Not just eBooks: the growing popularity of audiobooks has presumably had an effect on traditional book sales too.

Audiobook sales continue to grow strongly every year, where as ebooks have been flat or declining in recent years.

PaulHoule 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I see audiobooks as crazy expensive and I don't like how they are locked down. If I paid $20-30 for a Martin Prechtel audio book and get an MP3 or something I could use any way I like it would be one thing but to be locked into Apple or Amazon it is just something I do when I am on the free trial... And Prechtel is one of very few authors I'd prefer it for because his work is so oral.

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stvltvs 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Agreed that they're overpriced. For some reason, I rarely want to own a DRM-ridden audiobook, especially at those prices. (The Lord of the Rings as read by Andy Serkis and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter are two recent exceptions that you should check out.)

Once I'm done borrowing an audiobook from the library through Libby or Hoopla, I might buy a physical book if I liked it enough. I usually don't foresee myself listening to the book again.

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ChickeNES 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Why bother with libraries when you can subscribe to Audible?

	▲	stvltvs 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's free, and I'm boycotting Amazon. In cases where I have trouble getting a book from the library, it's often on Spotify. An Audible subscription would be mostly redundant.

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cr1895 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm quite happy with OpenAudible: https://openaudible.org/

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mrkstu 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Which is why most everyone does a subscription model. ~$15 per book, even if its 800 pages written.

	▲	TeMPOraL 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		You mean per month, not per book? Most people I know that listen to audiobooks, do so through services that charge monthly subscription. Netflix for audiobooks, basically.

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skeeter2020 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

that's more about a desire not to read, with the (IMO flawed) strategy of multitasking, vs. format. The % of people who have read a book in the past year is abysmal and continues to decline.

	▲	TeMPOraL 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Multitasking isn't always flawed. One of the most well-read person I know recently revealed to me that the hundreds of books he read over past few years were actually mostly audiobooks - because it turns out that most of his dayjob is physical, low-cognitive-demand kind, and pairs perfectly with audiobooks, basically keeping his brain engaged while his muscles do the repetitive work.
	▲	fasterik 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		What you're saying is probably correct for some percent of readers, but I'm not sure how big the effect actually is. Personally, I listen to books that I never would have sat down to read in the first place, and the time it takes up isn't competing with reading (doing chores, driving, etc.).