Self-publishing with audio/video?

[Brian G Turner]

Is it possible to self-publish to Amazon Kindle with audio in your book?

I ask because I wondered whether it was possible to include music or even sound effects? I know Two Steps From Hell published Colin Frake on Fire Mountain to iBooks, which included different soundtrack music for different chapters. However, is this possible in Kindle format?

Additionally, I presume it would be possible to embed a link for a YouTube video in a self-published book, if Kindle format is simply HTML? I know there's not a lot of call for video in stories, but it just had me wondering.

 

[Michael Coorlim]

Well, the html file doesn't contain the audio/video files themselves, it only references them. You can bundle .mobi files with images though.

The big limitation is file size. I don't remember the limits off the size of my head, but large files also increase the cost of the download.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Is it possible to self-publish to Amazon Kindle with audio in your book?

Short answer, NO!

I presume it would be possible to embed a link for a YouTube video in a self-published book

But really stupid and annoying ...
It would need a phone / tablet / Mac / PC etc with

• A Browser
• An up to date not blocked Codec for the video.
• A suitable Data connection to the Internet.
• It won't work on ANY dedicated eReader.
• It might not work next year on Smart TV/ Cheap phone/Tablet(with no Playstore) due to codec being outdated and no way to upgrade (YouTube doesn't work any longer on my Archos PMP and no updates) even if it works now

I have good 8Mbps down / 1 Mbps up broadband. I get always at least 7.5Mbps. We NEVER play video, because with three users the Cap would be used up too quickly (typically 40G of 60G limit) and then we would have 64Kbps till usage was under 80%.


Longer answer:

1. No dedicated eReader does video of any kind.
   
2. Only some Kindles do Audio at all. None support audio IN an eBook, only Text to Speech or a separate MP3 file
   
3. The Mobi format (and Kindle) and ePub are both subsets of HTML and can contain limited CSS and static images. Mobi also can include a database.
4. You are talking about a Multimedia title, not an eBook.
5. Use a Multimedia engine, it's not an ebook if it's other than text + static images.
6. Web Sites are more than HTML, the Internet is more than Web Sites!

Any audio or video would only be links to a live website and would have to be opened using a helper application in a browser. eReaders (I think even apps) don't do audio/video, a link to a website will open the browser and historically even a browser uses a plug in. Even HTML5 will require suitable codecs to be installed.

An eBook (any format) is basically a simple Web Page, CSS file and Images combined in a single file. Even real web sites any audio or video is actually an embedded object not natively handled by the browser. There is some limited javascript support.

I have a list of what subsets of HTML ebook will support. Audio and Video are not really part of HTML or web pages (except in a limited sense in HTML5). eBooks don't even support client image map attributes (which would be cool) and have very limited table support.
How do I know all this?
Insanely I've tried to build a Click & point Adventure game that would run on a Kobo or Kindle dedicated eBook reader.
There is a tag that blocks turning to a next or previous page, so the only way in or out of a section of a book is via a link, so you can do an eBook version of the text adventure "programmed" book with small images or text choices being links to otherwise inaccessible sections. I think it can be scored using javascript and the database feature (not sure if this works on ePub, but does seem to be on pre-Amazon Mobi, and all Kindles support all the last Mobi features).

If you want text, audio and images (no video) the nearly forgotten Portfolio CD format works, but no-one makes the dedicated players anymore and the last PC / Mac versions of player application were maybe 1994. I of course have a philips player, Mac App, Win3.x App and demo Portfolio CD!

So really if you want Text, Images, Audio and Video, forget even HTML (too clunky). There are many off the shelf multimedia engines with player apps for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows (They make powerpoint look stupid, but authoring is no harder than powerpoint if you have the text, images, music/audio & video). Forget about eBooks if it's multimedia.

 

[Brian G Turner]

only Text to Speech or a separate MP3 file

One or more separate mp3 files would be fine - if they are allowed to be used while the Amazon app is being used. (I'm only thinking in terms of Kindle Fire touchscreen devices at this point - that's the only user I'd be aiming for, for very specific reasons.)

An eBook (any format) is basically a simple Web Page, CSS file and Images combined in a single file

Indeed - and it's easy to embed YouTube links into a HTML page - heck, YouTube provides the HTML code. Again, though, it depends whether that would throw a Kindle Fire into a wobbly or not.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Some Kindle books do come with audio as you read. I haven't yet tried any of them myself, though I've been tempted since some of them are Kindle Unlimited books and I could find out whether that's any different from the usual text-to-voice computer narration, and make the experiment for free.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Kindle Fire

A Kindle Fire (all that family) are now marketed as Fire, the Kindle is dropped. They are not dedicated eReaders, but tablets. On a Fire in an eBook (like any eReader application on a PC), the browser will load FIRST. Then the Browser will do what ever it does with a YouTube Link.
A Fire is an Android Tablet with NO access to Playstore (unless you "cheat") as they don't pay the Google Licence. So if the Codec for YouTube changes, you are dependant (like I was with my Archos 605 "mini-tablet") on Amazon updating the Fire.
Then you have the issue as to if the user has the Internet connection and the Cap to connect.

One or more separate mp3 files would be fine

No it would not.
No eBook integration. Like YouTube it has to be a Web Link. The Web Browser has to open, then it decides what to to do with the MP3, on the Web site. It will NOT work on anything without a Browser that supports MP3.

You can't include MP3 files in an eBook.

Your Fire is a TABLET, it's just the same as a laptop with a bunch of apps. It's not an eReader! The eReader App doesn't support Audio or Video, only the BROWSER of the Fire does.
Even the Kindles with Audio can't play MP3 on a Web Site, even though they have a Browser. You can link to an Ordinary Web page in an eBook. Anything more is DAFT.

You need a Multimedia App for Text, MP3 and Video. Forget about trying to distribute using an eBook as container.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Some Kindle books do come with audio as you read.

It's only Text to Speech. OR a separate unconnected MP3 file you transferred via USB. The MP3 file can't be controlled by eBook. I've tested FIVE models of Kindle.
Most Kindles now have no audio at all.

My Kindle DXG Plays MP3. There is no on screen list or interface. You can play / pause / step track. Nothing else. You can't even tell which file is playing, or select a file. That's pretty much the same as any real kindle with Audio. They called MP3 playback an "experimental" feature.

EDIT
I think I know at least 10 people locally with real Kindles. They'd be annoyed to get an eBook that needed Web pages with MP3 and Video. That wouldn't even work. I can make an eBook with such links. It will only do something on phone / tablet / Mac / PC that has a Browser, Browser support for embedded media type and an internet connection. It won't "play" in the eReader App on generic gadgets, which is what a Fire is, the link will launch the browser FIRST.