The Association of American Publishers (AAP) recently released their publisher revenues for January through August of 2017 and while e-books continue to struggle, audiobooks are experiencing an upsurge. Forbes brought this interesting information to our attention in their article, “E-Books Down; Audiobooks Up.”
This trend could be attributed to the increased ease of listening to audio thanks to an increasing number of digital outlets for audiobooks in the United States and globally. Gone are the clumsy cassette tapes (gasp) or CDs that limited you primarily to a vehicle to listen to the book. With applications like Audible, you could listen to your book anywhere. Add to that the proliferation of smart bluetooth speakers and other integrated home systems from Google or Amazon, you can “read” your book while cooking, cleaning or just resting.
I am an avid reader and I always have at least two books going at the same time. One is on Audible primarily for my commute, but I also use it at home if I am alone. The other book is always on my Kindle. As much as I love the feel and smell of a “real” book, the ease of digital won me over early on.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application.
