**This is in no way affiliated with Audible! It is simply my take on using the service!**
I’m a newbie when it comes to audiobooks. They never really interested me before because I am such a visual person and need to have the words before me in order to keep my interest. But when inspiration hit that I should read some celebrity memoirs via an audiobook, I was sold on the idea and immediately picked some up. Turns out, I love listening to non-fiction, comedic audiobooks…
And so does everyone else at my library apparently.
Waiting times at my library can range from zilch to weeks to months depending on what book it is and waiting sucks. I like having an audiobook out for when I do errands or chores around the house; so when I don’t have one out, it’s a little boring. Therefore, Audible seemed like the perfect solution thanks to its sole focus on audiobooks.
How Does it Work?
Audible is a monthly subscription service of sorts from Amazon for audiobooks. Here is the schematic of how it works:
So basically, you pay $15 a month (CAD) to get one audiobook of your choice via a credit. There doesn’t seem to be any restrictions on this book so it’s pretty great if the book you want is over $15. They do have a great selection of older bestsellers and newer releases so you aren’t getting less than premium picks when it comes to decision time. You can also carry over credits (max 6) if you want to wait another month.
If you go through more than one book a month, you can always buy another book or two and add them to your library at a discounted rate. There is also a gifting option where you can gift an audiobook or a membership to a friend via email. They also launched Audible Channels which seem to be like podcasts but I never really explored them (they seem to be free without a membership).
They also have some other plans to note (all are in CAD):
My Experience:
–Signing-Up–
I was lucky enough to win a free Audible audiobook through a Twitter contest thanks to the awesome Tonyalee @Lily Bloom Books but needed to get my Audible account activated. Swagbucks (the site I use to get free gift cards) had a great promotion where you get to join Audible for 2 months for only $2. That meant I would get 2 books for $2!!! (Well, technically, I got a month free as a part of the trial. So 1 book for $2 is more accurate). Plus the one I got from Tonyalee–SCORE! I already had an Amazon.ca account so all I had to do was activate it for Audible.
–Listening Experience–
While I could listen to the audiobook via my computer, I opted to use the app for my iPhone. This was super easy to set-up. I would download the book when I was at home, connected to my WiFi and then listen to it whenever (it doesn’t need a connection to listen to the book once it is downloaded). What I really liked was that I could download the book and listen to it at the same time once a certain percentage was downloaded.
The app itself has all the features I want. It tells me how much time is left in the book, how long the book is, a 30 second fast-forward and reverse AND a sleep timer. You can rate the book once you finished based on your Overall, Performance and Story and leave any comments you want as well.
So, Am I Keeping It?
Right now, I don’t have $15 a month to drop on an audiobook I will only listen to once. If there was another promotion in the future, I would definitely consider it. But right now, I’m going to stick with the really long waiting lists at my library.
But, if you do listen to a lot of audiobooks, this is a fantastic service for you! I’m not sure where else you can get audiobooks or what other places have deals, but these seem to be reasonably priced where I am from in Canada. The cloud system makes it easy to transfer books to your devices but if you prefer to hold the audiobook CD in your hands, spend the extra money to get the physical copy. $15 for an audiobook seems great, especially for those newer books and you never have to leave the house to get them!
Do you use Audible? Any tips or feedback on the service?
Connect: 
I tried audiobooks before (via CDs) in the car a few years ago and it was hard to concentrate on the story while driving (but then I was sort of a newbie driver and my car rides were short). But then in February/March this year I decided to give them another go with Audible since my commute every day is almost two hours with traffic. I definitely had a better experience. And I, too, really loved how Audible synced across devices and could be used on the phone. I ended up canceling my membership though because for every book I listened to, I’d buy the book and finish it myself on my own, which defeats the purpose of paying for a membership. So, I don’t think audiobooks are for me personally however I had a good experience with Audible! Anyway, thanks for sharing this post, Lauren! I agree that the prices can be a tad expensive.
I had tried listening while driving too but that didn’t go so well a few years ago–but that also could have been because it was a fiction novel. I find with fiction novels, if I miss something or zone-out I’m a little screwed for the story. But with memoirs and nonfiction, missing a line or two isn’t (usually) detrimental to the story.
I agree that it is pricey but I definitely get the appeal now that I’ve used it!
I never thought about that aspect. That could be it though! The ones I listened to in the car years ago were fiction, specifically fantasy, which had a ton of world building and details I needed to be careful about. And the two latest ones with Audible were literary fiction and read almost like nonfiction; they were much more enjoyable. 🙂