Now listen up...

Once upon a time audiobooks were not taken seriously and thrown together by publishers as a kind of afterthought, but these day sales are booming and publishers are finding big names attracted to recording their favorite books for public consumption. Predicted sales growth of audiobooks is on an upward path due to the technical improvements which has led to digital downloading and the fact that professional speakers are being used to voice audiobooks. With sales of physical books on the decrease as eBooks take over it is nice to see the audio format more than holding its own.

Recent statistics reveal that:

 The audiobook market neared the $1 billion mark in 2011, increasing
6 percent over 2010.

> Almost 25 percent of the U.S. adult population listens to audiobooks.

> Audiobook listeners tend to have higher incomes, more education and read more books than non-audiobook listeners.

> Almost 35 percent of audiobook listeners have an iPod or MP3 player.

And the story is the same in the UK with the Independent newspaper this Sunday carrying an article that looked at some of the celebrities who have recorded audiobooks -  Colin Firth, Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Nicole Kidman are just some of the famous names who have recorded audiobooks.


I must admit until recently I've never really had any time for audiobooks. I used to find it difficult to truly get into the story, but these days I regularly listen to audiobooks and have bought more audiobooks in the last two years, then ever before. The quality of the titles available has definitely improved over recent years and when the right voice is matched with the right book, the result is a great listening experience. So if you're one of those readers who had a bad experience with an audiobook in the past, then maybe it's time to think again....