Whispersync For Voice: How To Ensure Kindle & Audible Editions Match Up

It’s your friendly KF on KND Editor April Hamilton here, with a Whispersync For Voice tip.

I absolutely LOVE Whispersync for Voice. I love being able to listen to the Audible audiobook edition of a given book while I’m driving, waiting to pick my kids up somewhere, or doing mindless household chores, and then switch to the Kindle book and be able to pick up right where I left off in the audiobook, thanks to the automatic bookmark Whispersync for Voice sets in the Kindle book.

Sometimes I even let the Audible narration play while I’m reading the Kindle book, for a more fully immersive experience. This is especially true when the Audible edition is a full cast recording with sound effects and music. But there’s just one problem:

 

It’s Not Always Obvious Which Audible Edition Goes With Which Kindle Book

Consider that classic of Gothic literature, Dracula. There are MANY different versions and editions of this book in Kindle format on Amazon, and there are no less than FOUR Audible editions, too. The first two Audible editions are shown in the screenshot below; note that both are marked “Unabridged”, yet the second one has a running time that’s more than an hour longer than the first (click/tap on images in this post to view an enlarged version in a new tab/window).

 

Ensuring A Match When Buying Both The Kindle & Audible Editions

So how can I be sure I’m getting a matching set of Audible + Kindle editions, that the narration of the Audible edition will exactly match the Kindle book I want to buy? It’s actually pretty simple, and boils down to just three steps:

1. Look up the Kindle edition FIRST.

2. Verify the Kindle edition is marked “Whispersync for Voice ready”.
Here’s a screenshot for the specific Kindle edition of Dracula I own. Note the “Whispersync for Voice ready” indication in the book details area, highlighted by a red arrow, and also note the little block of Whispersync for Voice information, highlighted by a blue arrow:

 

Compare this to the screenshot for a certain edition of Jane Eyre in Kindle format: note the total lack of any mention of Whispersync for Voice, but also note that an Audible edition is listed as available. This tells you that while you can buy both this Kindle edition and the Audible edition, they will not match up under Whispersync for Voice:

 

3. After purchasing the Kindle edition, use the link on the purchase confirmation page to “Add Audible narration”. This will take you to the matching Audible version for your specific Kindle version.

This works because Amazon now owns Audible, and has processes and staff in place to match up Audible and Kindle editions to support Whispersync for Voice, and the links they create are used on the purchase confirmation page. When you’re buying both the Kindle and Audible editions, the only way you can be sure you’re getting the versions Amazon has matched up for Whispersync for Voice is to follow the “Add narration” link on the purchase confirmation page.

 

Ensuring A Match When You Already Own The Kindle Book & Want To Add The Audible Edition For Whispersync For Voice Functionality

This situation is even easier! Amazon has created a special page where any Amazon customer who already owns Kindle books can look up and purchase the matching Audible edition to enable Whispersync for Voice. This page ONLY lists your Kindle books that have a compatible Audible edition, and ONLY lists the specific Audible edition that will match your Kindle book to provide Whispersync for Voice functionality.

Click here to access the Add Whispersync for Voice page on Amazon. Note that since this page is customized to each individual Amazon customer, you will have to login to the Amazon site to view the available selection for your Kindle library.

Finally, you may have noticed in the screenshot for the Dracula Kindle book (above, middle screen shot in this post – click or tap on it to view an enlarged version in a new tab/window) that there’s a link to that same page in the Whispersync for Voice information block, entitled “find audio companions”. You can find the link on any Kindle book product page for a book that is Whispersync for Voice -enabled.