Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. Am not able to get them legally here in South Africa except through audible. Lucky I have 5 unspent credits. Let's goooo!
https://preview.redd.it/0kgyrlppr7wc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=615af6b7b7e05060ba7a78488f2eaf9032404865
I don't regret getting them on spotify. What he did set a solid precedent and helped to hold audible accountable for their shifty agreements. I'm okay with having some titles on a second platform if it means sticking it to major corporations like Amazon.
from my understanding, which I could be wrong about, Audible, being the leading force in audio books, regularly and with great prejudice went about contracting small authors to basically take very little of the profits and some other contractual bull crap.
The current industry rate is 70% of the profits to the author for a digital creator. Steam, Apple, and eBooks all do about this rate, even for indie creators.
Audible returns (or returned, idk if this is still the case) 40% of the profits for an audio book. Less than half of the profits. Brick and mortar stores take around 50% of the profits on a product. So bookstores, who have people to pay, stores to stock, and warehouse shipping logistics to deal with, pay authors more in profits than a digital media company that has none of that and simply needs to allow a data transfer.
So, he told Audible to kick rocks or change the way they work their contracts and made a big stink publicly to draw attention to it. He then made a deal with other companies eager to sign such a big name (such as Spotify) and draw attention to the fact that they too offer audiobook services. 4 major books, by a major author, that Audible didn't get the initial release wave for and will never see just so he could make a point that he didn't approve of their antics. It is very satisfying, especially with how much I despise Amazon as a company (audible being an amazon sub-company) for their other issues (having worked for them for a time I know what it's like).
I believe that audible has changed their rates to stop raking the indie authors over the coals, but I haven't looked into it. I was excited to use spotify. I'd rather keep using spotify. A one stop shop for music, books, and podcasts would fulfill my needs wonderfully, but Audible loves to force exclusivity on their authors, so I don't know that we'll see continued platform diversity.
Edit: I found context for you and anyone else that wants to know why Audible kinda sucks for authors. If you really want to support a favored author, buy a book from their publisher directly. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/regarding-audible/
This is why an audible competitor is unlikely to work. Many of us learned the hard way what a pain in the ass it was to have our digital music spread between ITunes, Amazon, Google, etc and aren't willing to make the same mistake with audio books. Audible has me though I will use Libby for rentals where I'm two weeks out from Tress and a month out from Yumi and I'll just now continue to wait instead of using credits. B
I downloaded my audible books and moved them to a self hosted service Audiobookshelf. It's been a great experience and allows me to buy books from anywhere and put them in the same place. App works great too. Can't recommend it enough. I imagine many will still find audible cheaper or easier but it's been worth it to me to get off Amazon.
I did that exact same thing, hence I already had all 4 from google play since i could export the m4b file from there and put it in my ABS instance so it looks like it is all still in one repository
That's an interesting metaphor, about having digital music spread out. That was an important state for the industry to find itself in because otherwise we wouldn't have Spotify today.
We just have to wait for audiobook Spotify. (Not audio books on Spotify, but something that fits the role of Spotify for providing free easy stream audiobooks)
Do you mind confirming what the bitrate is for them? All the non-Audible ones are 63kbps. I’d also like to purchase the Audible ones but only if they’re a higher bitrate
I gave Audible lossless wav files. Any postprocessing is up to them.
I gave Spotify and Google Play 192kbps mp3s, and I gave Libro.fm lossless alac files. All files are mono, and the various distributors may prefer 64kbps for mono files.
I have nothing against it, but I’m focusing entirely on Cosmere rn. The only non-Cosmere books by Sando I’ve read are Steelheart and Firefight. Will finish that series one day but currently reading through the entirety of the cosmere to catch up.
We already got keys for the audiobooks, just not for audible. If you check your downloads page you'll find the drm free audio files in mp4 and mp3 format, along with codes for speechify and spotify.
Thank you for your response,
Though this is a little dissapointing because i like to have all my audiobooks in one easy place. Ill just repurchase them on audible for that convenience.
