A reasonably serious question

On By Luther M. SilerIn Writing

Where are y’all at on audiobooks?  Do you listen to them frequently?  More or less than regular books?  If any of my work existed as an audiobook, would that make you more likely to purchase it?

Indie authors, do any of you have audio versions of your books?  How did you create them?  Was it worth it?

I am not an audiobook person.  But I also like new markets.  Trying to figure out how many of y’all are into these things.

13 thoughts on “A reasonably serious question”

  3. I got into audiobooks when I had a 45-minute daily commute in an area that just left the reception zone for my preferred radio station. Since then I’ve gotten to be a big fan, even though I don’t need to commute regularly anymore. It happens that I do have the kind of listening ability that’s very good for audio books, though. Some people can’t follow a narrative (whether fiction or nonfiction) while driving.

    If nothing else I’ll always be grateful to audio books for revealing to me that Charles Dickens is a really funny author. In school he’s just this guy with 850-page books, each page of which contains nearly two-thirds of a ferociously complicated sentence. But when someone’s reading them, good heavens but it is all magnificent sentences one after the other and I don’t want any of them to end.

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  4. The only time I used audiobooks was after my second car accident last year when I needed bed rest and couldn’t read anything.

    As for creating audiobooks, I’m planning to give it a first spin next year with a Fantasy short story collection but I still need to do more research about how much it may cost me to produce it.

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  7. NotAPunkRocker

    I don’t do well following them when I drive because I like to zone out to music, but like the others have said, I know other commuters that love them. Some gym goers too!

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  8. I’m just getting into audiobooks, particularly for commuting, because I’ve only just achieved “a car that’s quiet enough to hear anything in.” The main thing is a really good actor to do the reading. If it’s just a book being read aloud, I’ll never pay attention. There has to be added value in the form of acting and character voices and stuff.

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      1. That seems to be hotly debated in listener circles, lol. But in general people seem to like “read by the author,” because that adds a certain depth and often a better comedic timing. I’ve enjoyed some author-read audiobooks, but I usually look for something read by an actor with good credits that suit the book in question.

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        1. The two auditions I’ve gotten for BA 1 were both great voices but neither got the timing I wanted, and the first in particular was way too Garrison Keillor for a sci-fi adventure story. It’s possible that my dialogue just sucks, mind you. But I think it was their timing. 🙂

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