Speechify vs Libro.FM?

Submitted by action_lawyer_comics t3_10p7b1m in books

So I’ve been boycotting Amazon for a while now for several reasons, and Brandon Sanderson’s reveal about terrible pay rates for authors was just an additional layer of icing on a cake that’s already been iced five or six times before. I’ve been using Libro.FM for a while, and I find that to be a good platform. The app works great, prices are reasonable, etc. My only issue with it is that a lot of the books I want to get aren’t on there since Audible has so many exclusives. Last time I stopped my subscription it wasn’t because I wasn’t listening to books fast enough, it was because every book I was interested in wasn’t on their site/app.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Speechify and how it compares to Audible and Libro? I still use Audible since I’ve purchased a lot of books before boycotting them, and the app works unsurprisingly well. I like that Speechify is taking a stand for authors and compensating them better, but I like that Libro gives part of my purchase to my local book store. It’s also frustrating enough to have my library split across 2 apps, so it would have to be pretty compelling for me to change.

Also I listen to books to help me fall asleep so a sleep timer is critical. Audible and Libro both have one, does Speechify?

What are your thoughts? Which non-Audible audiobook is best?

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tvp61196 t1_j6j14ia wrote

Unfortunately I don't have a solid answer for you as I almost exclusively use audible (aside from a few region locked audiobooks that require more questionable methods), but just a tidbit regarding sleep timers. Iphones (and probably android) have a timer app built in, with an option to "Stop Playing" when the timer runs out. This gives you the ability to add a sleep timer to any audio playing through your phone.

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Z1R43L t1_j6kllwv wrote

I use Smart Audiobook player. You can use your computer to download your audible books and play them through Smart. This puts all your books in one place. It has the best sleep timer with a shake to continue playing setting, so when it's about to sleep it makes a noise and you just shake your phone to continue. I only fall asleep to audiobooks and sometimes one sleep timer round isn't enough so I just shake it half-asleep...

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LadyAstronaut t1_j6kxmzj wrote

Personally I use Libby and my library. Occasionally I've had to buy a book. I knew about libro.fm for a while because they market themselves as competitor to audible. But after we got some real numbers from Sanderson. I was curious because he never mentioned libro.fm. Considering the competition and the numbers Sanderson quotes I wonder if libro.fm isn't much better for authors. Afterall Libro is committed to splitting profits with partner bookstores. So if Libro's model is sustainable they need a larger share of profit. Who loses? I don't have the answers to these questions. And I would love input from industry insiders. But I can't believe the authors are getting a much better deal than they do with audible. The only benefit for authors choosing Libro in this hypothetical is that only audible (and kindle for that matter) pressures authors into exclusive deals. I find those deals to be particularly heinous since they exclude libraries during extended period upon release.

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honestlyicba t1_j6mr5vi wrote

I’m using Scribd and most of the time I can find what I need for audible needs, sometimes I get it on Libby as well.

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