I was just walking the dog yesterday and a fellow dog lover came up to me, “I’m sorry I haven’t read your Substack short stories yet. It’s very hard for me to find time to read, but I love listening to audio books and podcasts.” Thanks, Substack Team, this is a very exciting innovation - I am sure my subscribers will love it!
That is so cool. I'd like to be like you. I just moved to a new neighborhood and everyone here is getting to know me as an aspiring writing. I've only shared with one neighbor so far, but now I have something new to aspire to! Thanks! :)
YES YES YES THANK YOU!! I'm SO glad I can just make narrations and not have to have it be a whole podcast episode! Or that voice-to-text can just take over YAAAY!! This whole update gave me butterflies!!
What an awesome update! I've been thinking about how to use audio embeds, and now is my opportunity to try! A special shout out to any software engineers on the Substack team for this one... as a fellow software engineer I thank you and I see you 👀👀👀 but not in a wierd I'm stalking you kind of way.
Thank you so much for constantly making the life of substack writers easier. I will certainly try out the podcast- and other audio options. That said -- am I possibly the only one here who LIKES to read a piece (vs. listening to it)? Maybe that's because I'm old. I prefer real books to Kindle etc. Just curious...
Not alone. The world is noisy enough without having the voice of every writer in my head also. I prefer text for many reasons.
Not everyone has a voice built for radio, many people have vocal ticks and resonances that are terrible to listen to. Unfortunately my brain will zero in on anything that irritates it so the entire podcast message is lost because I keep focusing on their lipsmacking, nasal sounds or that one pitch that gets hit whenever they get excited.
Most people ramble when they talk or engage in idle chatter if another speaker is present. Things that simply don't interest me at all and waste my time. This rarely turns up in writing because it's obvious in writing when you are off on a tangent.
You cannot easily scan a podcast or video.
Reading has a meditative effect, it slows brainwave activity and calms the nervous system. Audio and video are distracting and stimulating adding to the unnecessary noise of life. If others like it good for them, but it's not for me. I came to substack specifically to get away from noisy formats.
always a reader, the grief of last 6 yrs made not reading same sentence over & over impossible! Silenced mind w/zen thought and am not only reading (yay!) I'm writing & expressing thoughts too!
I too prefer reading to listening, Jessica. And I prefer pages in my hands rather than electronic copies. That said, electronic books work very well for researching my topics. When I highlight points I want to refer back to, electronic books retain all the highlighted parts in a section at the back. Wonderful for easy perusing, and copying and pasting if need be.
And I trialled the poll feature asking my readers if they would like the option of listening to a narration of my newsletters. 90% said yes. So, I'll be learning to use the voiceover feature very soon.
A very neeky question having spent some time with the new options...
Any chance of a "music" option in the dropdown menu, which would be the same as the audio embed player, but without the change speed button?? I hate to think how my singing will sound at an accidental x1.5 speed! Especially as it's on the left hand side where a play button would often be...
I am so excited about these features, thank you! I started my podcast initially as a way to make my long articles more accessible to some of my readers. I love that this is embedding accessibility options into the tools for writers.
GAMECHANGER!!! I can’t believe that all I have to do is write and now people can listen to my articles if they prefer. Try to make the case for ghost now....
This is great. I've been thinking about the possibility of adding an audio version for each of my posts, but a podcast didn't seem a great fit. This is exactly what I need.
This is a fantastic development. Keep up the great improvements and enhancements. It is so easy to do. I may be go back and add the voiceover to all of my poetry.
I was just walking the dog yesterday and a fellow dog lover came up to me, “I’m sorry I haven’t read your Substack short stories yet. It’s very hard for me to find time to read, but I love listening to audio books and podcasts.” Thanks, Substack Team, this is a very exciting innovation - I am sure my subscribers will love it!
That is so cool. I'd like to be like you. I just moved to a new neighborhood and everyone here is getting to know me as an aspiring writing. I've only shared with one neighbor so far, but now I have something new to aspire to! Thanks! :)
YES YES YES THANK YOU!! I'm SO glad I can just make narrations and not have to have it be a whole podcast episode! Or that voice-to-text can just take over YAAAY!! This whole update gave me butterflies!!
