Audio book
Formats
Audio books are usually distributed on CDs, cassette tapes, or digital formats (e.g., MP3 and Windows Media Audio).
The term "books on tape" is frequently used as a synonym for audio books, but cassette tapes are no longer the dominant media for audio books. In 2005, Cassette-tape sales made up roughly 16% of the audio book market, with CDs sales accounting for 74% of the market, and downloadable audio books accounting for approximately 9%. In the United States, the most recent sales survey (performed by the Audio Publishers' Association in the summer of 2006 for the year 2005) estimated the industry to be worth 871 million US dollars. Current industry estimates hover at around two billion US dollars per year.
Audio book
Most new popular titles put out by the major publishers are available in audio book format simultaneously with publication of the hardcover edition. There are approximately 25,000 current titles on cassette, CD, or downloadable format.
Unabridged audio books are word for word readings of a book, while abridged audio books have text edited out by the abridger. Audio books also come as fully dramatized versions of the printed book, sometimes calling upon a complete cast, music, and sound effects. Each spring, the Audie Awards are given to the top nominees for performance and production in several genre categories.
There are quite a few radio programs serializing books, sometimes read by the author or sometimes by an actor, most of them on the BBC.
History
In 1931 the Congress established the talking-book program, which was intended to help blind adults who couldn’t read print. This program was called “Books for the Adult Blind Project”. The American Foundation for the Blind developed first talking books in 1932. One year later the first reproduction machine began the process of mass publishing. By 1935, after Congress approved free mailings of audio books to blind citizens, the Books for the Adult Blind Project was in full operation. In 1992 the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) network circulated millions of recorded books to more than 700,000 handicapped listeners. All NLS recordings were created by professionals.
