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Mr. Lewis is part of a growing group of A-list authors bypassing print and releasing audiobook originals, hoping to take advantage of the exploding audiobook market. It’s the latest sign that audiobooks are no longer an appendage of print, but a creative medium in their own right. But the rise of stand-alone audio has also made some traditional publishers nervous, as Audible strikes deals directly with writers, including best-selling authors like the historian Robert Caro and the novelist Jeffery Deaver.
Thank you for the link. It looks like audiobook sales are on the rise. That is not a good thing for readers like me. I don't care for audiobooks and the only time my mind doesn't wander while listening to them is while I am driving. Even then I can only listen to fluff as I am paying attention to the road and other drivers.
I imagine it is great for commuters. I will miss those good writers who change to that format only. Maybe some day, or even now, there will be a program to change voice to print and I can read them. More than likely I will be dead before all authors go that route. Change is never good for all.
I think this is an interesting development and not necessarily a bad thing. I also very VERY much favor traditional print. I don't like e-books, and I am on the fence about audiobooks. Now, I do know that there is a segment of the population that learns and retains information better when they have heard it, rather than when they have read it. This is not the majority of people, but it is certainly a not-insignificant percentage, and for them, audiobooks have really been fantastic.
For me, it really takes a certain kind of audiobook to keep me engaged. I have found that for some books, it is just too easy for my attention to wander. What I have liked best is having books in both formats -- in audio and in paper, and if I listen to the audio in the car, it makes me more eager to go read the book when I get home. So in that sense, it enables me to finish books faster than I otherwise would. But if it is a book that is one that I really really want to read, I don't like having it only available on audio - I really want the printed version.
What I find most interesting, though, is the idea that they are creating this market for works that are specifically designed to be heard, rather than read. (This might be greatly enriched by having different people read different characters in some cases.) I think this could be akin to movies versus books. I have found that quite often, stories are most successful in the outlet for which they were originally designed -- that is, movies that are written as screenplays, plays that are written as plays, and books that are written as books. When we have the movie version of the book, or the movie version of the play, or, sometimes, the book version of a movie, they are rarely as successful or rich or deep as the original. (I realize there are some very obvious exceptions, and it can be possible to tweak certain things, making a movie version of a book, for example, come alive in ways the book didn't -- especially if the original author is involved.) So, this idea that there could be works that are designed to be heard is intriguing.
I wish that books would be released at the same time for both audio and print. As a blind person I am happy that audiobooks are so easily available (along with the books from the library for the blind) but the long wait can be frustrating.
Books should be available for everyone, no matter the medium.
well, call me an old fuddy duddy, but i will always love my walls lined with books.....
i live in a tiny tiny townhome now, all by myself and far away from my beloved NYC/NJ where i truly call home, i suffer from an extreme case of hiraeth
but: i can walk in my front door and there is the long wall of bookshelves filled to their brim with much loved books and though not "back" home, still, my books are the homes i lived in my whole life, full of the people and places that brought imagination and the power of words, and whole worlds that had disappeared and new worlds I couldn't dream of, and had yet to find.... and though i can feel lost now as my life starts down the last miles ...... here with my walls covered with books, I am safely in the arms of great old friends who taught me the greatest joys of life and the greatest tragedies all against a backdrop of courage, defiance, honor, history and empathy with the rest of humanity
Mr. Lewis is part of a growing group of A-list authors bypassing print and releasing audiobook originals, hoping to take advantage of the exploding audiobook market. It’s the latest sign that audiobooks are no longer an appendage of print, but a creative medium in their own right. But the rise of stand-alone audio has also made some traditional publishers nervous, as Audible strikes deals directly with writers, including best-selling authors like the historian Robert Caro and the novelist Jeffery Deaver.
This is similar IMO to venues like Netflix developing original content and bypassing the traditional production route.
I can foresee where the book might eventually be released in a print version through Amazon if it does well as an audio, just like a Netflix series might eventually be released on Blue Ray.
I love to read. I adore books. But audiobooks are a very happy and special part of my life. A gifted narrator makes a book come alive to me. I can't listen when I drive, but I enjoy listening at night when I go to bed, or while doing house work, on planes, etc.
Thank you for the link. It looks like audiobook sales are on the rise. That is not a good thing for readers like me. I don't care for audiobooks and the only time my mind doesn't wander while listening to them is while I am driving. Even then I can only listen to fluff as I am paying attention to the road and other drivers.
I imagine it is great for commuters. I will miss those good writers who change to that format only. Maybe some day, or even now, there will be a program to change voice to print and I can read them. More than likely I will be dead before all authors go that route. Change is never good for all.
Now that you mention it...
I've read that pretty much anything, not just talking on cell phones, is a distraction for drivers and results in an increase in accidents. I don't know how/where most people listen to audiobooks, but I suppose someone should do a study as to whether they're more dangerous than we imagine.
I think this is an interesting development and not necessarily a bad thing. I also very VERY much favor traditional print. I don't like e-books, and I am on the fence about audiobooks. Now, I do know that there is a segment of the population that learns and retains information better when they have heard it, rather than when they have read it. This is not the majority of people, but it is certainly a not-insignificant percentage, and for them, audiobooks have really been fantastic.
For me, it really takes a certain kind of audiobook to keep me engaged. I have found that for some books, it is just too easy for my attention to wander. What I have liked best is having books in both formats -- in audio and in paper, and if I listen to the audio in the car, it makes me more eager to go read the book when I get home. So in that sense, it enables me to finish books faster than I otherwise would. But if it is a book that is one that I really really want to read, I don't like having it only available on audio - I really want the printed version.
What I find most interesting, though, is the idea that they are creating this market for works that are specifically designed to be heard, rather than read. (This might be greatly enriched by having different people read different characters in some cases.) I think this could be akin to movies versus books. I have found that quite often, stories are most successful in the outlet for which they were originally designed -- that is, movies that are written as screenplays, plays that are written as plays, and books that are written as books. When we have the movie version of the book, or the movie version of the play, or, sometimes, the book version of a movie, they are rarely as successful or rich or deep as the original. (I realize there are some very obvious exceptions, and it can be possible to tweak certain things, making a movie version of a book, for example, come alive in ways the book didn't -- especially if the original author is involved.) So, this idea that there could be works that are designed to be heard is intriguing.
Interesting analysis and I agree with many points--
The idea that some formats are just better as those vs adapted into other forms seems true to me
There are some books that can never really be duplicated as film--
The very mode of creation == of the concept/design of the story--almost blocks the translation into other formats at the same level of quality
Most people will have certain books they love that have been turned into a movie or tv series and bemoan the transformation as less that just to the original
The act of that transformation requires sacrifices and adaptations that derive from more than one person--
Which is how it was created in the beginning (from the author's mind--even before it reaches the editor's)...
And once it has a fragmented approach--from choosing costumes to specific locations to the more important money choice of actors and directors that often prevents any possibility of critical success--even if it is a monetary success...
I look at the Tom Cruise adaptations of the Jack Reacher novels currently--Cruise in no way fits the physical description of Reacher which permeates the books. I give Cruise credit for having an impact on screen that almost makes up for that but the movies just borrow the plots of the books to cloak Cruise's personal persona--a larger than life hero in most of his movies--
And most of the fans of the series feel Lee Child "sold out" (for a very nice figure I am sure) an iconic character
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, there will be a program to change voice to print and I can read them
. More than likely I will be dead before all authors go that route. Change is never good for all.
