LEX

For KDP authors

The Amazon Virtual Voice alternative that gives you the files.

Virtual Voice costs nothing and leaves you owning nothing: no audio file, one store, 40% royalty. Lex produces the book for $49 to $99, hands you the masters, and puts it on every shelf that takes audio.

Hear your first chapter freeHow publishing wide works

Verified September 2026

Virtual Voice vs Lex, line by line.

Both are affordable AI narration. Only one of them leaves you with an audiobook you can sell anywhere.

Virtual Voice terms from Amazon's published KDP help pages; Lex terms from our current packages.
Amazon Virtual VoiceLex
PriceFree$49 narration or $99 fully scored, one time, for 10 finished hours
Who can use itInvite-only KDP beta, US authors, ebook must not already have an Audible editionAny author, any country, any title, backlist included
Files you ownNone. The audio never leaves Amazon's systemMastered chapter files plus a commercial license, yours to keep
Royalty40% on Amazon and Audible only100% of net, minus 20% of net on Audible, Apple Books, and library channels
Where it sellsAmazon and AudibleAudible, Spotify, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Everand, Storytel, libraries, and your own site
How it is madeOne automated pass from the ebook, a stock voice per chapterCast for the book, directed, pronunciation reviewed, scored and mixed, QC'd to retail specs
ExclusivityTied to your KDP ebookNone. Pull any store on 30 days' notice

What you actually give up

Free is a price, paid in files, stores, and listens.

A listing is not an asset.

Virtual Voice audio lives inside Amazon. There is no download, no Spotify edition, no direct sale from your own site, and nothing to hand a foreign publisher. A Lex production ships as mastered files with a commercial license, so the audiobook is a thing you own rather than a setting on a product page.

One automated pass is audible.

Virtual Voice reads the ebook straight through with a stock voice. No casting, no direction, no pronunciation review. Lex casts a narrator for the book, directs the performance, fixes names and invented words before you hear them, and mixes the result so it holds a commute.

Finishing rate is the business case.

Stream platforms pay on listening time and readers buy the next book only if they finished this one. That is where the gap between a checkbox read and a produced one actually shows up in the statement.

Switching

Moving off Virtual Voice takes three steps.

  1. 1

    Hear your own book first.

    Send the manuscript and we produce the first chapter free, back in about a day. No card. Compare it to the Virtual Voice edition before deciding anything.

  2. 2

    Take the Virtual Voice edition down.

    Amazon requires the virtual voice edition to come down before a produced audiobook can list against the same ebook. It is a KDP setting, not a support ticket.

  3. 3

    Publish the produced edition wide.

    The Publisher pack covers production plus done-for-you distribution, Audible included under Lex's publisher agreement. Details on the distribution page.

Questions authors ask before switching

What is the best alternative to Amazon Virtual Voice?
It depends on whether you want a tool or a finished book. If you want to produce it yourself, ElevenLabs Studio and Spoken sell you an engine and an editor. If you want the audiobook to arrive finished, Lex casts, directs, scores, and masters it for $49 to $99 per 10 finished hours and hands you files you own.
Can I download my Amazon Virtual Voice audiobook?
No. Virtual Voice audio stays inside Amazon's system. There is no export, so the edition cannot be sold on Spotify, Apple Books, Kobo, or your own site, and you have nothing to license elsewhere.
How much does Virtual Voice pay?
40% royalty, on Amazon and Audible only, with the list price restricted to Amazon's allowed band. A Lex Publisher title keeps 100% of net across every store, with the only fee being 20% of net on Audible, Apple Books, and library channels.
Can I replace a Virtual Voice edition with a produced audiobook?
Yes, and authors do it constantly after a Virtual Voice listing proves there is audio demand. Take the virtual voice edition down in KDP, then publish the produced edition. Nothing about the ebook changes.
Is Lex just text to speech like Virtual Voice?
The voice is AI. The production is not. A producer casts the narrator, a director sets pacing and tone scene by scene, pronunciation is reviewed against the manuscript, and engineers place the score and master to retailer specs. That work is the difference you hear in the first minute.

Compare them on your own book.

One chapter, produced and scored, back in about a day. Free, and yours to keep whatever you decide.

Hear your first chapter freeWhat audiobook production costs