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Why none of my books are available on Audible

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Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#21

Post by flycaliguy »

exotree wrote: post #14

“ My agent tells me that if I’d been willing to set aside my ethics and allow Audible to slap DRM on my books, I’d have made enough money to pay off my mortgage and save enough to pay for my kid’s entire college education. That’s a price I’m willing to pay.” I have to be honest and say… I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of ou…

Yeah, I’d be tempted to write in a character at the start of each book that just so happens to remove DRM from an audio book.

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#22

Post by Agingcoder »

Tangential question (and a serious one, since I'm pretty much baffled by the whole thing) : I don't use audiobooks, since I find them 'slow'.

Why do people listen to them instead of reading books? Is it because, say, listening to one while driving is better than not being able to read since you have no time to do so? Or is there a specific pleasure in listening to a book read by someone else?

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#23

Post by is_true »

itsoktocry wrote: post #15
exotree wrote: post #14

“ My agent tells me that if I’d been willing to set aside my ethics and allow Audible to slap DRM on my books, I’d have made enough money to pay off my mortgage and save enough to pay for my kid’s entire college education. That’s a price I’m willing to pay.” I have to be honest and say… I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of ou…

> I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of our lives. This mindset is a driving force behind our corrupt politics: sacrificing morals for money.

He could do the deal with audible and share a "free" version on the high seas.

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#24

Post by mnahkies »

Agingcoder wrote: post #22

Tangential question (and a serious one, since I'm pretty much baffled by the whole thing) : I don't use audiobooks, since I find them 'slow'. Why do people listen to them instead of reading books? Is it because, say, listening to one while driving is better than not being able to read since you have no time to do so? Or is there a specific pleasure in listening to a book read by someone else?

I generally favour podcasts over audio books, but generally whether I read or listen on my commute is determined by whether I got a seat on the train - can be difficult to read standing up on a crowded train

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#25

Post by matsemann »

Agingcoder wrote: post #22

Tangential question (and a serious one, since I'm pretty much baffled by the whole thing) : I don't use audiobooks, since I find them 'slow'. Why do people listen to them instead of reading books? Is it because, say, listening to one while driving is better than not being able to read since you have no time to do so? Or is there a specific pleasure in listening to a book read by someone else?

I prefer reading books myself, but sometimes the hurdle to actually sit down and read can be a bit big. So while I'm an avid reader, I have bouts where I read nothing at all. Not because of time constraints or anything, just feels a bit heavy starting something new.

But listening to something is less of a commitment. As you say, can combine it with something else. So it's a way for me to ease back into reading mode again.

Edit: but I would recommend staying away from Audible. When I wanted to take a break from my monthly membership, they forced me to use all tokens I had amassed.

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#26

Post by paulryanrogers »

is_true wrote: post #23
itsoktocry wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of our lives. This mindset is a driving force behind our corrupt politics: sacrificing morals for money.

He could do the deal with audible and share a "free" version on the high seas.

That may depend on the terms with Audible.

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#27

Post by beckman466 »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #7

I very much agree with him regarding DRM, and I understand why it puts him off launching audiobooks on Audible. Still, it is worth commenting that there are trivial ways to remove DRM from Audible files. I myself do it to my own collection, partly out of "lockout prevention", and partly so that I can listen to the books using apps that I find infinitely more covenient and feature rich than Audible's own (shout-out to…

> it is worth commenting that there are trivial ways to remove DRM from Audible files.

say i share with a loved one or close friend the de-DRM'd audiobook. now their computer becomes infected with a RAT, and 'my' file/audiobook fingerprinted with the proprietary fingerprint algorithm (to identify me as the unique purchaser, the same techniques are probably applied industry wide) is leaked online as a consequence (or their backup system is compromised or any kind of infosec violation out of the hands of my friend). next, Amazon corp identifies me. their immediate next step: lawsuit on me as an individual because 'my' file is now leaked on p2p filesharing sites and forums without me knowing about it.

capitalist-enforced DRM is cancer because it's artificial scarcity imposed on a non-scarce resource (computer data/audio file). it's the result of trying to work with the limited and violent toolsets of a capitalist economy.

the internet is still young and there are likely so many better options for publishing things.

for example, an author i've followed for a while by the name of Charles Eisenstein has a deal with his publisher, North Atlantic Books, to initially launch his book as paperback only, and then after a six month period, his whole book is available free to read on his website (also of course there's the wonderful Library Genesis).

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein: https://charleseisenstein.org/books/the-more-beautiful-world... (i love the final story 'A Gathering of the Tribe')

i just wanted to add my two cents after seeing encouraging discussions/debates here on this page. hybrid strategies like Eisenstein's give me signals that ultimately make me feel hopeful for a post-capitalist society which would allow any child to listen to any audiobook (and be infinitely curious in whichever direction feels most natural for them), regardless of whether their parents can afford Audible/Storytel/whatever. i focus on a child's curiosity because they suffer the most from the capitalist commoditization of culture and science and more.

"How does Audio Fingerprinting work": https://emysound.com/blog/open-source/2020/06/12/how-audio-f...

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#28

Post by paulryanrogers »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #7

I very much agree with him regarding DRM, and I understand why it puts him off launching audiobooks on Audible. Still, it is worth commenting that there are trivial ways to remove DRM from Audible files. I myself do it to my own collection, partly out of "lockout prevention", and partly so that I can listen to the books using apps that I find infinitely more covenient and feature rich than Audible's own (shout-out to…

You can buy some of his work in podcast form already https://attacksurface.supportingcast.fm/

Full disclosure, powered by my employer.

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#29

Post by swozey »

hnrodey wrote: post #17

Remove DRM from audible book. 1. Sign in to audible.com. 2. Download the book file from your Library (the .aax file). 3. Use https://audible-converter.ml to generate a version of the ebook absent DRM. All processing happens in the browser.

Personally I use https://openaudible.org/

Re: Why none of my books are available on Audible

#30

Post by ChildOfChaos »

itsoktocry wrote: post #15
exotree wrote: post #14

“ My agent tells me that if I’d been willing to set aside my ethics and allow Audible to slap DRM on my books, I’d have made enough money to pay off my mortgage and save enough to pay for my kid’s entire college education. That’s a price I’m willing to pay.” I have to be honest and say… I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of ou…

> I think I would be very frustrated with my spouse if this principle cost us so much potential financial freedom in other parts of our lives. This mindset is a driving force behind our corrupt politics: sacrificing morals for money.

It’s not really a big deal though is it?

this person is just being a little weird and stubborn about this.

Audible members know what they are getting and choose to do so. Audible DRM is not a big deal, just use this Audible app, some of the arguments made in this article are invalid.

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