I’ve suggested to a few people that they should check out Podiobooks.com for podcast novels. [Disclaimer: I have 5 novels on the site, but you dont need to subscribe to mine.]
Here’s evidence that the nature of “media” is changing:
Podcasting Your Novel: Publishing’s Next Wave?.
While I didn’t get mentioned in the article, I’m tickled that my friends did.
As much as educators want to re-define what podcasting is, there’s a whole world out there that doesn’t care what educators think. As an educator, I find that more than a little troubling.
February 4th, 2009 at 11:08 am
This is one area that it will be a long time before I adopt. I like to hold and read my books, not listen to them. However, I can see how this is is a good avenue for those authors who cannot get published. You could reach a whole new group of people this way and increase your popularity (if it is any good…).
February 4th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I like to hold my books and read them, too. But there are times when I can’t read. Like driving, working out, doing dishes, folding laundry, mowing the lawn … This isn’t a “substitute” activity where you sit down and “listen rather than read.” It’s an additive activity, where you listen in situations where reading isn’t practical.
And as a podiobook author, I’ll point out that it goes way beyond “getting published.”
I’ve actually turned down a few contracts and I’ve got some pending that I can’t really talk about. I could have been published — if you mean printed on paper and sold at a book store — last year.
What Podiobooks represents is a new media channel. The nature of the web is that digital distribution and marketing changes the economic game. As more opportunities for distribution come online, the stranglehold on means of production currently held by a few conglomerates gets loosened.
No, I don’t make enough to make a living giving my books away for free, but I’m also not a full time player in this marketplace, nor is this marketplace matured yet. It’ll be interesting to see how the interaction between a reduction in the need for school-supplied credentials and an increase in niche markets like podiobooks plays out.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I love to hold my books and read them too but I have also enjoyed audiobooks for quite some time. The audiobooks are a great option when you are traveling, working on the computer, or just watching the kids in the park. These are times that your eyes have to be focused on something other than the words on the page and some of the audiobooks have phenomenal readers (ex. Harry Potter series) that capture your imagination and draw you into the story. I have not tried the podiobooks but it definitely sounds like something I might be interested in.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Personally I like the podiobooks, i think it is a great idea! I get to listen to my book while i am working on homework or while jordan is watching tv, something i cant do when i am reading, the noise destroys my concentration! Hey, congrats on having your books on there too!
February 6th, 2009 at 1:51 am
Podio books are great and fit yet another niche as an alternative to music listening, news or talk radio. They are a long-form of old time radio drama serials, but improved by the nature of the play it when you want it audio players. The same should be said for ebooks, but for the lack of a cheap player (sorry Kindle and others – too expensive). Technology is filling in a matrix of classes of material (news, entertainment, education), methods of delivery (scheduled/programmed, recorded/feed, and immediate/live), and formats (audio, print, and video). This market has the ability to meet the needs of the consumer that changes throughout the day and includes periods where visual attention either can’t be shared or is not necessary while audio attention is less important to immediate tasks.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:38 am
I have downloaded one of the podiobooks. I think that listening to a book at times gives you great benefits over trying to sit down and read it. There are many times when I can just use my ipod and listen while doing dishes, etc. These are times when I can’t hold a book with my hands and read. It allows you to multitask….something that I have to do a lot! I can see more people taking the time to ‘read/listen to books’ with this availability. You can’t really use the excuse that you don’t have time to read anymore.
February 6th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I do not normally use audio books because I read really quickly and frankly, they slow me down. Now, that being said, most audio books that I have been in contact with are on tape. So, unless I was willing to carry my over sided tape player around with me they were not portable. I am interested to check out podiobooks and see if I am more attracted in this form of audio book now that it can be put on my very portable I-Pod.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
A friend at work recently loaned me my favorite book on audiobook. I listened to it in my car going to work. I have a twenty minute commute, so I have plenty of time to listen to a chapter or two on the way to and from work. I looked on Amazon to see how much the sequals cost, and I was so suprised. Each book ranged between twenty-five and thirty bucks! There are four books in this series, so I didn’t buy them. I just went back to listening to the radio, even though I was bored with the songs on the radio.
Dr. Lowell told me to check-out podiobooks on I-Tunes. I was so suprised that there were so many books on there for FREE!!!! I know that a lot of people talked about this being a great avenue for unpublished authors to get their work out there, but it benifits me because audiobooks are just too expensive for me to really invest in.
I downloaded Anne of Green Gables. I read it when I was a kid, and I wanted to read it again so that I could talk to my students about it. I really had a hard time getting into it. In this case I prefer the book. I also dowloaded Quarter Share by Dr. Lowell. This is pretty interesting to listen to. I like the world that he created and the references to the military. Are you prior service Dr. Lowell? Well, if anyone read Enders Game for Games and Simulations and enjoyed it as much as I did, then I recommend that you give Quarter Share a try.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Yes, I’m a veteran.
There are 3 more books in the Share series and a spin off title called South Coast that’s set in the same universe but with different characters.
My stuff isn’t the only stuff there and it’s probably inaccurate to classify it as a venue for unpublished writers. Many of the authors there have books that you can buy from Amazon. Some of them you may have even heard of.
I just finished listening to Boone Barnaby by a great author and reader, Joe Cottonwood. It’s a YA novel, but very, very cool and I enjoyed it a lot.
I’d be happy to offer recommendations on other titles if anybody’s interested.
February 15th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I thought so. There are so many points in the book that could only come from a person who has lived the life of a soldier. i like Quarter Share. I am planning on checking out the other books in the series. There is something that pulls you in when you read or in this case listen to a story about the kid who didn’t seem to have any options, but went on to find out that he is good at something and becomes successful while helping others along the way. Thanks for the other recommendations. I might check those out later on. I have a feeling that podiobooks will have a place in my entertainment future. I have plenty of time to check them out.