Audible Questions...

[BaconAndAvocado]

Considering trying our audible books via Amazon.

Apparently, I get my first book free.
If I don’t like my first book/try at audible books can I cancel immediately or am I obliged to pay a monthly subscription?

How much a month is it and how many books can I access?

What are the pros and cons to listening to a book as opposed to reading a hard copy?

Tia

I have an audible abo since ca. 2015. I started listening on my commute, on walks, while doing housework that does not need my brain and whenever a book is impractical.
It has not stopped me reading actual books.
And some authors do better when read aloud and some topics (i. e. lectures) a for listening to anyway.

It's 7.99 per month and you only get 1 credit for that so you can only get 1 book. They have a very big catalogue of books to choose from.

I've done the free trial and quite like it but don't think it's worth it when I can get a good selection of audiobooks for free from my library. I'm also looking at Scribd which is 9.99 per month for unlimited audiobooks and ebooks so if you think you're going to get through more than 1 audiobook per month this is probably the better option cost-wise.

It's worth doing the free trials (and signing up to your library's online system if you haven't already) to see what works for you.

You don't pay anything for the first month, so long as you cancel your subscription in time there is no charge. So if you signed up today you have until 7th feb to cancel. There are different payment schemes (mIne is a years subscription for £69 so I get 12 credits a year so just under £6.00 a book). There are then special deals so two books for one credit. Half price books (can work out cheaper than using a credit) free books/ pod casts etc. There is also 'deal of the day' where the book is under £3.00. The only thing to be aware of is they say any book you don't like you can change, not quite true you can change up to three of four books a year (can't remember as it's rare for me to change books!)
But look at BorrowBox and Libby both library apps which have good selection of audio books available although popular audio books aren't always available I think 8 months is the longest I have to wait to borrow a book!

You can buy as many books as you like. Paying for them with cash as opposed to credits. I look for offers, sales, daily deals and spend my credits on otherwise expensive books.

Unless they've changed their policy recently, I think that you can return more books than pp stated? However, from googling says it's a bit more tricky to do. You can even returned books you've listened to in full. As long as it's within 365 days of purchase.

I found this through googling although I don't know the authority of the site:-

www.cantswingacat.co.uk/2018/11/28/how-many-times-can-i-return-a-book-on-audible/

I have had Audible for a long time and I use it a lot.
I pay £110 a year for 24 credits all at once, which works out about £4 per credit. I make use of all the 3 for 2 offers etc. I recently spent £21 for 7 books in their £3 sale as it worked out cheaper than using credits. You can usually get special offers like 3 credits for £11 etc.

If you go for the monthly 7.99 membership, you use that credit to buy any book in the catalogue (which is huge) regardless of the list price. You can return if you don't like it, but some members abuse this and use Audible like a lending library. I think they should tighten it up and only allow you to return books you have not completed if you genuinely have a problem with it. Every time you return a book, the author loses their royalties which isn't fair. Royalties for library loans are paid differently.

I've looked at Scribbld in the past, but their catalogue is more limited and you listen online (you don't own the title), I've seen some reviews where a member has been midway through a book and it disappears from their catalogue.

My local library uses Borrowbox, which is fine but again it is a bit limited and has very long waits for popular titles.

I read about 1/3 paperback, 1/3 Kindle and 1/3 Audible.

I listen to Audible when I am cooking, doing housework, laundry, driving etc. That is the huge advantage- I am reading when I otherwise wouldn't be.
I have my favourite narrators. You can listen to a sample before you buy (but you can of course change if you don't like the narrator)
Don't be fooled that an author reading his/her own book makes for the best narration (Bill Bryson - I'm looking at you). Michelle Obama was fabulous though.

Agree with Raven, I don’t think it’s morally right to return a book you’ve listened to all the way through. You wouldn’t do it in a real bookshop so why on Audible?

The advantages of Audible are that you can ‘read’ while doing other things. Plus sometimes it’s just nice to be read to, particularly if you get a really good narrator!

I both read and listen to audiobooks. Do you buy Kindle books? Sometimes if you buy a Kindle book you can also get the audiobook from Audible for a much reduced price. Sometimes the price of the two (Kindle plus Audible) is less than a month's subscription with Audible. They will Whispersync, which means that you can either read or listen and they will sync between the two.

Having said that I no longer use Audible, I use Scribd. There are pluses and minuses. Scribd doesn't have as big a catalogue as Audible, but it does change regularly and I have always found something to listen to. I can listen to as many as I want, which is great as I put headphones on and listen for a couple of hours at a time while I'm using my sewing machine.

There are also ebooks on Scribd and I mostly use that for reference books because I quilt and crochet and it's handy to just flick through online books for inspiration. If I see something that I want to make then I can consider buying the book.

I should say that Audible works along the lines of a book shop, once you have the audio book you own it forever. Scribd is a similar model to Spotify, you don't own any of the material but you have access to all of it so long as you're paying a monthly fee.

Also, listening to a book is VERY slow compared to reading, which I found frustrating at first. However the slowness of it means that you can do something else at the same time and still have full comprehension.

You can speed the audio up if you find it too slow. I typically listen at 1.25x

@ChessieFL

Agree with Raven, I don’t think it’s morally right to return a book you’ve listened to all the way through. You wouldn’t do it in a real bookshop so why on Audible?

The advantages of Audible are that you can ‘read’ while doing other things. Plus sometimes it’s just nice to be read to, particularly if you get a really good narrator!

Actually, the now defunct Books Etc had a policy that you could return any (physical) book even if you'd finished it. I worked with someone who had worked there and asked about it. He said it was basically designed to be a sort of goodwill thing to appeal to customers. They absolutely would refund customers but knew it was likely that they wouldn't avail themselves of it often.

I've only returned a few books (because the narrator was terrible and the online sample wasn't enough to discourage me) and I felt guilty about it.

I have no qualms about returning a book if I don't like the narrator or any other reason I am not enjoying it. But I know from the big book groups on FB that people do this all the time with books they have finished (and enjoyed) and boast about it and recommend others do it too. It's because they think well, it's just Amazon, who cares? But Amazon/Audible pass the loss to the authors who get their loyalties retracted.
I just wish Audible would tighten it a bit, as it is not fair on authors. (My DSister's income is dependent on royalties).

Sorry to derail the thread. love my Audible books

So, any recommendations for my first audible book?

Author-wise, I like Kate Atkinson, Rose Tremain, Matt Haig.....

I’ve never read any non-fiction so might like to try this on Audible.

I enjoyed Becoming by Michelle Obama on Audible. She reads it herself which made it seem more real.

I have audible so I can listen to a book while doing other things. It came in particularly handy when DD was tiny and would nap in my arms, nut now I tend to listen when I'm drying my hair, doing my make up or cooking, or even on the rare occasion DD falls asleep in her pushchair when out for a walk, i put my AirPods in and have a listen.

I have the £7.99 a month subscription which does me pretty well for now.

I do love a proper book though, I'll save them for evenings on a balcony on holiday (eventually)

I really enjoyed

Rebecca read by Anna Massey

Howard's End read by Edward Petherbridge

Regeneration trilogy read by Peter Firth

Diary of a Provincial Lady read by Georgina Sutton

Untold Stories written & read by Alan Bennett plus others of his

off the top of my head

tobee Howard’s End is one of my very favourite books. I would be interested to see how it translates into audible.

Are all the books unabridged?

That version of Howard's End is not abridged. When you look at their categories you can find out if they are abridged or not in "sort and refine".

I read Howard's End for a level. Listening to it on audible in my 40s gave me a quite different perspective.