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StoryBookWorm Bundle
$29.00 / month
Free trial: 7 days
Sign-up fee: $1.00
Read and listen to the same book at the same time — Storyteller combines your ebook and audiobook into a single EPUB 3 file with read-along text highlighting.
The StoryBookWorm Bundle on ElfHosted combines the audiobook stack and an ebook reader with Storyteller for Audible-Immersion-Reading-style read-along (text highlights as the narrator speaks), all for $29/month. Includes Audiobookshelf, Grimmory, Storyteller, BookBridge to keep your place between listening and reading, Decypharr for debrid integration (cached titles via symlinks), plus Prowlarr, Jackett, AudioBookRequest, an audiobook watchlist app, an audiobook search-and-send app, Chaptarr, Shelfmark, and Openbooks for sourcing.
Transcription is the slow part of alignment, and on ElfHosted it runs on shared NVIDIA T4 GPUs instead of your instance’s CPU. A four hour audiobook transcribes in around half an hour rather than several hours. The GPU pool is shared between tenants, so timings vary with how many other transcriptions are running.
Read along while the narrator reads, with the words highlighting in time — Storyteller fuses your ebook and audiobook into a single EPUB 3 file. The full audiobook automation stack plus an ebook reader plus the read-along layer, all in one bundle.
What’s in the StoryBookWorm Bundle?
The StoryBookWorm Bundle is the ebooks-and-audiobooks stack on ElfHosted — open-source apps bundled into a single $29/month subscription with shared storage, one ElfHosted subdomain, and Storyteller fusing matched ebook+audiobook pairs into single read-along EPUB 3 files.
The readers and the read-along layer
- 🎧 Audiobookshelf — the audiobook player and library server. iOS/Android apps, OPDS, multi-user, per-book progress sync across devices.
- 📚 Grimmory — community-maintained BookLore fork: upload-native PDF and ePub reader. Auto-fetches metadata from Goodreads/Amazon/Google Books, multi-user, OPDS for Kobo and KOReader.
- 🔄 Storyteller — the read-along layer. Combines an EPUB ebook and its audiobook (M4B/MP3) into a single EPUB 3 file with Media Overlays. The result plays the audiobook while the matching text highlights word-by-word, in any compatible EPUB 3 reader (including the official Storyteller iOS/Android apps). This is Audible’s Immersion Reading / Whispersync for Voice — read+listen simultaneously — on your own files. Self-hosted, no Audible account required.
- 🔖 BookBridge: keeps your place in step between Audiobookshelf, your ebook apps and KOReader e-readers. Listen in the car, then read in bed from the same spot. English books line up on their own in the background, and books you’ve run through Storyteller are the most accurate.
Audiobook sourcing: debrid integration path
- ⚡ Decypharr — *arr-to-debrid bridge. Routes AudioBookRequest grabs through your debrid provider’s cache first; cached titles are symlinked into the bundle’s shared storage and visible to Audiobookshelf in seconds. (No need to buy Zurg [Standalone] separately — the bundle’s debrid mount is shared infrastructure.)
Audiobook sourcing — traditional download path
- 🔎 Prowlarr — unified indexer manager. Torrent and Usenet indexers in one place, which AudioBookRequest can search through.
- 🔍 Jackett — supplemental indexer proxy for indexers Prowlarr doesn’t cover natively (many audiobook-specific ones).
- 📥 AudioBookRequest — Sonarr/Radarr-style request UI for audiobooks.
- 📖 Chaptarr — audiobook and eBook collection manager (the Readarr successor). Narrator-aware matching, author monitoring, multi-edition support so the audiobook and eBook of the same title live side by side, and optional MP3 to M4B conversion.
- 🤖 Audiobook watchlist app: watchlist-based monitoring; new audiobook releases drop in automatically.
- ⬇️ Audiobook search-and-send app: on-demand audiobook search and grab UI.
Ebook sourcing
- 📚 Shelfmark — multi-source aggregator. One search spans web archives, torrent, Usenet, and IRC sources in parallel; serves both ebook and audiobook libraries.
- 📡 Openbooks : searches IRC ebook channels. Direct IRC DCC transfers, often the fastest source for ebooks.
- 🪐 BookOrbit — reading platform for ebooks, PDFs, comics, and audiobooks with a browser reader, and three-way sync of progress and highlights between the browser, Kobo devices, and KOReader. Imports directly from Grimmory, Calibre Web Automated, and Audiobookshelf if you already have a library elsewhere.
