Did you know that audio books are a fast-growing sector in publishing? Between 2008 and 2013, revenue grew by 12 per cent annually to a massive $1.6 billion (source: IBISWorld). No longer are people complaining they don’t have time to read: they’re listening to books on their phones, their media players, in the car on the commute. Audiobooks have become de rigueur; no longer specialist creations for those with sight impairment. They’re quiteat home in a world where we naturally take in information from various sources at once and in which we’re increasingly interested in digital content. And on a cost basis, as an IBISWorld analyst explained:

Because audiobooks are relatively cheap discretionary purchases that consumers can afford on tight budgets, the industry has been able to grow during the recession, despite consumers’ low disposable income.

IBISWorld predicted a rise in the number of companies producing audiobooks. Currently, Amazon has somewhere in the region of 90 per cent of the market. And challenging Amazon proves difficult.

Take My Audiobook Library. Its mission statement explains:

We believe there are many people out there that are in a similar situation but have never heard of audiobooks, and definitely don’t know that they can be downloaded instantly onto their computers and then to their MP3 Players so they can listen to their favorite books while on the go. We would like to help spread the word to the masses on how great audiobooks are and how they can greatly improve your quality of life.

The company plans to develop so that it can offer 55,000 titles at 30 per cent of retail prices. But growth is made difficult by Amazon’s monopoly. My Audiobook Library says:

Our customers want to listen to the New Releases from the Top Authors… but the ‘Big Five’ publishers are unwilling to partner with a company that does not already have a large customer base, and the kind of numbers they want, come from having audiobooks from the ‘Big Five’ publishers. Thus, the ‘catch-22.’.

But there’s hope: this company is running a campaign on Kickstarter which is garnering good support.

Where do I stand, as an author, vis à vis a audiobooks? I’m passionately in favour, and I count myself very lucky that my publisher, London Wall, is of a similar mind and so has created an audiobook of my latest novel, The Echoes of Love. The wonderful actor Matt Addis, who’s recently been in the touring production of War Horse, narrated the book. Here he is discussing the process: