Apple launches new “Narrated by Apple Books” digital narration feature

Apple has launched a new “Narrated by Apple Books” digital narration feature, which uses AI technology to create audiobook versions of books available on the Apple Books store.

First spotted by UK newspaper The Guardian (via iMore), Apple touts that its new Apple Books digital narration feature makes the creation of audiobooks more accessible to all, using advanced speech synthesis technology that creates high-quality audiobooks from an ebook file, with a range of digital voices created and optimized for specific genres, starting with fiction and romance.

Announced quietly through its Apple Books for Authors webpage, the iPhone maker is accepting ebook submissions in these genres beginning today, with samples of the voices available for these genres available to listen to online at authors.apple.com.

“More and more book lovers are listening to audiobooks, yet only a fraction of books are converted to audio — leaving millions of titles unheard,” says Apple online. “Many authors — especially independent authors and those associated with small publishers — aren’t able to create audiobooks due to the cost and complexity of production. Apple Books digital narration makes the creation of audiobooks more accessible to all, helping you meet the growing demand by making more books available for listeners to enjoy.”

To get started, Apple is recommending two preferred partners: Draft2Digital for independent authors currently selling ebooks directly on Apple Books and Ingram CoreSource for existing and new publishing clients can work with Ingram to produce and distribute audiobooks narrated by Apple Books.

Digitally narrated audiobooks are shown as “Narrated by Apple Books” in the store. The first wave of digital narration audiobooks are now available to purchase.

You can see more about the Apple Books digital narration feature here.