04-10-2020, 01:19 PM
So I gave this a read thru and also accessed Smashwords (OA has an account actually) and was able to locate additional information there.
Basically, Smashwords has partnered with another company (Findaway Voices) in the sense that they have configured their website to talk to the Findaway Voices website such that authors can trigger the process of audiobook creation right from their Dashboard on Smashwords. No idea how this works on the back end, although I'm sure things are set up so both Smashwords and FV are making money on the deal.
However, the cost of audiobook creation (which mainly seems to be paying for the narrator) is covered by the author, not by Smashwords. It seems to average $150-$400 per hour of audiobook. Each hour of audiobook is estimated to be equivalent to about 9000 words. From there you can do the math. Also, when I checked the Findaway site directly, I saw mention of a cost estimation tool.
The upshot of all this is that Smashwords has made it easy(?) to use Faraway Voices to convert a book you've published through them into an audiobook - but you're going to have to pay for that service. I don't see anything to indicate that Smashwords would care if the book in question is configured as free or not. Faraway Voices almost certainly does not care since you would be paying them for their services. And it's likely that Smashwords either gets paid for each author that uses Faraway Voices or else doesn't care if your book is free since the vast majority of the books on their site are not.
I guess it comes down to whether or not you want to pay to have an audiobook created. Note that there are other audiobook production services out there (including Amazon based on my very quick research) and you should probably shop around and see where you can get the best deal.
Hope this helps,
Todd
Basically, Smashwords has partnered with another company (Findaway Voices) in the sense that they have configured their website to talk to the Findaway Voices website such that authors can trigger the process of audiobook creation right from their Dashboard on Smashwords. No idea how this works on the back end, although I'm sure things are set up so both Smashwords and FV are making money on the deal.
However, the cost of audiobook creation (which mainly seems to be paying for the narrator) is covered by the author, not by Smashwords. It seems to average $150-$400 per hour of audiobook. Each hour of audiobook is estimated to be equivalent to about 9000 words. From there you can do the math. Also, when I checked the Findaway site directly, I saw mention of a cost estimation tool.
The upshot of all this is that Smashwords has made it easy(?) to use Faraway Voices to convert a book you've published through them into an audiobook - but you're going to have to pay for that service. I don't see anything to indicate that Smashwords would care if the book in question is configured as free or not. Faraway Voices almost certainly does not care since you would be paying them for their services. And it's likely that Smashwords either gets paid for each author that uses Faraway Voices or else doesn't care if your book is free since the vast majority of the books on their site are not.
I guess it comes down to whether or not you want to pay to have an audiobook created. Note that there are other audiobook production services out there (including Amazon based on my very quick research) and you should probably shop around and see where you can get the best deal.
Hope this helps,
Todd