Guest Column: The Price of E-Popularity

Twenty years ago, as the audio-book business was emerging from its infancy, it was all too common for audio-book professionals to mention their career and hear, "Audio books? Oh, you mean for the blind?" And we'd smile and say, "Audio books are for everyone."

These days, audio books are accepted as part of the mainstream. You will see them mentioned in best-seller lists, book ads, editorial cartoons, and yes, even "The Simpsons" poked fun at audio books recently. Librarians and our fellow publishers no longer fear that we hijack readers from "real" books, and most folks we talk to have tried an audio book—for a long drive, a dreary commute, or just because they're enjoyable. The "2010 Audio Publishers Association (APA) Consumer Survey" (released in October 2010) showed that more than one-third of all adults surveyed have listened to an audio book, and 20 percent have listened in the past year.