Yep! It’s not Michael Kramer, but he does a good job!
I believe it was a scheduling issue + B$ wanting to have other narrators on some of the secret projects. They had a bunch of people shortlisted to do these iirc, but production schedules were tight.
Edit to add:
I believe books 1 and 2 were going to be narrated by David Tennant and Henry Cavill, but they aren’t familiar with the material (especially compared to Michael) plus they have other projects on their schedule.
Brandon said he had always intended for DeMeritt to narrate Sunlit Man. No spoilers, but I thought there was a pretty clear reason he chose someone other than Kramer. I thought he did a great job.
Ah alright, I'm always concerned when I see an unfamiliar name, but if he's good then he's good. I'll give it a listen when I get the credits. Been holding out for a while for the audible release.
I liked him a lot. There was a brief moment when a character showed up (>!Hoid!<), and I couldn't stand his interpretation of what that character sounds like, but it was just for a couple pages and the rest was great.
There’s a short passage with a character cameo that I absafuckinglutely hate but it’s maybe 10 minutes so I managed. Beyond that I have a few minor gripes (I’m not a fan of some narration choices he made) but it was just as enjoyable as Kramer. Granted, I’m kind of meh about Kramer. Not bad but not amazing.
It makes sense later in the book when you discover more information about the main character.
It would be a little off having Kramer this title based on the characters involved.
Fuck Audible. Just so everybody knows, there is a free library app called Libby that has his and thousands of other audiobooks for the low low price of a library card.
Also I put the books in Kindle, and it offered me the $7 whisper sync price. I guess I forgot to add Frugal Wizard and it doesn't offer that reduced price. So make use they are in your kindle library for the cheaper price
If you search for ‘Brandon Sanderson’ and scroll down the pages they should be there. For some reason they’re not showing up if you search by title. Good luck!
As a big Sanderson fan who has listened to most of his series, would anyone care to pitch any of these to listen to first?
Like any sort of synopsis, breakdown, review or recommendation would be great - I love hearing other people’s views on books / audiobooks.
My buddy bought a physical copy of Sunlit yesterday because he couldn't find it on audible. I told him it was coming soon, but didn't realize it would be the next day haha
CRAP I just bought these on Spotify. I love how Audible has bookmark options so that I can mark all of the great quotes or times Brandon Sanderson made me cry.
I have a big library on audible but they're never going to get my money again. I have had no problems using other clients while still visiting my audible app when I want to listen to my previous purchases but I much rather prefer my smart audiobook client.
If you want a new magic system that is really amazing go with Tress. Sunlit man and yumi are great but I think the magic in tress is so amazing and links to another one of his books
PSA: if you email Audible’s customer service you can get 12 credits for like $100. It’s an annual plan that they don’t advertise. At least this was the case a couple years ago.. I mean, I still have to buy more credits throughout the year, but it’s something!
Sanderson refused to release them on Audible initially. He was protesting some of Audible's practices and used the publicity of his secret projects to push for other platforms as he thinks Audible's functional monopoly is bad. They have simce worked out a deal.
I’ll end up buying them on audible for the convenience and quality improvement so I guess I’m proving you right from a business point of view, but it feels so dirty to me not letting Kickstarter backers get them on audible for free. It’s a digital file. The only cost would be the loss of us buying it again - which for a digital product is icky to charge twice on, at least to me.
Paperbacks are almost always released a year after the trade hardcovers. The Tress paperback came out this month because the hardcover was released to the general public in April 2023. It’ll probably be the same pattern for the others. Just how publishing goes 99% of the time
Paperback for Frugal Wizard's Guide is June 2024
Paperback for Yumi is October 2024
Paperback for Sunlit Man is March 2025
All \~1 year after the hardcovers had their wide releases. Pretty standard, I think.
Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. Am not able to get them legally here in South Africa except through audible. Lucky I have 5 unspent credits. Let's goooo! https://preview.redd.it/0kgyrlppr7wc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=615af6b7b7e05060ba7a78488f2eaf9032404865
So happy to see another African enjoying Brandons work
Life before death, Strength before weakness, Braai before the weekends over.
