Smart Girls Read Romance -- so do the bestselling and award-winning Authors who write this blog.
Join them as they dish about Books, Romance, Love, and Life.






Saturday, June 14, 2014

A Case for Audio Books.....



I love audio books. I listen to them while I’m driving. In fact, if I’m really interested in a story, I sometimes hate to stop driving.

I also listen to them if I’m waiting and waiting and waiting in a doctor or dentist’s office. Much more interesting than reading one of the table magazines that’s full of nothing and covered with germs. I used to take my Kindle to medical appointments, but now I take my MP3 player.

I listen anywhere I am where I’m going to be sitting and waiting.

These days, you can buy an MP3 player as cheap as $15 and a pair of headphones for under $10. That makes it easy and affordable to listen. (I remember when my sister bought a used MP3 player on eBay for more than $100.)

Or if you have a newer model car, it might have a place to plug in a listening device and you can listen through the radio.

Or I could listen on my smartphone if I wanted to. I have the audible.com app that I downloaded from Google Play and all I have to do is download a book through it. If you have an iPhone, you can go through the iTunes store.

These days, I don’t have much time for reading. The only time I’m able to do it is at night before I go to sleep, but unfortunately, I’m often too tired to stay awake very long. So listening to audio books enables me to keep “reading”.

Audio books used to be a rarity restricted to only the bestselling or old favorite authors, but thanks to Amazon, they are becoming more readily available from all authors. If an author is lucky enough to get a great narrator who sounds as if she/he understands the story, gets the dialogue right and has a dramatic flair, all the better. It’s sort of like watching a TV show or a movie without the picture.

Currently, I’m listening to a Suzanne Brockman book that has both a male and female narrator. This is interesting. First time I’ve run across one with two narrators.

And that brings me to the fact that I’m in the process of making THE LOVE OF A COWBOY into an audio book. I hope to see it released in July. It will be available on Amazon, iTunes and Audible.com. 


This book won a big contest that enabled me to sell it to a publisher. It was written and originally published some years ago, but it's still one of my best-selling books. If you like alpha heroes and heroines and a dramatic story, you might enjoy listening to it. I was lucky to get a narrator who does an excellent job. So if you like audio books yourself or if you’ve never tried one, give it a shot. Or check to see if your favorite author's books are available in audio.

8 comments:

  1. Anna, I like listening to books on CD when driving long distances by myself. I may be purchasing more MP3 versions now that we live even farther from all the book events.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for commenting, Paty. Now that so many cars come with a port for plugging in an MP3 or a smartphone, CDs are getting to be old hat. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anna, a very interesting post! I will definitely be checking into audio books! Just another avenue for what is my favorite past time - reading!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Karen, you might be surprised how many of your faves are now available in audio. Check on Amazon. They are pushing audio books. ... Even if you've already read the book, it's fun to listen to it. There's one thing I can say about almost all of the books I've listened to that I've already read. Hearing it read by a professional actor brings a different takeaway on the story. Sometimes it even gives you a different vision of the hero or heroine.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anna, I loved THE LOVE OF A COWBOY! Your Idaho books are among my favorites. Of course, I love all your books. Best wishes for continued success.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love audio books and listened to them years before my books were produced as audio editions. I have scads of old audiobooks that were on cassettes, then CDs, now my iPod or iPhone--whatever is handy. I still get a kick out of knowing my books can be heard as well as read. Congrats on THE LOVE OF A COWBOY going into audio.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you, Caroline & Joan. Ideally, I would put *all* of my books into audio, but unfortunately, I can't afford it unless they sell a ton. :-) Still, it's fun to tell people who like to listen that you have a book in audio.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love audiobooks! It's the best way to keep up with my never-ending TBR, and I can listen to them at work and in the car. ACX has made it incredibly easy for authors and narrators to connect, and it's so good to see so many books in audio now. I'm especially happy to see western romances. I'll definitely be checking out The Love of a Cowboy!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting on Smart Girls Read Romance. We love readers and love their comments. We apologize that due to a few unethical spammers we've had to institute comment moderation. Please be patient with us... we DO want your genuine comments!