Some Questions About Audiobook Deals
What’s the deal with audiobook deals? I just clicked on audiobook.com from the ad here on the Real Pants sidebar (which are primarily served by the great LitBreaker) and was surprised to see it’s basically the same deal I remember getting from Audible five years ago; you pay $15/month and get one “free” audiobook.
Then if you want more, you buy credits, which you can, like, redeem for audiobooks. Why buy credits instead of the audiobook?
And more to the point, in 2016, I wonder why audiobook retailers don’t use the Netflix model?
Is it the publishers being evil (and skeumorphic) about their pricing again? Or is it that readers don’t care about digital book programs, just as they didn’t with Byliner and Oyster?
Relatedly, I’ve noticed that when I buy an ebook from Amazon, I get an offer for the audiobook for a few bucks more. Is that some promotional thing? At first I thought these audiobooks would be read by computers, but they’re the same products as what usually costs $25 (or X credits from audiobooks.com).
Anyway, I’d love to hear from audiobooks.com about their pricing when Netflix offers so much more for so much less.
Adam Robinson lives in Atlanta and runs Publishing Genius Press. He is the author of two poetry collections, Adam Robison and Other Poems and Say Poem.
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