My library has been encouraging staff to do various technology-related activities, such as learning about LibraryThing, podcasts, tagging, image editing, etc. I've really been getting into podcasts/webcasts. Mostly, I've stuck to the Library of Congress's webcasts, but I've recently started branching out to Podiobooks.com, which features serialized audio books in podcast form. Right now, I'm just focusing on completed books - I recognize some of the titles, but I think a good chunk of them are by authors who are still new, unheard of, and/or unpublished in the more traditonal sense. I haven't spent too much time exploring the titles yet, but I'm guessing quite a few of the books are read by the authors or their friends, so the quality of everything from the writing to the reading really depends. Still, it's all free, and it's a nice way to give authors you haven't heard of (or maybe some you have - I saw one of Karen Marie Moning's books on the site) a try.
It's been a while since I wrote any audio book posts, but, if I don't get bored with Podiobooks.com, you can probably expect to see some more in the near future. Right now, I'm listening to Forever Fifteen by Kimberly Steele, read by the author.
I'm glad you found us, LG. And your first impressions were correct: The majority of the titles on our site come from "underpublished" authors looking for new ways to find and connect with an audience.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority are also recorded by the author. The technological hurdles to in-home recording have dropped drastically in the past decade, making this a viable option. Narration skills are another matter, but many of our authors do an outstanding job. And while purists may disagree, I'd stack many of our titles up against professionally recorded and produced audiobooks any day. No, it's not all. And it's not even most.
Again, I'm glad you found us. I'm confident our growing collection won't bore you anytime soon. :)
E.
Thank you for the post - I'm always surprised by the people that find my blogs. Someone from Shelfari, a friend of someone working for The Onion, and now a Podiobooks person. It's kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteI'm slow about getting through audiobooks, but I listened to quite a few when I was still a regular Overdrive user, so, who knows, I might end up listening to a lot on Podiobooks.