EPUB to Speech

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Convert EPUB e-books into high-quality audiobooks using multiple Text-to-Speech providers.

Features

• 📚 EPUB Support: Compatible with EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 formats
• 🎙️ Multiple TTS Providers: Supports Azure and Doubao TTS services
• 🔄 Auto-Detection: Automatically detects configured provider
• 🌍 Multi-Language Support: Supports various languages and voices
• 📱 M4B Output: Generates standard M4B audiobook format with chapter navigation
• 🔧 CLI Interface: Easy-to-use command-line tool with progress tracking

Basic Usage

epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11 or higher
• FFmpeg (for audio processing)
• TTS provider credentials (Azure or Doubao)

Install Dependencies

# Install Python dependencies
pip install poetry
poetry install

# Install FFmpeg
# macOS: brew install ffmpeg
# Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install ffmpeg
# Windows: Download from https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

Quick Start

Option 1: Using Azure TTS

Set environment variables and run:

export AZURE_SPEECH_KEY="your-subscription-key"
export AZURE_SPEECH_REGION="your-region"

epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural

Where to get credentials:

• Create an Azure account at https://azure.microsoft.com
• Create a Speech Service resource in Azure Portal
• Get your subscription key and region from the dashboard

Available voices:

• Voice list: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/speech-service/language-support?tabs=tts#voice-styles-and-roles
• Voice gallery (preview): https://speech.microsoft.com/portal/voicegallery

Option 2: Using Doubao TTS

Set environment variables and run:

export DOUBAO_ACCESS_TOKEN="your-access-token"
export DOUBAO_BASE_URL="your-api-base-url"

epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh_male_lengkugege_emo_v2_mars_bigtts

Where to get credentials:

• Get your Doubao access token and API base URL from Volcengine console

Available voices: https://www.volcengine.com/docs/6561/1257544 (Find voice IDs in the Doubao TTS documentation)

Provider Auto-Detection

If you have configured only one provider, it will be automatically detected and used. If multiple providers are configured, specify which one to use:

# Explicitly use Azure
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --provider azure --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural

# Explicitly use Doubao
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --provider doubao --voice zh_male_lengkugege_emo_v2_mars_bigtts

Advanced Options

General Options

# Limit to first 5 chapters
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural --max-chapters 5

# Use custom workspace directory
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh-CN-YunxiNeural --workspace /tmp/my-workspace

# Quiet mode (no progress output)
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice ja-JP-NanamiNeural --quiet

# Set maximum characters per TTS segment (default: 500)
epub2speech input.epub output.m4b --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural --max-tts-segment-chars 800

Azure TTS Configuration

Pass credentials via command-line arguments:

epub2speech input.epub output.m4b \
  --voice zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural \
  --azure-key YOUR_KEY \
  --azure-region YOUR_REGION

Doubao TTS Configuration

Pass credentials via command-line arguments:

epub2speech input.epub output.m4b \
  --voice zh_male_lengkugege_emo_v2_mars_bigtts \
  --doubao-token YOUR_TOKEN \
  --doubao-url YOUR_BASE_URL

How It Works

1. EPUB Parsing: Extracts text content and metadata from EPUB files
2. Chapter Detection: Identifies chapters using EPUB navigation data
3. Text Processing: Cleans and segments text for optimal speech synthesis
4. Audio Generation: Converts text to speech using your chosen TTS provider
5. M4B Creation: Combines audio files with chapter metadata into M4B format

Development

Using as a Library

You can integrate epub2speech into your own Python application:

from pathlib import Path
from epub2speech import convert_epub_to_m4b, ConversionProgress
from epub2speech.tts.azure_provider import AzureTextToSpeech
# Or use: from epub2speech.tts.doubao_provider import DoubaoTextToSpeech

# Initialize TTS provider
tts = AzureTextToSpeech(
    subscription_key="your-key",
    region="your-region"
)

# Optional: Define progress callback
def on_progress(progress: ConversionProgress):
    print(f"{progress.progress:.1f}% - Chapter {progress.current_chapter}/{progress.total_chapters}")

# Convert EPUB to M4B
result = convert_epub_to_m4b(
    epub_path=Path("input.epub"),
    workspace=Path("./workspace"),
    output_path=Path("output.m4b"),
    tts_protocol=tts,
    voice="zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural",
    max_chapters=None,  # Optional: limit chapters
    max_tts_segment_chars=500,  # Optional: max characters per TTS segment (default: 500)
    progress_callback=on_progress  # Optional
)

if result:
    print(f"Success: {result}")

Running Tests

python test.py

Run specific test modules:

python test.py --test test_epub_picker
python test.py --test test_tts

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• ebooklib for EPUB parsing
• FFmpeg for audio processing
• spaCy for natural language processing

Support

For issues and questions:

1. Check existing GitHub issues
2. Create a new issue with detailed information
3. Include EPUB file samples if relevant (ensure no copyright restrictions)”，“file_path”: