Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Audiobooks: What's the New Rave All About?

I awoke to the new rave only three months ago, and then wondered why I had ignored it for such a long time. Audiobooks! The new way to read books--which is also the oldest way: to listen to a story. 

But while our ancestors gathered around the fire and listened in fascination to the shaman, we do it in a variety of different ways nowadays. Some of us use it as a cure for the boring commute. Spending 7-10 hours a week on the road, which is fairly routine for many of us, can easily be transformed to an entertaining time: a time when a gifted voice actor is conjured out of thin air--or rather, out of your smart phone or your iPod. And now, that voice breathes life into enchanting characters, who come to keep you company while you are driving! 

The same can be said about listening while exercising on fitness machines, or walking. Time flies by as you are transported, magically, to a different place and time. And this does not have to be a solitary practice. Unlike reading a book, you can listen together with your loved one, in bed or at the breakfast table, and laugh and cry together. You get to experience a great performance, just like in the theatre, in the intimacy of your own home.

Audible (an Amazon-related company specializing in audiobooks) now offers something called WhisperSync tehnology, which lets you switch seamlessly between reading an ebook and listening to its audiobook. You can learn more about it here.  Also, Audible offers this to you: Get A Free Trial of Audible – Free AudioBook Download – To get your free audiobook sign up for the free trial. If Audible isn’t for you feel free to cancel within 14 days and the audiobook is yours to keep. They will gladly help you--24 hours a day, 7 days a week--to download the audiobook to your preferred device. Here is their help line: 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) or 1-973-820-0400 (international.)

The audiobook is already here, take a listen:



★ Love literary fiction? Treat yourself to a gift 

Audiobook US  UK  FR  DE  iTunes

Paperback  Hardcover  Barnes&Noble

2 comments:

  1. I intend to turn my memoir, out in August, into an audiobook. Is it expensive, a big deal?

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    Replies
    1. Good for you, Rossandra! Expensive? Not necessarily. Depends on the type of contract you have with the narrator.

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