I’m not sure at this point. The final version of the ebook is not quite finished. When it’s done we’ll do a deep comparison between the posts we’ve previously recorded and the posts included in the ebook. If the post hasn’t been changed for the ebook and the flow of the reading isn’t broken by using a previously recorded version then we’ll re-use the original audio, otherwise we’ll record a fresh copy.
Rick_from_Castify
Karma: 252
Actually I don’t now that I’ve had a closer look at the articles to be included. I was worried about posts like Entangled Photons but the editors putting it together have done a really good job of selecting posts, arranging them in a coherent manner, and even editing some posts where needed. My hat is off to them.
Thanks for the support everyone! I’m also looking forward to being able to listen to the rest of the sequences.
What does everyone think of the Math-intensive posts? Best to read the math? Best to state that there’s a bunch of math in an article and refer you to the e-book? Or some other variant?
You’ll be able to subscribe to the books in podcast form by adding it to iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.
We’ll also make it available in .m4b format which can be used with many audiobook players, including Apple devices.
Thanks for the offer Robin but we’ve decided to go with professionals. Early on we auditioned people from the LessWrong community and we decided that having a well produced reading with a professional voice actor makes a big difference on the listening experience.
It will be on Audible, I’m not sure if they have restrictions on where it will be available globally. Do you know more Metus? This will be the first book that we’ve personally put onto Audible. We certainly want it to be available globally. It will also be available on iTunes.
Can you give us an idea of the sort of listener numbers you’ve seen for your current Sequence audio offerings?
So far we’ve relied on people coming to the sequences we’ve produced via the LessWrong site. As an example of numbers we’ve had about 100 people purchase the “How to Actually Change Your Mind” sequence.
Any reasons in particular it wouldn’t be reasonable to extrapolate those numbers?
“The Sequences” is a mega volume and we’re just unsure how well it will sell. We will be making them available on Audible and iTunes in an effort to spread the ideas further.
Are there reviews?
Maybe some previous listeners could let you know what they thought. I can let you know we’ve had 0 complaints of the audio quality.
How much of this audiobook will double up (in terms of both content and new voice acting)?
About 1⁄3 is covered by posts that have been read in previous sequences.
Will currently unavailable individual sequences be available for purchase separately at some stage?
If this project includes a complete sequence we’ll also release that as a standalone purchase.
PS: Thanks for your prior support, we wouldn’t have made it this far without you.
FYI. Any purchase of an audiobook will come with the corresponding ebook version.
We have someone doing a trial run at the moment. Happy to hear more auditions, send one through.
We do minor edits when needed but other than that the scripts are intact. While not perfect writing, the content is what matters and that comes across very well in the recordings.
We can handle anything for the application but do most of our work with mp3 files.
A sample has been added. “Joy in the Merely Real” http://castify.co/channels/43-reductionism
The first major sequence is “Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions”; however, the wiki suggests to start with the minor sequence “Map and Territory”. Links to all three below.
Map and Territory: http://castify.co/channels/4-less-wrong-map-and-territory http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Map_and_Territory_(sequence)
Mysterious Answers To Mysterious Questions: http://castify.co/channels/1-less-wrong-mysterious-answers-to-mysterious-questions http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Mysterious_Answers_to_Mysterious_Questions
A Human’s Guide to Words: http://castify.co/channels/16-less-wrong-a-human-s-guide-to-words http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/A_Human%27s_Guide_to_Words
You get a podcast feed link which you can add to iTunes or to any podcast catcher program you choose to use. There are some benefits of doing it this way, the files are bookmark-able (your last listening place is remembered) and you can set your podcast software to automatically sync the 5 least recent unplayed files for example.
If you are anti-podcast though we could certainly share the files with you in a zip. Just shoot an email through to support@castify.co and we’d be happy to do that for you.
PS: If you’d like to test it out, just sign up for the Free essay from Eliezer here: http://castify.co/channels/3-eliezer-yudkowsky-the-simple-truth
What would the default license be when someone chooses to “opt out of CC-BY”? Would it be CC-BY-SA?
So we’ve talked through the implications of having some posts under the CC-BY-SA licence and others under the CC-BY license and we think we could incorporate both into a single podcast feed as Viliam_Bur suggested.
Very true. It’s hard to know how everyone will use the files once they get them onto the computer. What would happen if we released all copyright protection like Zenhabits? I have no idea. It’s an interesting idea. I wonder how it would play out in reality. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but we do have Eliezer’s large essay “The Simple Truth” available for free so people can try out the service.
LessWrong is a unique situation for us. Most of the other blogs we will be partnering with are written by a sole blogger who will want us to use some form of copyright protection. This is why we’ve asked for opinions on the topic here to see what everyone would like to do.
I personally think that an opt-out or opt-in system seems the most fair as it gives the individual the option.
LessWrong refers to the SIAI / CFAR folk including Eliezer.
We’re in the process of getting it onto Audible and plan to get it onto iTunes as well to get it in front of the widest audience as possible.