Whither Audiobooks

The findings published in the Bookseller, about the state of the audiobook market is interesting and timely.

With MP3, iPhone and the podcast markets buoyant, publishers have been slow to adopt and benefit from the audiobook format. Its time to move on, accessible and reasonably priced audio in usable formats are required if publishers are to make anything of this format.

It’s a fantastic cross sell opportunity, which I suspect will in no way detract from the purchase of the written word. Perhaps virgin will make a new market with its erotica products on download, but there has to be a bigger market than that brigade. Additionally, the download from digital radio has to be a route worth exploring, given the possibility of segmenting and serving market niches.

The market is ready for some innovation in this regard, and it will be interesting to see how publishers will respond