SYNC - Free Audiobooks for Summer 2014

[tubemonkey]

SYNC (owned by AudioFile) is going to announce their Summer 2014 program later this month. So it's time to prep the thread. Last year, they announced in April. Not sure why they're announcing earlier. Maybe they plan to expand the program? Who knows.

What is SYNC?

SYNC is a program that gives away two complete audiobook downloads–a current Young Adult title paired thematically with a Classic or Required Summer Reading title–each week to listeners ages 13+ while SYNC is in session each summer.

• Current Downloads
• SYNC Schedule
• Geo-Restrictions
• FAQs & Help
• 2013 Archives

Unfortunately, there is some bad news to report. Discussion was started in the Audiobook thread and can be continued either there or here; it matters not to me.

SYNC Titles Lost in iOS7 Update -- 07 Oct 2013

Our apologies to SYNC Listeners who have saved their SYNC titles in the OverDrive App on their Apple device.

The iOS7 update does indeed clear your OverDrive App library of titles. Because of the temporary nature of the SYNC titles (generously given to us for just one week by the audiobook publishers) the OverDrive suggestions for title restoration will not work for SYNC titles. There is sadly no way for us to restore those titles for you. The update compatibility was unanticipated and out of our hands.

Consider using this as an opportunity to borrow the SYNC selections from your library using OverDrive or to try audiobook download member services like Audible or Downpour.

Again, our apologies!

[tubemonkey]

Summer 2014 SYNC Title Lineup (13 weeks -- 26 titles)

• Week 01 --> 15~21 May 2014
• WARP: The Reluctant Assassin -- Eoin Colfer --> US & Canada ONLY
• The Time Machine -- HG Wells

• Week 02 --> 22~28 May 2014
• Cruel Beauty -- Rosamund Hodge --> NOT in UK & British Commonwealth
• Oedipus the King -- Sophocles

• Week 03 --> 29 May~04 Jun 2014
• Confessions of a Murder Suspect -- J Patterson, M Paetro --> US, Canada, & Philippines ONLY
• The Murder at the Vicarage -- Agatha Christie --> NOT in UK & British Commonwealth

• Week 04 --> 05~11 Jun 2014
• All Our Yesterdays -- Cristin Terrill --> US & Canada ONLY
• Julius Caesar -- William Shakespeare

• Week 05 --> 12~18 Jun 2014
• Code Name Verity -- Elizabeth Wein
• The Hiding Place -- C Boom, J Sherrill, E Sherrill

• Week 06 --> 19~25 Jun 2014
• I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You -- Ally Carter --> US & Canada ONLY
• Anne of Green Gables -- Lucy Montgomery

• Week 07 --> 26 Jun~02 Jul 2014
• Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock -- Matthew Quick
• October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard -- Leslea Newman

• Week 08 --> 03~09 Jul 2014
• Torn from Troy -- Patrick Bowman
• Peter and the Starcatchers -- D Barry, R Pearson --> NOT in UK & British Commonwealth

• Week 09 --> 10~16 Jul 2014
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice -- Philip Hoose
• While the World Watched -- Carolyn M McKinstry, Denise George

• Week 10 --> 17~23 Jul 2014
• The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline -- Nancy Springer
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II -- Arthur Conan Doyle

• Week 11 --> 24~30 Jul 2014
• Headstrong -- Patrick Link
• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde -- Robert Louis Stevenson

• Week 12 --> 31 Jul~06 Aug 2014
• Divided We Fall -- Trent Reedy --> US, Canada, & Philippines ONLY
• The Red Badge of Courage -- Stephen Crane

• Week 13 --> 07~13 Aug 2014
• Living a Life that Matters -- Ben Lesser
• The Shawl -- Cynthia Ozick

Geo-Restrictions

The Non-US Listener

Many of you living outside of the United States would like to know if SYNC is available to you. Of course we want you all to participate, but some of the individual titles have international restrictions that originate from the original publisher contracts. If you are accessing titles from an IP address within a country restricted by rights (including U.S. Military Personnel on US bases), we are sadly unable to provide the titles. Our apologies!

US & Canada ONLY

• WARP: The Reluctant Assassin
• All Our Yesterdays
• I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

US, Canada & Philippines ONLY

• Divided We Fall
• Confessions of a Murder Suspect

NOT AVAILABLE in UK & British Commonwealth

• Cruel Beauty
• Peter and the Starcatchers
• The Murder at the Vicarage

[tubemonkey]

FAQs & Help


* Download Details

• Downloads are in MP3 format, hosted by OverDrive, and are Mac and Windows compatible
• Downloads will operate through OverDrive’s Media Console
• Most listening devices are supported
• Each SYNC audiobook will be available for download for a period of 7 days (only)
• Titles, once downloaded, can be listened to at any time

* Software Requirements

• Titles are delivered through the OverDrive Media Console. You can prepare for the program by downloading the software to your desktop and whichever device you anticipate listening on.

* How do I download these audiobooks?

• See this page - SYNC Download Help - for details
• See this page - SYNC Download Prep - for details
  

  SYNC titles will be available directly from our SYNC Download Page starting May 15th. Each week you select the title(s) you want to try and enter your email address. You will then be emailed a link from which to download the title into the OverDrive Media Console.

* Do I need a SYNC account to download these audiobooks?

• No - SYNC does not require a user account and does not maintain records of the audiobooks you download. All you need is a username and an email address.

* Do I need an OverDrive account to download these audiobooks?

• No - OverDrive does not require a user account and does not maintain records of the audiobooks you download. OverDrive acts as the host to deliver these audiobooks during a 7-day window. After that, these audiobooks are no longer available as free downloads.