Evenflow... "Thoughts arise like Butterflies " (PJ, Ed Ved)
Be amazing! add video & use our voices!
same!!! I love that you called it narrations! I just did my first one!
It actually is a narration. When the author of a written piece reads it aloud, he/she is narrating said piece. :)
And I love that!
Yes, we all love hearing the voice of the people we read and connected with :-)
Great
What an awesome update! I've been thinking about how to use audio embeds, and now is my opportunity to try! A special shout out to any software engineers on the Substack team for this one... as a fellow software engineer I thank you and I see you 👀👀👀 but not in a wierd I'm stalking you kind of way.
Seriously! SO GREAT!
Brilliant
These features are dope! So helpful. Thank you!
Thank you so much for constantly making the life of substack writers easier. I will certainly try out the podcast- and other audio options. That said -- am I possibly the only one here who LIKES to read a piece (vs. listening to it)? Maybe that's because I'm old. I prefer real books to Kindle etc. Just curious...
Not alone. The world is noisy enough without having the voice of every writer in my head also. I prefer text for many reasons.
Not everyone has a voice built for radio, many people have vocal ticks and resonances that are terrible to listen to. Unfortunately my brain will zero in on anything that irritates it so the entire podcast message is lost because I keep focusing on their lipsmacking, nasal sounds or that one pitch that gets hit whenever they get excited.
Most people ramble when they talk or engage in idle chatter if another speaker is present. Things that simply don't interest me at all and waste my time. This rarely turns up in writing because it's obvious in writing when you are off on a tangent.
You cannot easily scan a podcast or video.
Reading has a meditative effect, it slows brainwave activity and calms the nervous system. Audio and video are distracting and stimulating adding to the unnecessary noise of life. If others like it good for them, but it's not for me. I came to substack specifically to get away from noisy formats.
Agree. Changed the audio speed slower and vocabulary
is slurred as the words, stretched, have distinctive articulation ♡
always a reader, the grief of last 6 yrs made not reading same sentence over & over impossible! Silenced mind w/zen thought and am not only reading (yay!) I'm writing & expressing thoughts too!
ps. I think we're sisters of soul & ♡
I know just what you mean, Jessica. Holding a real book has a different type of energy and I will always prefer them to the electronic kind.
I too prefer reading to listening, Jessica. And I prefer pages in my hands rather than electronic copies. That said, electronic books work very well for researching my topics. When I highlight points I want to refer back to, electronic books retain all the highlighted parts in a section at the back. Wonderful for easy perusing, and copying and pasting if need be.
And I trialled the poll feature asking my readers if they would like the option of listening to a narration of my newsletters. 90% said yes. So, I'll be learning to use the voiceover feature very soon.
I think this is sound advice. Thank you. I agree, personal preferences shouldn't limit how one publishes. I should learn voiceover too. ;)
This is wonderful as we literally just decided to do this and were trying to figure out how to make it work!
Same! I asked about this last week. I just did my first one!
HOORAY!!! Thank you! And just time time for a new song this Sunday!! 🎶
A very neeky question having spent some time with the new options...
Any chance of a "music" option in the dropdown menu, which would be the same as the audio embed player, but without the change speed button?? I hate to think how my singing will sound at an accidental x1.5 speed! Especially as it's on the left hand side where a play button would often be...
Oh yes this is interesting! Thanks for the suggestion Lail!
I am so excited about these features, thank you! I started my podcast initially as a way to make my long articles more accessible to some of my readers. I love that this is embedding accessibility options into the tools for writers.
Great new feature! Love it! Thank you, Substack!
This is outstanding and extremely timely... THANKS
This is fantastic. Thank you.
This is great! Thank you!
We thought of you and your story while building these features <3
Nice
Thank you Bailey. That means so much to me and to readers who struggle with eyesight issues.
GAMECHANGER!!! I can’t believe that all I have to do is write and now people can listen to my articles if they prefer. Try to make the case for ghost now....
Haha!
This is great. I've been thinking about the possibility of adding an audio version for each of my posts, but a podcast didn't seem a great fit. This is exactly what I need.
Agreed!
This is a fantastic development. Keep up the great improvements and enhancements. It is so easy to do. I may be go back and add the voiceover to all of my poetry.