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Audible - is it worth it?


Lumo

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I like audiobooks when travelling or sitting about for a long time and when I am a bit tired to read a book for hours on end but need some entertainment to pass the time.

 

I'm a big fan of librivox and podiobooks and have heard some excellent books from there. I also look on eBay for bargain second hand audiobooks.

 

I'm thinking of signing up to Audible - what do people think about this service - is it worth it?

 

I have some specific questions: do I get to preview a narrator before buying a book? If I get the one book a month service and want a second book, do I need to pay full price or is there a membership rate?

 

Is there another source of reasonably priced audiobooks?

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I love Audible - most of the time I pay for 2 books a month, but you can change back and forth between 1 or 2. Any over that you pay full price for, but they often have special offers on. Recently they've had 100 books on offer for £5.99 each, and sometimes they offer a third (I think) off all books for a while. And yes, you can preview each book.

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I love Audible :) To make the most of my subscription, I try to always pick long unabridged stories ... something like 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' which is over 32 hours long and costs about £52 to download ordinarily (though it is cheaper on itunes at £31) so to get it for £7.99 is excellent value. You can listen to samples which gives you a chance to hear the narration which is so important .. bad narration can ruin a story.

 

I miss it at the moment because I've taken a payment holiday (due to husbands redundancy) but I hope to start it up again soon.

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Thanks for the replies, I think I will give it a go before I travel next.

 

Being able to preview is great and I was also thinking of only getting unabridged longer books. At the moment first on my list is The Help, however that might change when I browse through the site, I'll probably see many that I want.

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I think The Help will be the first one I get then.

 

I was also quite tempted by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, having never read the book, however, I have seen the 1970s BBC TV version of it, my attention drifted for a moment and then I realised I had no idea what was going on and who everyone was...

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  • 2 months later...

Duncan, A quick piece of advice if you want to keep the cost down. Take the one month free trial and download your first book for free. Then when your trial is nearing the end click on cancel membership and they will always offer you a deal to try the service for longer at a reduced price. This is normally another 3 months at £3.99 a month. Try it for these four months and it will cost £12 to get 4 audiobooks and then you can decide if it is worth continuing at £7.99 a month.

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Hi tunn300, I actually bought the 3 month membership at £3.99/month and received £7 cashback via quidco. After 2 months my credit card expired so they stopped taking the money, as I haven't finished the audiobooks I have I haven't entered the new card details yet. However I will probably do that this week and get the last month of the £3.99 intro price. I'm not sure if I will keep the membership at £7.99/month or not, the audiobooks are good, but at the moment I don't seem to be listening to them. Good to know they offer incentives to keep the membership going, I was thinking I would probably have it for a few months then cancel it for a few months, so if they also send offers that's quite handy.

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  • 3 months later...

bad narration can ruin a story.

 

check out "librivox" - they offer FREE audiobooks in loads of languages

librivox is an excellent service. I have used it for years and listened to tons of books off it. But as "bad narration can ruin a story" remember that librivox books are read by volunteers and quality varies even chapter by chapter. There is one woman who has a voice like crushed gravel and who should have been banned from any form of public speaking, let alone audio books. Unfortunately, she seems fairly prolific on librivox. Another thing I hate on librivox is Dickens or Stevenson being read with a US accent. Just doesn't work for me. But hey, it's free...

 

I have to say I have never been interested in audio books. I don't feel like I'd get the same feeling I get from reading a book.

well, are you interested in hearing great stories at times when you can't physically read a book. I can't tell you how many books I've finished over the kitchen sink or in the car, or out jogging, or in bed in the dark... it isn't the same as reading a book no, but there are so many books out there and we have so little time. Audio books give us a way to pack as much literature in as we can manage!

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  • 2 years later...

I'd like to listen on my Nokia 520 but it only appears to play files in .wma format. 