* Does SYNC or OverDrive keep copies of my audiobooks on their servers?

• No - since neither company requires user accounts, they have no need to keep backups.

* What happens if I lose my audiobooks?

• Hopefully, you have backups. If not, the files may still available somewhere on your computer or media device. If not, then you're out of luck. There's no way to legally get them back for free. See previous questions.

* Should I make backup copies of my audiobooks?

• Yes, most definitely! - make additional copies of your files in a separate folder on your computer outside of any third party software. Also, make copies on an external hard drive/ flash drive and/or cloud service and/or burn them to CD/DVD. Neither SYNC nor OverDrive maintain records/copies of your downloads. If your only files get deleted or corrupted during a third party software update, you may end up losing your audiobooks. See the next question for a real life example.

* Were audiobooks lost during the 2013 iOS 7 update?

• Yes - unfortunately, some people lost their audiobooks during the iOS 7 update last Sep 2013. See this announcement - SYNC Titles Lost in iOS7 Update - and this post for a discussion.

* How do I recover incomplete downloads?

• See this post from koland in the Current Audiobook Specials thread.

* Do any of these audiobooks have geographic restrictions?

• Yes, 8 of them do - see this post and The Non-US Listener for a listing
  

  Many of you living outside of the United States would like to know if SYNC is available to you. Of course we want you all to participate, but some of the individual titles have international restrictions that originate from the original publisher contracts. If you are accessing titles from an IP address within a country restricted by rights (including U.S. Military Personnel on US bases), we are sadly unable to provide the titles. Our apologies!

* Do any of these audiobooks have DRM restrictions?

• No - they're delivered as DRM-free MP3s

* How long do I have to download these audiobooks?

• You have 7 days from the date they are released to download them. After that, they are no longer available as free downloads.

* Are these audiobooks mine to keep or am I just borrowing them?

• They belong to you; you are not borrowing them. They can be listened to whenever and wherever you want and loaded onto any of your compatible devices - they never expire.

[koland]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Unfortunately, there's some bad news to report. Discussion about this was started here and can continue in either place. It matters not to me.

Since I use overdrive on my pc, this would not affect me, correct? I keep a copy of the audiobooks backed up (as well as have the links in the app that allow re-download on the PC, but that only works on that one pc, until it crashes or retired). I don't use the overdrive app on the ipad (much... any? well, maybe).

This only deletes the books from the library stored on your ipad?

Or, is this going to the overdrive licensing server and removing the books from your account just because you updated an app on the ipad?

[tubemonkey]

I just updated the FAQs in post 3. Please let me know if there are any errors or if there's anything I overlooked. If so, I'll make the appropriate changes. Thanks.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by koland

Since I use overdrive on my pc, this would not affect me, correct? I keep a copy of the audiobooks backed up (as well as have the links in the app that allow re-download on the PC, but that only works on that one pc, until it crashes or retired). I don't use the overdrive app on the ipad (much... any? well, maybe).

This only deletes the books from the library stored on your ipad?

Or, is this going to the overdrive licensing server and removing the books from your account just because you updated an app on the ipad?

It shouldn't affect the files you have copied elsewhere. My understanding is that it only affected the OverDrive app on iDevices when they updated to iOS 7.

[tubemonkey]

SYNC has released a preview list (see post 2 above) of some of the titles for this summer's program. The complete list and schedule will be released in early February.

[tubemonkey]

The list is finalized for this summer's program (see post 2 above). There are a total of 26 free audiobooks this year to run over 13 weeks. That's two more books and one week longer than last year. Kickoff is slated for 15 May 2014.

[Shane R]

No firm dates yet? Can we count on the order of that list?

I'd like to put some of the ones I want on my calendar to remind me to download them.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Shane R

No firm dates yet? Can we count on the order of that list?

I'd like to put some of the ones I want on my calendar to remind me to download them.

Their post of 07 Feb shows a start date of 15 May, but I wouldn't go by that list for the sequencing.

[tubemonkey]

The final lineup is now set. Program starts Thu 15 May. See post 2 for pairings. Geo-restrictions (if any) haven't been announced yet. Stay tuned.

[gabby98]

[tubemonkey]

Update

Program start is just 5 weeks away

Still no word on geo-restrictions

[tubemonkey]

Update

Program starts two weeks from today

Unfortunately, geo-restrictions will apply for some of these titles

The Non-US Listener

Many of you living outside of the United States would like to know if SYNC is available to you. Of course we want you all to participate, but some of the individual titles have international restrictions that originate from the original publisher contracts. If you are accessing titles from an IP address within a country restricted by rights (including U.S. Military Personnel on US bases), we are sadly unable to provide the titles. Our apologies!

Browse the titles below to see which titles are available to you.

SYNC Titles Available to Everyone (No International Restrictions)
The Time Machine
Oedipus the King
Julius Caesar
Code Name Verity
The Hiding Place
Anne of Green Gables
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
Torn From Troy
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
While the World Watched
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II
Headstrong
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The Red Badge of Courage
Living a Life That Matters
The Shawl

SYNC Titles Available to Everyone EXCEPT UK & British Commonwealth
Cruel Beauty
Peter and the Starcatchers
The Murder at the Vicarage

SYNC Titles Available in the US, Canada & Philippines ONLY
Divided We Fall
Confessions of a Murder Suspect

SYNC Titles Available in the US & Canada ONLY
WARP: The Reluctant Assassin
All Our Yesterdays
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

[GtrsRGr8]

Would anyone wish to share 1) summaries/synopses of, and 2) recommendations from, the titles that will be available to people in the United States? Of course, some of the titles will be familiar to almost everyone. But, some of them I, at least, am not familiar with.