If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?
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@erictbar I know, I bought two sets of the credits last month
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@Ztshp I loved the first volume of Galactic Heroes, great and professional reading.
Stay far away from Battle Royal though - embarassingly bad.
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Just thinking about this, an Occultic;Nine Audiobook with multiple narrators would be boss. Probably one of the best choices from JNC so far.
I've been off the Audiobook train for a while, just because podcasts keep my commute occupied most of the time these days, but I used to be a real fiend for them. More LN titles would be cool to see.
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@whoisfriend I'm actually playing Occultic Nine text to speech in a program while I walk and... It's definitely a headphones only affair. So many moments where my face goes red and I have to turn the volume down if I'm playing it aloud. xD
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Sorry I missed this thread, when I made mine. I would be more than happy to pay, if the price was overall reasonable for the entire series. (I hate super-long stories)
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I would imagine a good number of people might buy them (it helps avoid having to read a 250+ page book) but getting the license/permission to do so is another story.
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Maybe I am a minority but i like reading more than listening to stories as i usually listen to music while reading. So, i'm probably one of few who would not buy this.
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Same for me actually. What I enjoy with litterature is the process of reading it. I would never get the same enjoyment from listening to it.
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@shishio I don't think you're in the minority at all. Just such people generally wouldn't post on a thread on the subject, on account of the fact that they (and I count myself in this group) don't really care whether or not an audiobook is created.
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As much as I love Audio books I can't help but feel that it's really risky doing them. Just look at LotGH for example, where the narrator's voice is inconsistent.
Still I would definitely buy more LN audio books if they were out
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@Ryu-J said in If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?:
As much as I love Audio books I can't help but feel that it's really risky doing them. Just look at LotGH for example, where the narrator's voice is inconsistent.
Still I would definitely buy more LN audio books if they were out
I have the book. What happens with his voice? He sounds very documentariesh / commander like in the open. Granted, I haven't made it past the history of the supreme emperor portion to the actual story.
I'm using a voice program to have the J-Novsl text read to me in a British robot voice. =P
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@Terrence if only I had a Welsh or Irish female voice to read all on my novels... /drools
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If your library has Hoopla, you can tale out the Galactic Heroes: Dawn audiobook for free.
Check out Dawn on hoopla digital.
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11904737 #hoopladigital -
Audiobooks would be good for access reasons too! If one is visually impaired or blind, audiobooks (or at a minimum, TTS options) are ways to read. I haven't yet tested J-novel club's web-interface with my screenreader, but I know the epub of Little Apocalypse was wonky. Love to see some more LN audiobooks soon!
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Would you be open to the submission of a sample chapter of one of the titles as a feasability study? I would very much like to provide such a thing free of charge.
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@canadadesu Feel free to send samples to contact (at) j-novel.club
It's something I'm always considering how to approach...
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Here's a promo page for Kadokawa's Japanese language audio offerings.
Upcoming stuff includes Konosuba and Mommy Isekai.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/adblLIGHTNOVEL
Are Audible accounts region locked?
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I loved the Kizumonogatari audiobook that Vertical put out and if more in that style were to be made (multiple actors and touches of music) then that'd be awesome. But it didn't seem to work out for them because they haven't expressed interest in making more of them for their other monogatari books. So if you pursue that, then you should get some good marketing down too. I only learned about the Kizu audiobook after they decided it was a loss, so I imagine that if the market is there, they didn't get to word out hard enough,
I'm down with the idea in general though, I walk as part of my work and get easily distracted when I get home, so I get to cheat on my reading a bit with audible while I work. Knocking out half a light novel before I get home would be pretty great too.
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@drglendale said in If there were English-language audiobooks available for popular light novel series, would people buy them?:
I loved the Kizumonogatari audiobook that Vertical put out and if more in that style were to be made (multiple actors and touches of music) then that'd be awesome. But it didn't seem to work out for them because they haven't expressed interest in making more of them for their other monogatari books.
I think it failed. T.T
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes got 3 of its volumes in audio form too, but the last 3 aren't.
This is why I think the only viable route is to do a Kickstarter. Start with a high price commitment so it'll earn money the first volume. I wouldn't even trust the one time performance, I'd do a Kickstarter for each volume if Japan OK'd that.
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I'm super happy that this topic has been revived! Truth is, back in October, I sent in a sample recording of me reading the first part of Infinite Dendrogram in hopes that-- if J-Novel were to do audiobooks-- that I'd be able to contribute in some form. I also made up some recordings for bits of Saihate no Paladin and Hai to Gensou no Grimgar in hope of following up with more, though I never sent them in.
Audiobooks have been my work commute companion for the past few months and I've already rolled through Kizumonogatari and the 3 Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels (I'm listening to the Lord of the Rings trilogy now!), but I really wish that there were more light novel audiobooks. So I figured that there were others who felt similarly.
Considering that I already have a good audio setup and sound proofing (I'm a partnered Twitch streamer, though I rarely stream anymore), I decided to throw my hat into the ring. I, too, would be more than happy to provide some free audiobook samples to J-Novel to gauge interest. Hell, I'd do a whole book without cost, if asked. What I'd really want is recordings of other people doing the books so that I can enjoy too!
If it did take off, I could see revenue sharing being the best bet for the (probably) low volume sales that light novel audiobooks would have, and so you probably won't get any of the big guns (who would rather be paid per finished hour), but if something a little more homebrew (but still good quality) ends up working, then I'd definitely show interest.
