Podiobooks: Free, Serialized Audiobooks
Posted by: Mary Burkey
What’s a Podiobook? Think of it as a 21st-century version of Dickens’s serialized novels – for free. Tech-savvy writers have by-passed print publishing entirely, posting chapter-by-chapter audio versions of their books online. There’s a wide range of literary quality & audio production in the over 250 titles available for download. GoodReads has selected 50 top free audiobook downloads and is hosting a “Best Free Audiobook” list, with votes cast by listeners. Stop by and see if any of the titles pique your interest. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover a hidden jewel, such as Scott Sigler’s title Infection, a top podiobook free download before being released as a print title followed by Contagious, available both as a podibook and as a print title that received a Booklist starred review. Find out more in this New York Times article by Andrew Adam Newman about Stigler & podiobooks.
Image by Heidi Schumann for The New York Times
December 8th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Thanks for posting this link, Mary. I discovered the list yesterday and am please how many people are engaged. Though I shouldn’t be, as many of the authors represented are quite good at mobilizing their fan base.
Most surprising… I don’t know quite a few of the books! Time to hunt for more content, I guess.
E.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’m flattered that the man behind Podibooks stopped by to visit, Evo! Thanks for bringing the great free content to all of us audiobook addicts!
Mary
December 9th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Mary–I understand podiobooks but I’m not following the GoodReads. Where do we find the free audiobook downloads listed there? Thanks.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Jeanette, the GoodReads list titles are all available on the Podibooks website, and then Podibook listeners vote for their favorites on the GoodReads website. Sorry I was confusing!
Mary
March 27th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] it’s a novel published by cell phone, as a podiobook, via Twitter, or a poem from Booker Prize winner Ben Okri tweeted line-by-line, literature has made [...]
September 27th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
[...] own website as a digital download,” according to this press release. A bit of a twist on the Podiobook idea, with the interesting addition of apps. Looks promising – I’d love to see the [...]