Why StoryBookWorm Instead of Two Bundles?
- 🔄 Storyteller is the differentiator: Storyteller is the only included tool that fuses an EPUB and its audiobook into a single EPUB 3 with Media Overlays — read along while the narrator reads, words highlighting live. The model is Audible’s Immersion Reading (Whispersync for Voice), self-hosted, no Audible account required. (Note: this is read+listen at the same time, not Kindle-style position sync between separate sessions.)
- 📚 Two reading modalities, one library: Grimmory handles your ebook reading; Audiobookshelf handles your audiobook listening; Storyteller produces read-along EPUB 3 files for the titles where you have both formats. Your library is one collection used three ways.
- ⚡ Debrid path included: Decypharr symlinks debrid-cached audiobooks into the bundle’s shared storage — instant access, no download wait. Optional, but powerful when used.
- 📂 Shared storage: all the apps share the same backing storage. Ebook sourcing tools can land files where Grimmory scans; audiobook tools can land them where Audiobookshelf scans; Storyteller reads from the same storage.
- 🌐 One subdomain, one SSO, one subscription: single ElfHosted subdomain hosts every app, single SSO across the web UIs — see the standalone-vs-bundle table above for the actual savings figure.
- 🔄 Updates handled across the bundle: ElfHosted keeps every app current.
What’s the Bundle Saving You?
Each app in this bundle is sold standalone at $9/month. Buy them separately and the maths is brutal:
| App | Standalone price |
|---|---|
| Audiobookshelf | $9/mo |
| Grimmory | $9/mo |
| Storyteller | $9/mo |
| Decypharr | $9/mo |
| Prowlarr | $9/mo |
| Jackett | $9/mo |
| AudioBookRequest | $9/mo |
| Audiobook watchlist app | $9/mo |
| Audiobook search-and-send app | $9/mo |
| Chaptarr | $9/mo |
| Shelfmark | $9/mo |
| Openbooks | $9/mo |
| BookOrbit | $9/mo |
| BookBridge | $9/mo |
| Total à la carte | $126/mo |
| Bundle price | $29/mo |
| You save | $97/mo (77% off) |
Pricing is per-app on the standalone product pages — verify any time.
Which Bundle Should You Pick?
Five ElfHosted reading-stack bundles cover different reading profiles:
- StoryBookWorm Bundle (this product, $29/month) — ebooks + audiobooks combined with Storyteller for ebook⇄audiobook synchronisation. The right pick if you alternate between reading and listening for the same titles.
- eBookWorm Bundle ($19/month) — text ebooks only. Grimmory + Calibre Web Automated + Shelfmark + Openbooks. Includes Calibre Web for Kindle/Kobo delivery (not in StoryBookWorm).
- AudioBookWorm Bundle ($19/month) — audiobooks only. Same audiobook stack as StoryBookWorm but no ebook reader and no Storyteller.
- ComicBookWorm Bundle ($19/month) — comics, manga, and anime. Komga + Kavita + Kapowarr + Shoko.
- SuperBookWorm Bundle ($39/month) — everything: ebooks + audiobooks + comics + anime in one subscription. Adds the comics stack and Calibre Web on top of StoryBookWorm.
Pick StoryBookWorm if Storyteller’s read-along EPUB 3 output (Audible Immersion Reading-style) is the feature you want and your library is text-and-audio. Add the comics stack via SuperBookWorm if you also have comics or manga.
Why Run the StoryBookWorm Bundle on ElfHosted?
Every app shares the same storage and internal network:
- Storyteller can read books from the same storage your Audiobookshelf library uses: add a watch rule and it picks them up where they are. No mount-mapping, no path translation.
- Decypharr handles all debrid integration via symlinks into a bundle-managed debrid mount — Audiobookshelf sees cached titles as local files.
- Sourcing tools (the audiobook search-and-send apps, Prowlarr, Jackett, Shelfmark, Openbooks) can drop downloads into folders the readers scan.
- HTTPS on your own ElfHosted subdomain — Audiobookshelf mobile, Grimmory mobile, and OPDS clients all connect from anywhere without VPN.
- Cloud-storage backend via rclone — Google Drive, OneDrive, S3, Backblaze B2 supported.