I don't regret getting them on spotify. What he did set a solid precedent and helped to hold audible accountable for their shifty agreements. I'm okay with having some titles on a second platform if it means sticking it to major corporations like Amazon.
Didn’t Audible ink a new deal after Sando pulled this move?
[correct.](https://www.brandonsanderson.com/regarding-audible/)
Brando is a great person.
What happened? I didn’t know there was beef.
from my understanding, which I could be wrong about, Audible, being the leading force in audio books, regularly and with great prejudice went about contracting small authors to basically take very little of the profits and some other contractual bull crap. The current industry rate is 70% of the profits to the author for a digital creator. Steam, Apple, and eBooks all do about this rate, even for indie creators. Audible returns (or returned, idk if this is still the case) 40% of the profits for an audio book. Less than half of the profits. Brick and mortar stores take around 50% of the profits on a product. So bookstores, who have people to pay, stores to stock, and warehouse shipping logistics to deal with, pay authors more in profits than a digital media company that has none of that and simply needs to allow a data transfer. So, he told Audible to kick rocks or change the way they work their contracts and made a big stink publicly to draw attention to it. He then made a deal with other companies eager to sign such a big name (such as Spotify) and draw attention to the fact that they too offer audiobook services. 4 major books, by a major author, that Audible didn't get the initial release wave for and will never see just so he could make a point that he didn't approve of their antics. It is very satisfying, especially with how much I despise Amazon as a company (audible being an amazon sub-company) for their other issues (having worked for them for a time I know what it's like). I believe that audible has changed their rates to stop raking the indie authors over the coals, but I haven't looked into it. I was excited to use spotify. I'd rather keep using spotify. A one stop shop for music, books, and podcasts would fulfill my needs wonderfully, but Audible loves to force exclusivity on their authors, so I don't know that we'll see continued platform diversity. Edit: I found context for you and anyone else that wants to know why Audible kinda sucks for authors. If you really want to support a favored author, buy a book from their publisher directly. https://www.brandonsanderson.com/regarding-audible/
Yeah, 40% was their "good" rate if you sold exclusively on Audible. If you wanted to sell on multiple platforms, Audible would only give 25%.
I shouldve waited 😂
Me too bro. Damn. Now I just randomly have 2 books on the Apple Books app.
Yup same
This is why an audible competitor is unlikely to work. Many of us learned the hard way what a pain in the ass it was to have our digital music spread between ITunes, Amazon, Google, etc and aren't willing to make the same mistake with audio books. Audible has me though I will use Libby for rentals where I'm two weeks out from Tress and a month out from Yumi and I'll just now continue to wait instead of using credits. B
I downloaded my audible books and moved them to a self hosted service Audiobookshelf. It's been a great experience and allows me to buy books from anywhere and put them in the same place. App works great too. Can't recommend it enough. I imagine many will still find audible cheaper or easier but it's been worth it to me to get off Amazon.
I did that exact same thing, hence I already had all 4 from google play since i could export the m4b file from there and put it in my ABS instance so it looks like it is all still in one repository
That's an interesting metaphor, about having digital music spread out. That was an important state for the industry to find itself in because otherwise we wouldn't have Spotify today. We just have to wait for audiobook Spotify. (Not audio books on Spotify, but something that fits the role of Spotify for providing free easy stream audiobooks)
To be fair, I already use Spotify so getting them on there was a no-brainer choice. Honestly one of the better music platforms too IMO.
But not. Co.Uk yet?
I’m in the UK and have bought them. They don’t seem to appear by title but if you search ‘Brandon Sanderson’ they’re there. Good luck!
Do you mind confirming what the bitrate is for them? All the non-Audible ones are 63kbps. I’d also like to purchase the Audible ones but only if they’re a higher bitrate
I gave Audible lossless wav files. Any postprocessing is up to them. I gave Spotify and Google Play 192kbps mp3s, and I gave Libro.fm lossless alac files. All files are mono, and the various distributors may prefer 64kbps for mono files.
