Why Sign Up for an Audible Account?
If you are a voracious reader, and love nothing more than to curl up on your favorite chair with a cup of hot cocoa and your newest literary masterpiece, then perhaps you’ve not hitched yourself to the audio book bandwagon. Yet, audio books are a fast-growing business, and the variety of digital reading and audio devices, which are now omnipresent in our lives, make listening to books more appealing. For people who are blind or who have low vision, the world of reading for pleasure has opened up, thanks to the proliferation of reading devices specifically designed to meet the needs of a growing population.
There are now several places on the web from which to download digital audio books. Years ago, I used to scour brick and mortar bookstores in the vain hope of finding a decent selection of books on cassette tape. There were some real drawbacks to books on tape back then, not the least of which was the price. An unabridged version of a book of any length was prohibitive. Some came in large boxes and consisted of dozens of cassettes. I purchased a tape of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand," and as I recall, the price was over fifty dollars. For me, that was a lot of money to pay for a book, when my sighted counterparts could pick up the same book at a garage sale for fifty cents.
Of course, the book was read by the author, and he is worth every penny.
Due to the expense of recording and packaging all those tapes, a great many books were only available in abridgements. I found this to be endlessly frustrating. To me, it was flat out censorship, I did not want someone else to choose for me which were the "bad parts," and which were suitable for including in the taped version.
Problem solved. Digitally recorded books are usually compressed to a tight file format that takes up very little room on your reading device, and is fast downloading. The sound quality is great, and the narrators are skilled professionals who can bring a book to life as expertly as any great actor. Some books are read "straight," with no particular emphasis on acting out the character parts, while others are full dramatizations. Whichever suits your taste, you’ll find just about everything on Audible.com.
Audible is also right on top of best sellers, book club selections and periodicals. You can even subscribe to podcasts offered by names you know. Audible has an easy, straightforward search engine that allows you to nose around in all of your favorite genres. Best of all, once you buy a book, it’s yours, period. You are not required to maintain a subscription so that you can keep the books. Your downloads are not ‘shut off" if you cancel your subscription. Or, if you prefer, you can purchase "a la carte" and not subscribe at all. Members do get discount prices as well as some "freebies" that you may enjoy, such as a subscription to the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Yes, even the newspapers are read to you out loud. It’s a beautiful thing. Even if you are not visually impaired, think of the time you’ll save catching up on the morning headlines while you shower and dress for work.
Finally, you’ll have no difficulty in using your favorite device. Audible supports many different manufacturers, including accessible devices, MP3 players and even phones. Check out what’s on Audible’s bookshelves.
Happy listening.
LL