- Single subscription covering every app — see the standalone-vs-bundle table above.
- Updates roll out without you touching anything.
Technical Specifications
- 📦 Apps included: Chaptarr, Audiobookshelf, Grimmory, Storyteller, Decypharr, Prowlarr, Jackett, AudioBookRequest, Audiobook watchlist app, Audiobook search-and-send app, Shelfmark, Openbooks
- 📚 Ebook formats: PDF, EPUB, MOBI, AZW3 (per Grimmory)
- 🎧 Audiobook formats: MP3, M4B, M4A, FLAC, OGG (per Audiobookshelf)
- 🔄 Sync formats: Storyteller aligns EPUB ebooks with M4B audiobooks
- 📱 Apps supported: Audiobookshelf iOS/Android, Grimmory web/OPDS clients, any OPDS v1.2 reader
- ⚡ Debrid path: Decypharr symlinks into a bundle-managed debrid mount; requires your own debrid account (optional)
- 📂 Library storage: bring your own — upload directly or rclone-mount cloud (Google Drive, OneDrive, S3, B2)
- 🔑 Subscription: $29/month; a debrid account is only required if using the debrid streaming path
- 🌐 Access: single ElfHosted subdomain with TLS and SSO
- 🔄 Updates: handled by ElfHosted across every app
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I run a self-hosted Whispersync-style ebook and audiobook stack without self-hosting it?
The StoryBookWorm Bundle — managed Audiobookshelf + Grimmory + Storyteller for read-along EPUB 3 output, plus the full audiobook automation stack (Decypharr for debrid integration, Prowlarr, Jackett, AudioBookRequest, audiobook search-and-send apps, Shelfmark) and Openbooks for ebook sourcing, all sharing storage on one ElfHosted subdomain. No Docker, no reverse proxy, no path-mapping between apps.
What does Storyteller actually do?
Storyteller takes an EPUB and its audiobook (M4B/MP3), transcribes and aligns them at sentence level, and outputs a single EPUB 3 file with Media Overlays. Open that file in any compatible reader (or the dedicated Storyteller mobile apps); the audiobook plays while the matching text highlights word-by-word. The model is Audible’s Immersion Reading / Whispersync for Voice — read and listen simultaneously — on your own files. This is not Kindle-style Whispersync (position sync between separate reading and listening sessions); Storyteller produces a fused EPUB 3 you consume in one mode.
Why doesn’t this bundle include Calibre Web Automated?
StoryBookWorm is the ebooks-plus-audiobooks-with-sync bundle, not the comprehensive ebook bundle. Grimmory is the included reader because Storyteller’s workflow targets Grimmory-style upload-native libraries. If you need Calibre Web’s Kindle/Kobo delivery features, run the eBookWorm Bundle alongside, or upgrade to the SuperBookWorm Bundle which includes both readers.
Do I need a debrid account?
No — it’s optional. The Decypharr-symlink path requires a debrid account if you want instant streaming from your debrid provider’s cache. The bundle works fully without it: Prowlarr, Jackett, AudioBookRequest, the audiobook search-and-send apps, Shelfmark, and Openbooks all operate as standalone download tools.
Does the bundle include any books?
No. The bundle is the infrastructure — bring your own ebooks/audiobooks, or use the included automation tools to source content from your own configured providers and debrid accounts.
How is this different from SuperBookWorm?
SuperBookWorm ($39/month) adds the comics-and-anime stack (Komga, Kavita, Kapowarr, Shoko) plus Calibre Web Automated. Pick StoryBookWorm if your library is text-and-audio only. Pick SuperBookWorm if you also have comics, manga, or anime collections, or want Calibre Web’s Kindle/Kobo delivery on top.
The StoryBookWorm Bundle is the read-and-listen stack on ElfHosted — Storyteller fuses ebook+audiobook pairs into single read-along EPUB 3 files, Grimmory reads, Audiobookshelf plays, and the full sourcing toolchain keeps both libraries fed. Bring your books; the apps handle the rest.
Getting set up
Your apps arrive provisioned and running, and setting them up the way you like is yours to do. Everything here is documented, and most people are running inside an evening.
Stuck along the way? Ask Sam, the AI helper in your dashboard: he can see your real apps, answers from the docs, and can fix many things once you confirm. If Sam can’t get you there, our team and community on Discord can help, though people take longer than Sam.
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