Distributing an audiobook By Saifur Rahman :)

Why should you distribute an audiobook in a digital (MP3) or physical (CD) format? Well you should use the mp3 digital format because everything these days is becoming digital the trend now is to sell audiobooks in digital format like mp3s because then you wont have to worry about the cost of packaging duplication/replication process, also downloading a mp3 version of a audiobook will make it easier for everyone because you can listen to it on your phone or iPod. Compact Discs or otherwise known as CDs are one of the most used formats next to mp3s for distributing audiobooks because they are capable of holding a significantly larger amount of recorded audio than the cassettes that were used before CDs were out, also you could choose to distribute your audiobook in CD form because a lot of people still have/use CD players for example in their cars or they might even have Hi-Fis

How do you release a recording on iTunes, Amazon etc? From reading different discussion groups I have read that you need an aggregator if you are an independent author or publisher to distribute your own audiobook because most online retailers like iTunes and amazon refuse to work with independent publishers I have found a website which will do it for you even if you didn’t record your audiobook with them, the company is called Open Book Audio ( audiobook) Each retailer has different requirements for the format of the audio files, metadata, and images they will accept, but this company sorts all of it out from sorting the source files, metadata, and artwork they even do the formatting for you so you have one less thing to worry about. audiobook

How much does it cost to make CDs? Well from one website that I found (CD Baby) the packs are different they have three packs; you can get 500 CDs in jacket cases for about £466, 100 CDs in jewel cases for about £157 and the last pack was for 1000 CDs in wallet cases which cost about £681. These prices vary in different websites because they try and compete with each other like in another website the prices were; 500 CDs for £450, 1000 CDs for £540 and 2000 CDs were about £940 so it really depends on who you trust and where you find the best deal for you and how you want the case and CD to look.

How would you promote your product so people know they can buy it? Well there are 3 ways to going about on promoting your audiobook they are; launching your own audiobook website just so it looks professional and people can trust that it is okay and they get to know who it is coming from, starting a blog or going on to similar blogs and discuss you product (audiobook) so you then can talk to people about it and ask them how they liked it and lastly you can make a social media page for it like Facebook and Twitter so you have a dedicated following and you can advertise on their to keep your listeners informed of your new products that might be coming. For offline promoting you can buy ad space on newspapers and maybe put up some poster and flyers.

What are the challenges of releasing an audiobook? Well the biggest challenge that you would face while distributing your own audiobook will the cost of everything from making the CDs to having them replicated so you have more to sell, also the aggregator/publisher that you get to help you put your audiobook up on iTunes and Amazon because without them you won’t even get a chance of putting your audiobook up on them big online retailers and lastly the cost of promotion and promoting your product this is important because if no one knows about your product (audiobook) then they won’t go and buy it which means you will make a big loss.

Bibliography Audiobooks.htm