| It might come as a surprise to you that the | | | | center further along your route. Great |
| concept of the audio book rental first became | | | | system! |
| fashionable way back in the 1970's. At that | | | | |
| time, audio books began to proliferate as | | | | You can see the benefit to the listener: not |
| mass distribution began to kick in. City and | | | | everybody has computer (or internet) access |
| town libraries were the first establishments | | | | and so the usual audio book club system is |
| to offer audio books as a sideline to | | | | worthless as you are unable to download the |
| actually reading books! | | | | material. Audio book rentals also have a far |
| | | | wider collection of fiction and non-fiction, |
| Gradually, those people who had recordings of | | | | often available in a variety of formats (do |
| their favorite novels began to branch out and | | | | you remember cassettes?). |
| look for further recordings. New sites began | | | | |
| to appear on the web where folks could | | | | Is there a downside? Well, I guess it depends |
| subscribe and then download public domain | | | | on how much time you can put aside to listen |
| recordings of novels and stories that were no | | | | to your audio book. With a downloaded audio |
| longer in copyright. At first, these sites | | | | book you can spend as much time as you want |
| had a limited choice of recordings and didn't | | | | and listen at your leisure. If you rent, you |
| provide modern fiction and non-fiction. It | | | | may not get to the end of your book before it |
| was inevitable, therefore, that people would | | | | needs to be returned to the audio book rental |
| look towards audio book rentals as a viable | | | | club. Also, unlike downloads, you may find |
| alternative. | | | | yourself competing with other readers |
| | | | (listeners!) for popular titles. As a result, |
| The great thing about audio book rentals (a | | | | you may have to be put on a waiting list |
| type of audio book club) is that you can | | | | until the copy becomes available. Remember, |
| usually get an unlimited number of audio | | | | depending on the company, there might be |
| books, tapes, CDs, etc, to rent. Audio book | | | | limited stock available so this needs to be |
| clubs are not usually 'unlimited.' However, | | | | taken into consideration. However, usually |
| rates can vary quite a bit and so you should | | | | this isn't such a problem and audio book |
| shop around, especially as different rental | | | | rentals usually take account of the needs of |
| companies offer varying lengths of rental and | | | | their customers. They will have conducted a |
| ways of returning material. Also, you might | | | | great deal of market research and so can |
| be lucky and get an audio book rental free | | | | offer different options and services for all |
| trial in which you can assess the system. | | | | budgets. |
| | | | |
| The whole process should be familiar as many | | | | So, audio book rentals are a great way to |
| people already use rental services for hiring | | | | listen to classic literature or educate |
| out DVDs. As an example, some audio book | | | | yourself with informative non-fiction. Just |
| rental companies focus on making audio books | | | | be aware that 'time' is an important factor |
| available at travel centers on major | | | | when accessing books in this manner and also |
| highways. Truckers and traveling salesmen use | | | | costs can vary considerably as well. |
| these services frequently to speed up those | | | | |
| long, lonely hours on the road. Once your | | | | Give it a try and enjoy another method of |
| favorite novel has bought, you can listen to | | | | accessing interesting literature! |
| it and then return it to a convenient travel | | | | |