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Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

thebaffler.com

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Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#131

Post by lifeisstillgood »

My problems with Audible

- I cannot search for a new book on Audible - I need to go to amazon, buy there and come back.

- I cannot get my podcasts on Audible app.

- I cannot manage the books on Audible (same issue with kindle). There is one screen for seeing the whole library - sometimes I want to put books on a high shelf cos I know I won't go back to them ... ever.

- Why can I not get a text version of each audible book for free? and vice versa. It annoys me to pay twice - especially when there is explicitly a kindle / audible sync designed to allow you to listen to page X then read from page X. It's like they thought it would be good but then failed to sell the idea to publishers.

- Why can't authors put out their own readings (I think this is a publisher issue - but I think the whole market could 10x if authors just released audible books like podcasts, polished or not)

- Listening takes longer than reading. So there is a big incentive to write scripts for audible only books - shorter and more radio play like. But mostly audible is just the after thought.

- Frankly I know there is something there - it's just hard to see what the real market will look like when we find it.

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#132

Post by nsomaru »

listenandlearn wrote: post #90

I absolutely love Audio Books, I think I went through maybe 25+ audio books, mostly non fiction, in 2018 alone. It is a fantastic way to maximize dead time, but generally I think non music audio is going through a sort of renaissance. While the author of this post is really distraught about Amazons dominance with Audible I do think in some ways non music audio is much bigger than just Audibooks for example Podcasts a…

I’ve been using your app for 2 months on the free plan after seeing you link it here.

The site dailymaverick.co.za which I frequent has built in AI-read voice for articles provided by a third party service. For some reason, Articulu fails to convert some of the articles, which curiously also do not have a converted audio for their third party service. The failure state is not very graceful.

There’s a couple issues with organising my recordings (there’s just a queue at the moment), the seek bar, continuing where you left off and renaming recordings.

Also why do I use up credits in the free plan when I listen to the same article more than once?

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#133

Post by eicnix »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #131

My problems with Audible - I cannot search for a new book on Audible - I need to go to amazon, buy there and come back. - I cannot get my podcasts on Audible app. - I cannot manage the books on Audible (same issue with kindle). There is one screen for seeing the whole library - sometimes I want to put books on a high shelf cos I know I won't go back to them ... ever. - Why can I not get a text version of each audible…

Part of these issues are due to the in-app apple tax. Audiobooks and ebooks would be 15% more expensive.

Searching and buying audiobooks and ebooks works fine on Android where Audible is allowed to provide their own in-app payment system.

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#134

Post by SXX »

lefstathiou wrote: post #83

I can’t resist the temptation to ask given this thread is on HN (a community I love) and Audible is a passion... for those who love Audible and Audio books, would you mind sharing 2-3 you particularly enjoyed? I’m always hunting for new ones. Here are some I would recommend: Management 1. Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People 2. Getting to Yes Great book on negotiation in life and business 3. The Ha…

Fantasy:

Looking at your list with so many historical books in them you should absolutely try Malazan Book of the Fallen. It's require tremendous commitment, but it's deliver way more than even most of non-fiction books do including great characters writing and on lot's of wisdom. Best of both worlds.

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#135

Post by jimnotgym »

Imagine finding out that the New York stock exchange were buying and selling shares on their own account. They see you bid, execute a trade in between, and then fill your bid. This is fundamental, you can't be the global marketplace and be a trader.

Take this one stage further, imagine finding that companies listed of the NYSE had NYSE directors on their board? Imagine finding that this year's hot IPO is a company owned by NYSE. This is what happens when Amazon become the publisher.

It is time to break up Amazon

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#137

Post by bgeeek »

tty2300 wrote: post #55
steve19 wrote: post #47

People complaining forget what the industry was like before audible. It was terrible. Audiobook cost an absolute fortune, and selections were very limited. Audiobooks in the late 20th century were, I imagine, simular to paper books in 18th century. Something most of the population could not afford to own. I have been listening, and loving, audiobook for a very long time audible was, and still is, a breath of fresh ai…

Before online audio books we borrowed then from the library for free.

True, before MP3, we used to borrow CDs from the library and copy them to tape, too. Libraries were brilliant as an impoverished student :)

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#138

Post by bgeeek »

jrgaston wrote: post #62

For me audio books don't replace regular books, they supplement them, by expanding my reading time and by getting me to read books I'd otherwise not. I often end up with both the physical or e-book plus the audio book. Sometimes I start with the audio book, especially if the book is challenging, then later switch to the non-audio book. Sometimes I jump back and forth. Yeah, crazy. Down sides? Choice. (You want a diff…

Part of what you're talking about is what bugs me about Amazon and the publishers. When I buy an audio CD, I can have it "auto-ripped" and available to download immediately as an MP3. I wish the same applied for more expensive physical copies of books, too - I wish they would also offer me a digital copy for my own convenience.

Re: Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing

#140

Post by Tomte »

dvlsg wrote: post #87
intopieces wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are in the US, check out Hoopla digital for quite a few good audio books you can borrow. Bonus: you’ve already paid for it through your local library.

Do they have any artificial restrictions? Last time I tried a similar app (it's been a few years), I wasn't able to get an audiobook because someone else already had it "checked out".

Just like a regular book in a library.
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