Audio Book Downloads - The Gutenberg Killers

Audio books are here to stay, say the experts. Judging by their steady year-on-year growth, this is not a marketing statement, but a fact. Now these same experts are predicting a dramatic upsurge in the sale of audio book downloads over the next two years.The prediction makes sense in view of the following:* The market penetration of MP3 and iPod devices is significant. This penetration is set to increase as some publishers are giving away MP3 players free of charge with purchases in order to encourage future downloads.* Such downloads are quite a bit cheaper than printed books.* Current generation readers enjoy the convenience of books which they can download from the comfort of their homes - even at 2 o'clock in the morning!Purchasing an audio book online doesn't mean that you will only be offered older books or that you will have to make do with a limited variety. On the contrary, all the latest and greatest print releases are freely available as downloads nowadays. The sa
me applies to all-time favorite novels, such as Harry Potter and all-time favorite authors such as Stephen King.Harry Potter audio booksIn spite of the controversies surrounding the six Harry Potter books, it became an overnight success: All these books have been translated into 47 languages with millions of copies sold worldwide; the seventh book is due for release; the fifth Harry Potter movie is in production; and all these titles are available in download format.The readability of the Harry Potter series precludes children under the age of ten from comfortably reading it in print. This makes purchasing these books in digital format a worthwhile consideration. The popularity of Harry Potter's books has resulted in the series becoming available in most digital formats.Jim Dale, the narrator, has won a Grammy Award, two Grammy nominations, and two AudioFile Earphone Awards for his work on the Harry Potter series.A further plus-factor for purchasing the Harry Potter books in
digital form is the price. You could save as much as 25% per book! The seventh book in the series, The Deathly Hallows, can now be pre-ordered. It may be a good time to order this pending release when you purchase the other Harry Potter books in the series.Stephen King audio booksStephen King is a firm favorite. Since his first book "Carrie" was published in 1973, Stephen King has written more than 60 novels, short stories, plays etc; twenty of his stories were made into films; and all his best selling books are available in digital format.Of significance to the Stephen King fans, is the fact that he is about to retire, so in view of this imminent retirement, it could be worth considering purchasing one of the 'Stephen King Live' audio downloads available on the internet.It is a live recording made in 1998 of a reading he made at London's Festival Hall, with Stephen King himself as the narrator. The recording is available on CDs or as an online download, but interestingly e
nough, not in printed format at all.The unavailability of Stephen King Live in the printed media is an interesting phenomenon. What if emerging authors had to decide not to publish in print? Offering book downloads instead, could mean a wider reach, better sales and improved margins.Audio books to downloadThere are literally thousands and thousands of these, and the numbers are increasing exponentially every day. So Who knows? Only the future can tell whether book downloads will one day rule. In other words, is the tyranny of the printed word coming to an end in a future near you? Bye-bye Gutenberg?

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