| dio book is a book which one can listen to instead | | | | recording of Norman Mailer’s Ancient |
| of reading. It is a recording of words spoken by a | | | | Evenings by Jedediah. P. God |
| person instead music or songs sung by someone. | | | | CD technology has brought revolutions in this |
| It may be a recorded version of a book or a | | | | industry. Lots of information can be stored in a |
| recorded spoken program. | | | | single CD and more than one book can be stored |
| Earlier, we could find recorded spoken materials | | | | in a DVD. They can be played using ordinary CD |
| like nursery rhymes, etc mainly in libraries or | | | | or DVD players as well, now a day. Portable |
| schools but not audio books. During the 1980s, | | | | music players like the IPod, Zen player; Zune, etc |
| book publishers started showing interest in spoken | | | | have helped downloadable audio books to reach |
| word publishing. Audio books became a common | | | | the common mass. |
| term from that time onwards and now audio | | | | There are mainly two categories of audio books, |
| books are available widely in book stores along | | | | unabridged and abridged. |
| with printed ones. | | | | A word for word reading of a book is called an |
| One will get an audio book in the form of a CD, | | | | unabridged audio book and if the original content is |
| cassette tape or downloadable digital formats like | | | | edited, then it is called abridged. The abridger is |
| MP3, Windows Media Audio, etc. Presently, some | | | | the person who edits the contents. Abridgements |
| preloaded digital formats are also available. | | | | are necessary to maintain time and bring down |
| The main purpose behind creating audio books | | | | the cost. |
| was to help the visually impaired. These were | | | | Audio books can be created by recordings by |
| published in formats typical for them and | | | | trained vocal artists. Text to speech software can |
| accompanied by special type of players. The | | | | also be used if needed but in such cases sound |
| players were made in such a way that the | | | | quality may not be up to the mark. |
| visually handicapped people were able to handle | | | | Audio books are more expensive compared to |
| them independently without any help. They are | | | | the hard cover editions as a recording on a CD is |
| also helpful while on the move and those who are | | | | expensive. Preloaded digital formats are also |
| very busy in their daily life. | | | | available, where audio content is loaded in simple |
| According to a survey conducted by the Audio | | | | players, similar in price as CDs. Downloadable audio |
| Publishers' Association in the year 2006 for the | | | | books on the other hand cost less as they |
| year 2005, audio book sales were around $871 | | | | don’t have any storage, packaging or |
| million. Present estimates are around $2 billion at | | | | transportation costs. |
| retail value. | | | | Due to high production costs, Audiobooks have |
| Publishers now produce audio books along with | | | | not yet become as popular as their hardcover or |
| hard cover editions. The first example of a | | | | paperback counterparts, although music CDs and |
| simultaneous publication of an audio book and hard | | | | cassettes are very popular. |
| cover edition was the publication of the spoken | | | | |