Who listens to
audiobooks?
A lot more people than I
imagined when I decided to create an audiobook version of DEAR
KILLER, the first book in my Marley Clark Mystery Series, in
partnership with talented narrator K.C. Cowan.
Before I started, I knew about three core groups of audiobook fans—folks embarking on long car trips, commuters, and
parents who spend much of their waking lives chauffeuring school-age children
and/or waiting in idling cars.
What I didn’t realize until DEAR KILLER was released is how many readers now tackle their too-many-books-and-not-enough-time
dilemma by listening to books while they perform other tasks—walking on
treadmills, cooking, knitting, or even cleaning the garage. While their hands
are busy, their minds can fully engage with books they don’t have time to sit
down and read as paperbacks or ebooks.
Friendlier technology and a bigger selection of audiobooks are helping to
snag more and more multi-tasking listeners. Books can be downloaded in digital
formats that play on such ubiquitous devices as smartphones, Kindles, iPods, and
dozens of available MP3 players. In fact, downloadable formats now account for nearly
two-thirds of the audiobook market.
The audiobook selection is getting bigger because authors who hold the
audio rights to their novels can bring out audiobook editions with absolutely
no upfront monetary investment. However, before DEAR
KILLER was released as an audiobook, I did invest in the neighborhood of 20
hours listening to auditions, preparing audio notes, corresponding with my
narrator, and “proof listening” to recordings. That time estimate doesn’t
include any promotional efforts.
I teamed up with narrator K.C.
Cowan through the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) website, which has paired more
than 25,000 authors with narrators. The resulting audio version of my
88,000-word, 290-page mystery, DEAR KILLER,
runs eight hours, 56 minutes. You can listen to the first chapter of DEAR
KILLER here.
Amazon/Audible is currently offering deep discounts on audiobooks that have the
Whispersync for Voice feature if customers own or buy the ebook edition of the
same novel. (Whispersync lets readers switch seamlessly between ebooks and
audiobooks, with the synching technology picking up where the reader left off
regardless of format.) Last time I checked the Amazon/Audible promotion meant a
reader could download BOTH the ebook and audiobook version of DEAR
KILLER for under $5.
Happy holiday listening!
Do you listen to audiobooks--or think you might start? If so, what device will you use to listen? Comment and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a free DEAR KILLER audiobook.
Do you listen to audiobooks--or think you might start? If so, what device will you use to listen? Comment and I'll enter your name in a drawing for a free DEAR KILLER audiobook.
