Read Aloud

Setup (One-Time)

# Install Piper (included in AuthorClaw setup wizard)
pip install piper-tts

# Download a voice model (~100MB each)
# AuthorClaw will prompt you to pick one on first use

Available Voice Styles

• en_US-lessac-medium — Clear American narrator (recommended for fiction)
• en_US-libritts-high — High quality, natural cadence
• en_GB-alba-medium — British narrator
• en_US-amy-medium — Female American voice
• Multiple languages available for translated works

Read Modes

Chapter Read

Read an entire chapter from your project:

read chapter 7

• Generates audio file saved to workspace/audio/
• Plays through system audio
• Shows word-by-word highlighting in dashboard (if connected)

Selection Read

Read a specific passage:

read aloud [paste or select text]

• Quick listen for a specific section
• Great for testing dialogue flow

Dialogue Mode

Reads with distinct pausing for dialogue vs. narration:

• Slight pause before and after quoted speech
• Different cadence for dialogue vs. description
• Helps you hear if your dialogue sounds natural

Revision Mode

Reads slowly with pauses between paragraphs:

• Gives you time to note issues
• Automatically marks the timestamp when you say "flag" or press a key
• Generates a revision note file with flagged locations

Ear-Edit Workflow

A structured process for audio-based revision:

1. Listen — Read Aloud plays your chapter
2. Flag — Mark spots that sound wrong (keyboard shortcut or voice command)
3. Review — After playback, see all flagged locations with context
4. Fix — Edit each flagged passage
5. Re-listen — Hear just the fixed sections to verify

Ear-Edit Report: Chapter 7
───────────────────────────
Duration: 18:42
Flags: 6

Flag 1 — 02:14 (Paragraph 4)
"She walked through the door and walked across the room and sat down."
Issue: Triple action chain, repeated "walked"
Suggestion: Vary the verbs, combine actions

Flag 2 — 05:38 (Paragraph 11)
"The simultaneously spectacular and spectacularly simultaneous..."
Issue: Tongue-twister / consonant cluster
Suggestion: Simplify

[... remaining flags ...]

Audio Export

Generate audio files from your manuscript:

• WAV — Uncompressed, highest quality
• MP3 — Compressed, smaller files
• Chapter-by-chapter — Separate files per chapter
• Full manuscript — Single continuous audio file

Useful for:

• Sending audio versions to beta readers
• Creating audiobook demos
• Personal review while commuting/walking
• Accessibility for readers with visual impairments

Integration

• Voice Profile — Adjusts reading speed and emphasis to match your genre
• Ghostwriter Pro — Read AI-generated scenes aloud immediately
• Dictation Cleanup — Listen to cleaned-up dictation to verify it sounds right
• Book Bible — Consistent pronunciation of character/location names

Performance

• Generates ~10 minutes of audio per minute of processing (CPU)
• A full chapter (~4,000 words) takes ~30 seconds to generate
• Audio quality: Near-professional narration quality
• Storage: ~1MB per minute of audio (MP3)

Commands

• read aloud — Read selected/pasted text
• read chapter [number] — Read a full chapter
• read dialogue [chapter] — Read with dialogue emphasis
• ear edit [chapter] — Start an ear-edit revision session
• export audio [chapter/all] — Generate audio files
• set voice [voice-name] — Change the TTS voice
• list voices — Show available voice models
• read speed [slow/normal/fast] — Adjust reading speed