A working handbook
NarratedIndie: Audiobook Narration and Tools for Indie Authors
NarratedIndie helps self-published authors decide how to narrate their books and which software to use to draft, plan, format and publish them. If you are weighing an AI-narrated audiobook, start with AI audiobooks for authors. If you already have audio and need to know where it can be sold, start with the retailer rules.
Contents
Six chapters and an appendix. Each spine is as thick as its chapter is long.
Part One Narration and audiobooks
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AI Audiobooks for Authors24 pages
whether AI narration suits your book, which tools to consider, how to produce the audio and where to sell it.
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AI Narration Rules by Retailer12 pages
what ACX, Spotify, Kobo, Apple Books and other stores have published about AI-narrated audiobooks, with read dates.
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AI Rules for Authors4 pages
disclosure requirements, copyright questions and scams, kept apart from the tool reviews.
Part Two Writing and publishing software
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AI Drafting Tools for Novelists13 pages
drafting assistants, writing apps, proofreading and ways to use AI without flattening your voice.
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Book Formatting Software for Self-Publishers9 pages
tools that turn a manuscript into ebook and print files, with comparisons and alternatives.
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Plotting and Planning Software for Novelists4 pages
outlining and story-planning tools, and how they relate to your writing app.
Dated, and re-read on a schedule
The check record
Store rules on AI narration change. Each page here links the primary source and shows when it was last read.
How the site works
Every review and policy page here is built from published sources: vendor pricing and documentation, store help pages and reports, each with the date we read it. Where a rule or price can change, the page says when we read it and links the primary page. We have not yet run our own listening panels, narration projects or software trials. Pages that would depend on such work say so plainly, and how we research explains what that means in practice.
Some pages may carry affiliate links in future. If they do, the affiliate disclosure applies, and the editorial policy says how that is kept separate from what we write. You can also read how we use AI in producing this site and about this site.
Who this is for
The site is written for independent authors who publish their own books and want a straight answer before they spend money or upload a file. It does not assume you want to use AI. Several pages exist to help you decide that hiring a human narrator, or leaving a tool alone, is the better choice for your book.
Site information: contact, corrections, site changelog, privacy policy and terms of use.
Each topic hub groups its pages by the decision you are making, so you can follow one path rather than read everything. Policy pages end with a "last verified" line. Treat that date as the point after which you should check the linked store or vendor page yourself.