subscribed to audible but after a few months I realized I just wasn't enjoying listenning to books as much as I enjoyed actually reading them.
There are a whole host of people that just can't stare at a screen, and this would also open up opportunities for those with some reading based issues (severe forms of Dyslexia) to access these stories more easily.
I listen to every single JNC release aloud with TTS. I'm also not sure if I would definitely invest in English audiobooks over TTS (I also don't subscribe to Audible now, mainly because that SUB has gone to JNC), but if they were high quality enough, and priced reasonably, maybe.
I'd actually really love to get some of the already produced Japanese Audiobooks stateside through some sort of video with subs program. Who doesn't want to listen to Konosuba performed aloud? Get on that Yen Press! =P
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Honestly, a small cast for Grimgar would be ideal. When you're reading it, you don't much think about it, but the cast is HUGE for Grimgar. I mean, they get pulled into the world with like 14 people. There are 7 main characters, if you include Manato, and once they start exploring the Dusk Realm, they essentially add even more "main" characters for a while.
The easiest one for a single person that I can think of is probably the Faraway Paladin. It has the fewest characters and they remain mostly serious (not a lot of moe and embarassment).
It'd be tough for a male reader to do a convincing rendition of something like Outbreak Company or Isekai wa Smartphone alone. Harems and moe would need a female reader, and I think it'd be a bit tough to find one for that kinda of genre.
Titles I think you could convincingly have a single male reader:
Infinite Dendrogram
Bluesteel Blasphemer (maybe?)
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (there's potential, but might be better with a duo/trio)
The Faraway Paladin
Grimgar (If they're really talented, though I'd prefer a cast)Titles I think you could convincingly have a single female reader:
Yume Nikki
Walking my Second Path in Life
Nee-chan wa ChuunibyouTitles I think need a male/female duo (or perhaps a trio):
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord
Outbreak Company
Clockwork Planet
Demon King Daimaou
If It's for My Daughter
Invaders
Arifureta
Isekai wa Smartphone
Mixed Bathing
Little ApocalypseTitles I think you would be better with a small cast:
Infinite Dendrogram
Grimgar
Occultic;NineI could definitely be convinced otherwise on these groupings, but that's the breakdown of how I feel about it. Honestly, a few of those duo/trio ones could convincingly be done by a single female reader if they're willing to play the harem protagonist. Some titles are listed twice if I think they could go either way. I'd definitely be interested in all of your opinions on this.
My biggest fear with doing duos or casts is that the tone can often be mismatched. It's really one of my biggest pet peeves in voice acting. One person goes for one feeling then the other goes with a completely different interpretation.
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I have decided to go all in. Doing some sample recordings at a recording studio this weekend. Even if it's only proof of concept I'm tempted to read a whole dang book and hand it to you as a feit accompli.
But I'm planning to record chapters of Realistic Hero, Ragnarok, Smartphone, and a few others.
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With the volume it would do, and the way audible's revenue sharing works, I don't see it being viable long term unless people basically do it for slave wages...
I'm willing to maybe try a volume as a test at some point, and see how it does (assuming I can negotiate the rights to do it), but I'm not sure it would break $100 in revenue per hour of recording (and most books would be 6-8 hours unabridged, I think).
It's never been a quality of the performance issue, but a lack of decent revenue stream that I foresee being a problem.
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To be true I am not a fan of Audiobooks.I would rather read them as to wait for a slow reader to finish it.
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@saskir same here.
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I like audio. I use text to speech for pretty much all the light novel digital releases that I can. If it's physical, I might even read it aloud myself. =P
I think the question is, would I pay more for an audio edition of light novels I already read. That's debatable. Some sort of deal with the Japanese language audiobooks / Drama CDs being reformatted to video with English subtitles I'd be interested in, especially if they have known talent reading them.
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@sam-pinansky thanks for an honest reply. I can see where the business sense might not support it. To be clear i would do it for free. I really love these properties. This is a bit of a bucket list isekai situation of my own selfish design but I want to at least try. The recording studio owner is a friend and he knows my desire. So if the sample is useful it's useful. If it isn't at least I had a bit of fun.
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Audiobooks or Drama CD's, I think I can see where @Sam-Pinansky is coming from. Between licensing costs and paying the performers/readers it may not be a viable product. I'm also thinking of the early days of English dubbing. Low wages and the same people doing lots of projects.
I think there's a good point to be made here. Even with all of the fan translations out there, how many of them are converted to audio format? Also, how many Japanese publishers just give away audio format material as "bonuses" to higher profit margin products (like DVD box sets)?
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I do not really like Audiobooks, The only time I have ever used it is for School Project like if I needed to read a book up to a certain point. and anyways there are some book reading apps that have a text-to-speech function so I could just use one of those if I want (even though an Audiobook would be more pleasing to the ears).
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I love audiobooks and listen to them regularly in the car (though lately I’ve been listening to full cast Dr Who plays instead). I’d happily kickstart LN audiobooks, but understand that the financials of Audible kind of killed the ease for small companies to make much off of audiobooks. It’s too bad, though that said I get all my audiobooks on Audible, so I’m part of the problem.
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@terrence there's the audible whispetsynch option where you upgrade your purchase to get both.
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@canadadesu said in If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?:
@terrence there's the audible whispetsynch option where you upgrade your purchase to get both.
Yup, but I haven't bought the majority of my JNC books from Amazon, so that wouldn't be an option. But it is nice when you can whispersync (especially with free classic novels and such).
I definitely can't see myself spending 16-18 bucks for a single audiobook volume. Spending 2 JNC credits for a novel that I haven't read? Maybe.
