Audio Books: What About Them?

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In the modern world, people are always in a hurry. They rush to and from work, the gym and the grocery store and rarely have time to sit down and enjoy things. From this rush comes an idea that only a busy person would think of: audio books. Amazing tools, wonderful toys and great time savers; audio books are all of these things and more. Or are they, instead, things that simply allow us to ignore the great classics and lose ability to comprehend what we read? These questions and answers are designed to teach about audio books, explain what they are, why they're useful and where the future of audio books may lead.

What is an audio book?

An audio book is nothing more than a book that has been recorded into an audio format. This is done by a person reading the book aloud while a recording device of some sort records their voice. While it's true that the term "audio books" only refers to complete books that have been recorded, books aren't the only thing that are put into audio format. Other than books, the most common things put in audio format are things like crib notes, speeches and lectures. However, books are by far the most common non-music thing to be put in audio format.

Who created audio books?

It's difficult to pinpoint a specific person and say that they came up with the idea of audio books. Once the technology existed to record sound easily, there's no doubt that many people thought of the idea and shared the idea with their friends. What is known is that the first known audio book was made by author David Sanchez Juliao. In 1975, he recorded a Spanish audio book entitled "Por que me llevas al hospital en canoa, papa". Over the next few years, Juliao recorded several other audio books and the popularity of audio books began to soar.

What formats are available for audio books?

The most common format for audio books are currently cassette tapes and CD's. For quite some time cassette tapes were the main format, but in today's world CD's make up seventy four percent of all audio books while cassette tapes make up a mere sixteen percent. However, with the creation of downloadable content, many audio books are being published in MP3 format. These audio books make up about nine percent of the market and is growing quickly. For now, CD's are the most often purchased audio book format, which is in line with the most commonly used playback technology.

How many audio books are sold?

It's hard to tell exactly how many audio books are being and have been sold, since records and files are fairly extensive. However, it is estimated that about two billion US dollars are brought in every year by the audio book industry. This suggests that the audio book industry is a rather large market and won't be going anywhere for quite some time. If you're looking for an industry which has a lot of work within it, this may be the one. There's always need for people to actually read the books as well as the studio workers to edit the recordings properly.

Aren't audio books for lazy people?

Not at all. Most people who use audio books are very busy people. They have things to do during the day, such as mothers who need to keep the house and take care of the children or business people who must rush from meeting to meeting and they don't always have time to sit down to read a book. Instead, these people use audio books to combine tasks. They listen to the book while they're driving to and from soccer practice or to and from business meetings. In this way, they can enjoy their favorite books and still have time during the day to do everything they need to do.

What kinds of books are most often put in audio format?

It's hard to answer that in specific terms, as the books that are most often put in audio format can change depending on what the market appears to want. However, the books that tend to see the most publishing are the books that become popular in traditional formats, such as New York Times best sellers, self-help books and children's books. The first books tend to be published in audio format in an attempt to make a bit more profit from them, the second are published in that format because that's the format that they're most popular in and the third are often used as teaching tools to help children learn to read.

Audio books are used to help children learn to read?

Most certainly. It's very well known that dealing with something with more than one sense can help you pick it up more quickly. In the case of children's books, an audio book can help a child pick up the words both by hearing, and by seeing. Since they're seeing the word and hearing how it's used, both by itself and in context, this can help a child learn to read twice as quickly as they might otherwise. This is how audio books can help a child learn to read. With that in mind, it's almost the exact opposite of lazy to buy a child an audio version of some of their favorite books.

Can adults who use audio books and physical books at the same time learn more efficiently?

They certainly can. If you find yourself needing to memorize some part of a book, the best way to do so is to obtain the book in audio format and listen to it while you're reading it. Scientific studies have been done in order to test the validity of this and in all cases these studies have proven that people who take in information in more than one way are able to more easily memorize it. It's the same reason why a student should take notes while listening to a teacher's lecture. Not only do they have the notes to study later, but the action of writing and listening aids in memorization.

Who does the voices for audio books?

It can really depend on what kind of audio book you're purchasing. There are some audio books that are done much like a play, with a different reader for each character as well as a separate reader for the narration. These are usually the top of the line type audio books, however, and are slightly rare. More often, a company that wishes to create an audio book will simply hire a single reader. This reader will sit in front of a recording device and record themselves reading the book. Many companies prefer to use readers who have experience reading books, but this is not mandatory.

How does the reader manage to read the book without any mistakes?

Truth be told, they don't. Audio book readers certainly try to limit their mistakes as much as possible, of course. They do this by familiarizing themselves with the book, reading it several times themselves before recording themselves reading it aloud. But mistakes happen, even to the most skilled reader. The way these mistakes are fixed is in studio. They will take the recording, edit out sounds and spaces they don't want and sometimes even edit in sounds they think should be there. The finished product is the audio book that's published, which invariably sounds like there were no mistakes made.

Is the editing work like what they do for music?

For the most part, yes, they are very similar. Any editor for audio books must be just as knowledgeable in how to manipulate sound and use sound manipulating programs as a music editor must be. The main difference comes in the lack of musical editing. Most audio books don't have music in them, instead being simply the readers voice as they read the book. Because of this, a slight different skill set is needed to work on audio book editing. An audio book editor should be able to manipulate words and be able to string context together should some sentences be taken out. A music editor, by contrast, generally only needs to make sure the music sounds good.

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Today's Tip On Audio Books

MP3 audio books are quickly gaining popularity among avid readers. MP3 audio books are convenient and offer a wide range of topical options for any user. You can easily get a favorite audio book for iPod playback or for a variety of other media devices. With access to a book no farther than your fingertips online, you can begin enjoying a new book within minutes from the comfort of your home.


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