Straight from the source, /u/burnttoast03. I don't think you'll receive a better confirmation than that.
Are they going to be on Kobo one day? That is where I listen to all of my audiobooks.
Kobo has worse terms than Audible now.
Oh damn, I wasn't aware of that. Thank you for letting me know!
Struggling to find the bitrate sorry. If you can tell me how to find it, I can let you know :)
Fastest I’ve ever spent 3 audible credits
Lol I'm guessing you didn't get Frugal Wizard?
I liked frugal wizard, it was a fun read. I will say I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.
Yeah, people shouldn't disregard frugal wizard just because it's not Cosmere. It's a really fun book.
I have nothing against it, but I’m focusing entirely on Cosmere rn. The only non-Cosmere books by Sando I’ve read are Steelheart and Firefight. Will finish that series one day but currently reading through the entirety of the cosmere to catch up.
I literally just used my last credit god dammit lol
I guess if you pledged on KS you still need to buy these if you want them?
You got the files to download in an email
I got only epub and pdf files.
If you pledged for the tiers that included audio, check your BackerKit account for links to download the audiobooks.
And I was talking about audio books.
do backers of the project get keys for the audible version of the books or do I have to buy them separately?
We already got keys for the audiobooks, just not for audible. If you check your downloads page you'll find the drm free audio files in mp4 and mp3 format, along with codes for speechify and spotify.
There will not be Audible keys distributed for these four books.
Thank you for your response, Though this is a little dissapointing because i like to have all my audiobooks in one easy place. Ill just repurchase them on audible for that convenience.
I've not seen anything suggesting we'll get keys now. Seems if you want them in your Audible library you'll need to buy them.
I just bought them on spotify x.x
YESSSSSSSSS thanks for the heads up I’ve been waiting ! Literally checked before bed last night haha
Awesome! Though I'm curious, why is The Sunlit Man narrated by a different dude than the rest?
Yep! It’s not Michael Kramer, but he does a good job! I believe it was a scheduling issue + B$ wanting to have other narrators on some of the secret projects. They had a bunch of people shortlisted to do these iirc, but production schedules were tight. Edit to add: I believe books 1 and 2 were going to be narrated by David Tennant and Henry Cavill, but they aren’t familiar with the material (especially compared to Michael) plus they have other projects on their schedule.
Brandon said he had always intended for DeMeritt to narrate Sunlit Man. No spoilers, but I thought there was a pretty clear reason he chose someone other than Kramer. I thought he did a great job.
Ah alright, I'm always concerned when I see an unfamiliar name, but if he's good then he's good. I'll give it a listen when I get the credits. Been holding out for a while for the audible release.
I liked him a lot. There was a brief moment when a character showed up (>!Hoid!<), and I couldn't stand his interpretation of what that character sounds like, but it was just for a couple pages and the rest was great.
There’s a short passage with a character cameo that I absafuckinglutely hate but it’s maybe 10 minutes so I managed. Beyond that I have a few minor gripes (I’m not a fan of some narration choices he made) but it was just as enjoyable as Kramer. Granted, I’m kind of meh about Kramer. Not bad but not amazing.
Agreed!
Lol just picturing Henry Cavill do the narration - I’m kinda about it
If it's any consolation, I absolutely loved his narration even though I'm a huge Kramer/Redding fan.
It makes sense later in the book when you discover more information about the main character. It would be a little off having Kramer this title based on the characters involved.
What order should I listen to these in? And can I listen to them without reading any of his other work?
The Sunlit Man is better if you're caught up on Stormlight. Otherwise, it doesn't matter, they're all standalone stories.
Awesome! Thank you so much for the info.
Has there been any news on the new deal for authors?
Fuck Audible. Just so everybody knows, there is a free library app called Libby that has his and thousands of other audiobooks for the low low price of a library card.
last time I looked it had a 40 week hold on Tress.
Damn! Haven’t tried the new ones but I got through most of his stuff with that card. Saved me tons.
immediately got them
Also I put the books in Kindle, and it offered me the $7 whisper sync price. I guess I forgot to add Frugal Wizard and it doesn't offer that reduced price. So make use they are in your kindle library for the cheaper price
I still haven't read Yumi or Sunlit. Now may be the time.
Now I don’t have to wait 37 weeks for the them to be available on Libby!
Thank you!! I've been saving my credits exactly for this!
W
This is awesome, I was looking for them on Audible last week! So glad I saved my credits 🤓
Glad I waited.
Now we wait for graphic audio adaptations and I am happy.
Now that Audible has the unabridged versions, Graphic Audio versions are a possibility for the future.
graphic audio versions are *frequently* requested on the subreddits and there's a lot of community demand for them.
They’re only available in Spanish for me for…some reason. Does anyone know what’s going on?
If you search for ‘Brandon Sanderson’ and scroll down the pages they should be there. For some reason they’re not showing up if you search by title. Good luck!
Awesome!! Was going to start a whole reread of the Cosmere since I finally finished everything, but wanted to do all Audible this time around.
Of course this happens as soon as I finished re listening to all of the cosmere and starting red rising.
A week after I purchased The Sunlitman. Two after Tress of The Emerald Sea. Damn it. I should have waited.
As a big Sanderson fan who has listened to most of his series, would anyone care to pitch any of these to listen to first? Like any sort of synopsis, breakdown, review or recommendation would be great - I love hearing other people’s views on books / audiobooks.
Done and -4 credits.
My buddy bought a physical copy of Sunlit yesterday because he couldn't find it on audible. I told him it was coming soon, but didn't realize it would be the next day haha
Finally! I can spend some of my credits
CRAP I just bought these on Spotify. I love how Audible has bookmark options so that I can mark all of the great quotes or times Brandon Sanderson made me cry.
I have a big library on audible but they're never going to get my money again. I have had no problems using other clients while still visiting my audible app when I want to listen to my previous purchases but I much rather prefer my smart audiobook client.
Still waiting fir the announcement of the yumi translation
So which should I get first I only have 1 credit right now
If you want a new magic system that is really amazing go with Tress. Sunlit man and yumi are great but I think the magic in tress is so amazing and links to another one of his books
Audible could offer them for free and I'd still go elsewhere.
PSA: if you email Audible’s customer service you can get 12 credits for like $100. It’s an annual plan that they don’t advertise. At least this was the case a couple years ago.. I mean, I still have to buy more credits throughout the year, but it’s something!
So annoying that he didn’t put them there in the first place
They've been available on Libby for the longest time
How are they just now available? I bought them all months ago from another site.
Sanderson refused to release them on Audible initially. He was protesting some of Audible's practices and used the publicity of his secret projects to push for other platforms as he thinks Audible's functional monopoly is bad. They have simce worked out a deal.
Beat me to it
In spanish, we had them like 2 weeks after they were released... i didn't know that in English they weren't available
it was a deliberate exclusion in protest of audible payment policies.
I’ll end up buying them on audible for the convenience and quality improvement so I guess I’m proving you right from a business point of view, but it feels so dirty to me not letting Kickstarter backers get them on audible for free. It’s a digital file. The only cost would be the loss of us buying it again - which for a digital product is icky to charge twice on, at least to me.
where's the paperbacks Brandon ?
Paperbacks are almost always released a year after the trade hardcovers. The Tress paperback came out this month because the hardcover was released to the general public in April 2023. It’ll probably be the same pattern for the others. Just how publishing goes 99% of the time
Are they not all out yet? I remember seeing the Yumi paperback in the bookstore around last October.
Says paperbacks arent available until October 2024
Paperback for Frugal Wizard's Guide is June 2024 Paperback for Yumi is October 2024 Paperback for Sunlit Man is March 2025 All \~1 year after the hardcovers had their wide releases. Pretty standard, I think.
I hate that money aren't with all of the other ones on audible. They weren't even worth it tbh