Amazon announced today that it would let publishers decide whether they want the new Kindle e-book device to read their books aloud.

The text-to-speech feature allows Kindle owners to have books read to them in a male or female computerized voice. The president of the Authors Guild, Roy Blount Jr., recently contributed an essay to the editorial page of The New York Times laying out the guild’s objections to the feature, which he said undermined the market for the professional audio books that are sold separately.

Amazon maintains that the feature is legal and that it would in fact increase the market for audio books.

But it said, “We strongly believe many rights holders will be more comfortable with the text-to-speech feature if they are in the driver’s seat.”

Here is the full text of Amazon’s statement: