epub2audiobook

Convert EPUB books to M4B audiobooks with AI-powered text-to-speech.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/demo-placeholder

Features

• Multi-engine TTS - Choose between Edge TTS (online, high quality) or Kokoro (offline)
• M4B output - Single audiobook file with chapter markers
• Cover art - Extracts from EPUB or fetches from Open Library
• Web UI - Drag-and-drop interface with real-time progress
• CLI - Batch conversion from terminal
• Resume support - Continue interrupted conversions
• Italian optimized - Smart text cleanup for natural TTS pronunciation

Quick Start

# Install
pip install git+https://github.com/marcogenna/epub2audiobook.git

# Web UI
epub2audiobook-web
# Open http://127.0.0.1:8000

# CLI
epub2audiobook book.epub output.m4b

Installation

From GitHub

pip install git+https://github.com/marcogenna/epub2audiobook.git

From source (for development)

git clone https://github.com/marcogenna/epub2audiobook.git
cd epub2audiobook
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Usage

Web Interface

epub2audiobook-web --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

1. Drag and drop an EPUB file
2. Select TTS engine and voice
3. Click "Avvia conversione"
4. Download your audiobook

Command Line

# Basic conversion
epub2audiobook book.epub

# With options
epub2audiobook book.epub output.m4b \
  --engine kokoro \
  --voice if_sara \
  --speed 1.2 \
  --language it

# List available voices
epub2audiobook --list-voices --engine edge --language it

# Resume interrupted conversion
epub2audiobook book.epub output.m4b --work-dir ./work

CLI Options

Option	Description	Default
-e, --engine	TTS engine (edge, kokoro)	edge
-v, --voice	Voice name	Engine default
-s, --speed	Speech rate (0.5-2.0)	1.0
-l, --language	Language code	it
-b, --bitrate	Audio bitrate	64k
-w, --work-dir	Working directory (enables resume)	temp
--list-voices	List available voices	-

TTS Engines

Edge TTS (Online)

• High quality Microsoft voices
• Requires internet connection
• Many languages and voices available

epub2audiobook --list-voices --engine edge --language it

Kokoro (Offline)

• High quality offline synthesis
• ~350MB model download on first use
• Italian voices: if_sara (F), im_nicola (M)

epub2audiobook book.epub --engine kokoro --voice if_sara

Project Structure

epub2audiobook/
├── audio/           # FFmpeg integration, M4B builder
├── tts/             # TTS engine implementations
│   ├── base.py      # Abstract base class
│   ├── edge_engine.py
│   └── kokoro_engine.py
├── web/             # FastAPI web interface
├── cli.py           # Command-line interface
├── converter.py     # Main conversion pipeline
├── epub_parser.py   # EPUB parsing and text extraction
├── metadata.py      # Open Library API integration
└── models.py        # Data classes

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here are some areas where help is needed:

Good First Issues

• Add more languages to web UI dropdown
• Improve chapter title extraction
• Add unit tests for edge cases

Feature Ideas

• Support for more TTS engines (Coqui, Bark, etc.)
• Batch conversion of multiple EPUBs
• Docker image for easy deployment
• Progress persistence across server restarts
• Audio preview before full conversion

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/marcogenna/epub2audiobook.git
cd epub2audiobook
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run with auto-reload
uvicorn epub2audiobook.web.app:app --reload

Code Style

• Python 3.11+ with type hints
• Black for formatting
• Ruff for linting

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

• edge-tts - Microsoft Edge TTS
• Kokoro - Offline TTS
• ebooklib - EPUB parsing
• static-ffmpeg - Bundled FFmpeg