A new take on audiobooks
Now that the 21st century is almost a decade old, I expect most people reading this will have listened to at least one podcast, or at least audiobooks as “books on tape” or on CD. For those with long commutes — particularly if you’re stuck in a car rather than a train carriage — there’s no doubt that podcasts and audiobooks are a fantastic way to pass the time.
The availability of audiobooks has grown from your local library’s well-worn books on tape to online shops such as Amazon (US | UK) and now there are sites such as Audible (US | UK) that exist solely to provide you with all your audiobook desires. Prices vary from free at your local library (free in the sense that your property tax pays for it) up to the cost of a normal book, and anywhere in between, and some sites use a subscription model to maintain income and encourage your ongoing use of the service. The major downside is that some — not all — of these systems use DRM, which limits you in a number of ways.
There is another type of audiobook that has been gaining popularity in recent years and the authors of them are blazing new trails at the forefront of yet another emerging Internet technology: podcast books. Using the distribution system of traditional podcasts (audio files wrapped in an RSS feed), it delivers chapters of audiobooks to the listener. It’s not really a new idea, as it’s a re-working of the old radio serial format, but it’s a clever application of it to the reasonably untapped medium of the Internet.
Most of the authors using this technique are unpublished amateurs seeking to get their stories out there, gain recognition, break ground on a new technology and, if they have any vision, build a loyal fanbase that will be there to support them when they are finally recognised by a traditional publisher. They are typically read out by the author, rather than professional voice actors, which adds something as you get inflections and emphasis exactly where the author intended it. What’s more — the vast majority of these books are free — both in cost and DRM. Nada. Zip. Nix.
The term “podcast audiobook” is sometimes shortened to “podiobook”, which leads to one of the pioneers of the medium, podiobooks.com, who provide an Audible-style network, hosting and portal for the distribution of free podcast audiobooks.
My first encounter with podcast audiobooks was with 7th Son by J.C. Hutchins and Earthcore by Scott Sigler. I found them by stumbling across the podiobooks.com website and searching the Science Fiction section. Theirs were the two that jumped out at me first, and I’ve not regretted it for a minute. Those books, and their sequels and subsequent novels, have been excellent. And both authors have grasped the importance of using the Internet as not only a vehicle to move their books, but also in marketing, video trailers and teasers, and working on gaining and maining a loyal fan following. Hutchins and Sigler have even worked together, providing crossover cameos and references to raise awareness of each others’ books and to keep the fans coming back for more. It works well.
Of interests to the traditional writers reading this will be the fact that both authors now have agents, books in print and film deals under discussion. There is no doubt whatsoever that making use of this emerging medium and using ingenuity, imagination and entrepreneurial spirit have allowed them to go from guys sitting in a closet or basement talking into a microphone to having agents and publishers managing their brands and printing their books.
Also of interesting is that even though Sigler has written books across genres, his agent is only accepting very specific books and is refusing others. Not because they’re rubbish, but because they don’t match with how the agent is trying to brand him. I suppose this is similar to if Stephen King were to write a romance novel or if Anne McCaffrey were to write a modern military novel, in which situation the nom de plume has traditionally reigned supreme. Sigler speaks about this in depth in this interview on Mur Lafferty’s I Should Be Writing podcast.
So if you like listening to audiobooks, I suggest you look at sites like podiobooks.com and explore the marvellous and diverse range of works that both aspiring and successful authors have worked hard on and then made available for free. If you like writing novels and are willing to explore a new medium, particularly if you are having problems finding a publishing home for it, then you could do worse than turning it into a free audiobook.
Always remember that the print and electronic rights are different animals. You should find that even if you offer a free audio version of your work, you should still be able to sell the print rights. Sigler and Hitchens have done just that.
