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When books speak up

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
Last Updated 14 June 2012, 13:15 IST


Audio books are now becoming increasingly  popular .With busy schedules ruling people’s lives, reading has almost no takers. This is where audio books come in.

They serve the purpose of multi-tasking as they are convenient and easily accessible.
While children listen to their favourite bed time stories every night, professionals constantly upscale themselves with the trends in the market, mostly while they are travelling.

  Homemakers run their errands and listen to books while cooking as do fitness freaks.
“The best thing about these books is that I can listen to them anytime and anywhere, whether I’m in the car or at home. They are basically very portable,” says Martin Ingty, a professional at Ample Media.

Four years ago, the British Council Library in Bangalore, introduced audio books as a unique service to research the popularity and demand for the same in the City. Following a good response, they have maintained the collection of audio books.

“Our members appreciated and loved the idea instantly. Today, over 6,000 people have access to the audio books collection at the library and about 120 people borrow these books every week,” says Charu Sapra, manager of British Council Library, Bangalore.
With authors reading their books in the audio file, it helps readers connect to them. Sometimes when you’re listening to a book, especially fiction, and the author narrates different characters and the special effects used in the audio file is an experience close to watching a play.

“Reading out can connect the reader in a better way just like the way a mother reads out to her little one before bedtime,” says Abilash R, business development head, audio booksindia.com, an online portal for audio books.

 Abilash mentions that earlier, his uncle used to bring him audio books from the United States and he would enjoy listening to them.

He did not find a single copy when he asked some of the leading stores and that’s how Audio Books India happened.

“It’s been three years since Audio Books India started the domain of audio books and the collection ranges from local publishers to international authors,” he says.

‘The Infinities’ by John Banville, ‘Claudius the God’ by Robert Graves and ‘Juliet, Naked’ by Nick Horn by are among the favourites with the members of the British Council Library and fiction is the most popular among genres.

Martin has the habit of listening to audio books every day and listens to about four books every month. He says he reads books too but he listens to many.

His preferred categories are self-help and self-development and his favourite authors are Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, Jim Rohn and Brian Tracy.


The market for audio books may not be as much as the hard cover books or e-books as of now. But with technology growing every other day, many audio books are available on our phones and other portable devices.

However, some people still believe the point of reading is to sense the book, a feeling that is unparalleled.

“Audio books are not competing with books with hard covers or e-books. They
complement them,” says
Abilash.

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(Published 14 June 2012, 13:15 IST)

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