Listen And Learn: Observations On Audiobooks

Commute Productively With A CD A Day

I'm not sure how robust the New Audio Books Blog will turn out to be, since it published a gazillion posts on June 6th, and has seemingly gone dormant ever since. But its 5 Benefits of Audiobooks post is right on the mark.

The first listed benefit cites a transportation statistic claiming that people in the U.S. drive an average of 73 minutes daily. Considering that an audio CD accommodates a maximum of 80 minutes, that means the average driver can listen to nearly a CD a day.

If you're harried and stressed by events at home or the office, this listening time can help you pleasurably wind down. No commercials to irritate you, no traffic or weather reports to stress you beyond what the office has managed, and you'll never have to listen to another minute of "morning zoo" banter. 

But the best benefit comes to productivity-minded people, be you Type A or Gen X. Business people can hone any number of skill sets by listening to a vast variety of business-related texts. College students can listen to assigned textbooks. Professionals--from medical personnel to those serving in the military--can continue their ongoing educations when there's little else productive they can do.

If you do the math, you could spend over seven "full-time" weeks each year consuming this content. In a world where time-management is increasingly valued and necessary, this offers an incredible opportunity to reclaim "lost" time. Whether you need to cram in extra study or miss reading for fun, audiobooks are an easy solution for that trouble that ails you.

Publishing Textbooks As Audiobooks

For the past few years I have run a boutique audiobook business, in which I taught myself the audiobook craft at the same time I provided a genuinely needed service. The most frequent inquiry I received in those years concerned books used in school. Teachers could save prep time by listening to the material they'd be teaching, and today's stretched-way-too-thin student population could cram even more activities into their already overtaxed schedules. Study while driving or walking, for instance.

Admittedly it's a small snapshot of national consumer demand, but I also advised students at The University of Iowa for ten years, and their stories fall directly in line. If audiobook textbooks were available, students would be delighted to use them. Pay for them, too.

Now I'll see if I'm right. My business partner Kathy Snow and I have just launched Texts In Audio, an audiobook production company specializing in textbook conversion. We're starting small, and with a very modest rate schedule compared to other audiobook houses. We've decided to make it reasonable not just because we're new--though that's part of it--but also because I perceive this as an opportunity to jump-start a product line that desperately needs to exist. If you want to see my reasoning, check out the TextsInAudio.com website, which makes the case for consumer demand among the student population, and for monetization opportunities for publishers.

The students will buy ... of that I have no doubt. Now comes the dual challenge of persuading the publishers that these reasons make sense and that Texts In Audio is the company to help fill that need. At last ... those 72 semester hours of graduate school put to direct use!