June is Audiobook Month

This month is set aside by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) (@AudioPub) to celebrate the important role audiobooks play in a person’s literary life and to mark the overall growth of audiobooks in the market (last year downloaded audiobooks sales rose by 39% to $82 million vs. $59 million in 2009, while physical audiobooks fell 6%, at $137 million for 2010 vs. $146 million for the previous year).

APA has compiled some facts to honor the occasion:

  • 25% of Americans have listened to an audiobook in the last year.
  • Audiobook listeners are avid readers who use audiobooks as a way of enjoying an author's work when they’re not able to read. 94% of audiobook listeners have read a book in the past year vs. 70% of non-audiobook listeners.
  • Many authors love audiobooks. Scott Turow, Janet Evanovich, Judy Blume, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Tom Wolfe, Lisa Scottoline — all listen to audiobooks.
  • Most listeners use audiobooks in the car (whether they’re commuting or on driving vacations), but an increasing number of people also report using audiobooks while they’re exercising, cooking, gardening — and even at work.
  • The average audiobook listener spends about 5 hours a week listening.
  • Audiobooks are great for family listening on the road this summer — nothing ends the "are we there yet blues!" like a great audiobook. Audiobooks keep everyone in the car entertained while also increasing literacy skills; families can even knock out a few of the titles on a kid's summer reading list on the way to vacation.
  • Audiobooks are a great tool for building literacy. Teachers and librarians report that listening to audiobooks helps children build better vocabularies and also helps them to read with better expression.

NPR’s Talk of the Nation (@totn) recently featured an interview about audiobooks. Listen to “Audio Book Sales Climb In Spite Of Competition.”

If you love audiobooks, you should read AudioFile magazine (@AudioFileMag). And for your convenience, here’s a Google search on the word “audiobooks.” Let Somersault help you publish audiobooks.