Whispersync for Voice Query

[Josieb1]

I have a lot of audiobooks. A lot sync with the ebooks but a percentage don’t.

For one particular author, Lily Morton, I wanted to get the audios so I could read and listen using my Paperwhite 6.8 11th generation. I have ten of her books and matching audios. Three of them don’t link up, and I even bought the whispersync for voice audio at the reduced price.

Audible have confirmed that I have the matching ebooks and audiobooks, they suggested the ebook needs updating, however Kindle Support say there is nothing to update.

It’s an infuriating issue that I just can’t get any help with. I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. I’ve done all the troubleshooting Audible keep throwing at me and nothing works. Has anyone else experienced this?

If I have 30% failure rate for one author it can just be me that’s seeing this.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I have a lot of audiobooks. A lot sync with the ebooks but a percentage don’t.

For one particular author, Lily Morton, I wanted to get the audios so I could read and listen using my Paperwhite 6.8 11th generation. I have ten of her books and matching audios. Three of them don’t link up, and I even bought the whispersync for voice audio at the reduced price.

Audible have confirmed that I have the matching ebooks and audiobooks, they suggested the ebook needs updating, however Kindle Support say there is nothing to update.

It’s an infuriating issue that I just can’t get any help with. I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. I’ve done all the troubleshooting Audible keep throwing at me and nothing works. Has anyone else experienced this?

If I have 30% failure rate for one author it can just be me that’s seeing this.

I've had ebooks that are supposed to have Whispersync for Voice but fail to link to the audiobook. However, Kindle Support has always been able to update the ebook for me and restore Whispersync. Though sometimes it takes a long time to get to the right person who won't give me the rigamarole.

That said, I've also had books that were Whispersynced when I bought them, only for them to lose Whispersync later because the author updated the book and it screwed up the Whispersyncing. Could that be what's happening?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by odamizu

I've had ebooks that are supposed to have Whispersync for Voice but fail to link to the audiobook. However, Kindle Support has always been able to update the ebook for me and restore Whispersync. Though sometimes it takes a long time to get to the right person who won't give me the rigamarole.

That said, I've also had books that were Whispersynced when I bought them, only for them to lose Whispersync later because the author updated the book and it screwed up the Whispersyncing. Could that be what's happening?

Not in this case as the author self publishes and they have only been released once. Also Audible have confirmed I have the correct versions of both audio and ebook.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

Not in this case as the author self publishes and they have only been released once. Also Audible have confirmed I have the correct versions of both audio and ebook.

I don't mean a new edition or new release. Sometimes publishers (or authors if they self-publish) update the existing release/edition. If you have your Kindle account set to auto-update (the main account on the website, not on your device), you won't even know if/when it happens. I have my settings not to auto-update, so when an update is available, I see "update available" on the website and I have to manually update.

When I've had ebooks with Audible narration lose Audible narration, it's always been an indie author who self-publishes and updated their book. I suspect traditional publishers know how to update without messing up Whispersync for Voice, or traditional publishers don't update as often because they don't fiddle with their books after publication as much as indie/self-published authors do.

I've also found you sometimes have to push Kindle support and Audible support depending on who you get. If the person you get doesn't know what they're doing, they'll give you the rigamarole and then try to push you off to the other side (Kindle transfers you to Audible and vice versa). More than once I've spent over an hour being transferred back and forth before I finally reach someone who knows what they're doing.

When you go to the book's Amazon page, does it still say Audible narration available on the ebook page and "Whispersync for Voice: Ready" on the audiobook page?

Then again, if you're confident that all of the above is not the case, then to answer your original question: No, I have never experienced what you are experiencing.

Out of curiosity, which of Lily Morton's books aren't working for you?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by odamizu

I don't mean a new edition or new release. Sometimes publishers (or authors if they self-publish) update the existing release/edition. If you have your Kindle account set to auto-update (the main account on the website, not on your device), you won't even know if/when it happens. I have my settings not to auto-update, so when an update is available, I see "update available" on the website and I have to manually update.

When I've had ebooks with Audible narration lose Audible narration, it's always been an indie author who self-publishes and updated their book. I suspect traditional publishers know how to update without messing up Whispersync for Voice, or traditional publishers don't update as often because they don't fiddle with their books after publication as much as indie/self-published authors do.

I've also found you sometimes have to push Kindle support and Audible support depending on who you get. If the person you get doesn't know what they're doing, they'll give you the rigamarole and then try to push you off to the other side (Kindle transfers you to Audible and vice versa). More than once I've spent over an hour being transferred back and forth before I finally reach someone who knows what they're doing.

When you go to the book's Amazon page, does it still say Audible narration available on the ebook page and "Whispersync for Voice: Ready" on the audiobook page?

Then again, if you're confident that all of the above is not the case, then to answer your original question: No, I have never experienced what you are experiencing.

Out of curiosity, which of Lily Morton's books aren't working for you?

I’ve been to kindle support multiple times and they are adamant that the books don’t require updating. Yes both the ebook and the audio say Whispersync for Voice ready, in two cases I actually bought the audiobook at the whispersync price.

The three books I have an issue with are Quiet House, Rule Breaker and Risk Taker.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I’ve been to kindle support multiple times and they are adamant that the books don’t require updating. Yes both the ebook and the audio say Whispersync for Voice ready, in two cases I actually bought the audiobook at the whispersync price.

Well, that's aggravating. I've never had that happen before. Hope this isn't a trend.

I've notice long delays in ebooks being processed for Whispersync for Voice in the last few months. It used to be ebooks from traditional publishers were Whispersynced on release day (indie published books seem to take longer). But in the last few months it's taken weeks for this to happen for many new releases, even from traditional publishers. I'm guessing this has to do with cuts taking place at Amazon/Audible??? I'm wondering if snafus like the one you're experiencing are related to this.

[Josieb1]

I wrote to Jeff Bezos, with screenshots from my Kindle. I’ve had a reply saying the issue is being passed over to Audible’s Executive Technical Support (not holding my breath here) so I’ll wait and see what reply I get.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I wrote to Jeff Bezos, with screenshots from my Kindle. I’ve had a reply saying the issue is being passed over to Audible’s Executive Technical Support (not holding my breath here) so I’ll wait and see what reply I get.

Will be interested to hear if they can fix this!

(I'm wondering if the author did update the ebook resulting in loss of Whispersync and Audible/Amazon simply failed to update the web pages and the result will be their telling you the book is no longer Whispersynced. I've had that happen with a few indie ebooks and it's very frustrating.)