 

I tried putting Nicholas Nickleby on it (from LibriVox) but for some reason chapters 1 and 5 (of the first 10 chapters) wouldn't show up, but when I tried dragging them again it said they were already there!  

 

I don't have an MP3 player since my iPhone died. I have considered maybe buying an iPod or something - but if I could use my phone instead then obviously that would be better. 

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  • 10 months later...
  • 7 months later...

I love Audible and listen to it on my iPod. I have an annual subscription which works out at just over £5 per book. I tend to use my credits for the longer books. Audible has special offers every week and I sometimes see something that catches my eye for less than £5 and pay for those with real money!

 

You get twelve books on the annual subscription but, unlike the other packages, you can spend your credits whenever you choose. And Audible recently changed the rules so that you no longer have to wait twelve months before renewing an annual subscription. Good news for me as I can now renew as soon as I've spent all my credits. I sometimes spend two or three per month. I think it's great value for money.

 

I've also found that although I hardly ever re-read a printed book, I very often re-listen to audio books. Some I have listened to at least half-a-dozen times. And there are some books where I like to re-listen to favourite chapters, depending how the mood takes me.

 

I listen to audio books whilst I'm doing the housework and other mundane things. I can't imagine being without them.

 

ETA at the moment there's a Two Books for One Credit deal. There's a Murakami I want to get, just need to choose a partner for it. :readingtwo:

Edited by eyeseebooks
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  • 3 months later...

I started my membership last summer, and I've found it great.  I've got some great deals on some of the longer classic books, particularly by buying the Kindle ebook first as they have deals on the audiobooks to enable the WhisperSync.  I find that the one book per month is just about right for me.  I'm very happy with my subscription. :)

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Yes, I hope to start a subscription as well, soon.  I enjoyed the audio books I have heard- Sissy Spacek reading Carrie comes to mind- and I am looking to start the Harry Potter series later in the year via audio.  I plan to use the subscription plan for that, as each audio book is 30 dollars :o

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  • 1 month later...

I'm sorry to ask again, because I discussed this with Claire and Kay yesterday but I'm still a bit bamboozled by how it works and instantly forgot what I was told!  :blush2:

 

I am planning to sign up for it but I'd like to know:

 

1.  Can I cancel at any time, or is there a minimum sign-up period?

 

2.  Do I sign up for it through Audible or through Amazon (or doesn't it make any difference seeing as they're owned by the same company)?

 

3.  Can I 'Whispersynch' books I've already downloaded onto my Kindle if I download the audio book?

 

4.  How do I know if an 'already downloaded' book has Whispersynch?  I'm planning to download either Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke or The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett, both of which I have on Kindle - the former a proper book and the latter a Kindle freebie.  (Claire, I think you said I'd be better off choosing one of these two as my free book, but if you did then I can remember which it was!).

 

My iPod is a Nano 7th Generation (the old 7th Generation (!) according to the Apple site)

 

I have downloaded (but not used) an Audible app to my Sony Z5 mobile

 

I know I can probably get these questions answered by Googling but some first hand advice (that I can read to refresh my memory  :blush: ) would be helpful.

 

Thanks in advance.  :)  (And sorry for being dense!)

 

Edit:  I just searched JS&MN on Amazon and it came up with other suggestions to, and JS&MN doesn't say 'Whispersync for Voice-ready' so I guess I'm better off having the Arnold Bennett one as my free one as it is enabled for Whispersync  :)

Edited by Janet
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You should be able to cancel at any time.. a while ago I opened a new account for Amy, and deliberately tried to cancel, because they tend to offer a good deal to try to keep you. I don't know if they still do that, but it might be worth trying. You sign in using your Amazon details, so if you can sign up on the amazon page, it probably doesn't matter which you use. 

 

Whispersync I don't know much about. There's a Help page here, for that, and the various apps (you'll possibly find the app easier than the Nano) etc: http://audible-uk.custhelp.com

 

PS If you could possibly click on the banner on the forum when you go to sign up, I'd be very grateful :)

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