There is just no question about the popularity of audio books on CD and also in digital formats. More and more, people enjoy making the most of their time by plugging in “books on tape,” as they were called a couple decades ago. Today, it might be more appropriate to call them “books on iPod” in this era when the iPods have had such an impact on the digital media industry. But, no matter what format people are looking for they will also often have choices in terms of buying abridged or unabridged audio book titles.

There are many people who don’t realized that they might want to look for the unabridged audio book version when they were buying a new audio book, but had simply bought whatever was featured or listed as the most popular for that particular title. In fact, a very good percentage of all audio books on the shelves of bookstores or available as audio book downloads are actually the abridged version and many people purchase them without even realizing that fact. Still, the question remains, what is the real difference between the two types of audio books on sale?

An unabridged audio book will contain a word for word recording of the entire book, as published by the author. Abridged audio book volumes, however, have been edited. Sometimes these edited, or abridged versions, are done by the author, or with their guidance, while in other instances the publisher who bought the rights to the work will edit it as they please.

What this means is that an abridged work, whether in the form of a printed book, an electronic ebook, or an audio book on CD or MP3, does not contain the complete and original work of the author. An unabridged audio book, on the other hand, will be read by the author or by a voice-over artist and every single word in the volume will be recorded as the audio book. Therefore, the unabridged version will be as close to the original message and intent of the author as one can possibly get without inviting the author over for a personal reading.

This may bring up the question, why would anyone buy anything except an unabridged audio book? There are many reasons for this, but the primary reason is to make the recording shorter. This allows the listener to listen to the audio book in less time and when dealing with very long tomes, this can be a great benefit if time is short and if the listener simply wants to be able to get the gist or the highlights of the book by listening to a shortened audio version.

One reason people seek out the shorter, abridged versions of audio books on CD is so that they can use them as a review of material that they have already read. This can be helpful to students preparing for exams, or to a business man preparing for a presentation based on a certain book, or even just to enjoy a quick refresher of a favorite novel.

But, there are a lot of people who simply feel that they are going to miss an element of the original that is important to understanding the full story, if they get the abridged recording. In that case, the unabridged audio book will be the better choice and will help the listener to relax and simply soak in the recording with the assurance that they are not missing a thing.

Books open up completely new worlds of wonder and entertainment to readers and provide fuel to the imagination and information to educate and expand a person’s understanding and appreciation on a myriad of topics. In this busy world, not everyone has the luxury of being able to sit down and delve into a book on a regular basis, but there are many such people who can find a few minutes each day to enjoy an MP3 audio book download.

There have been audio books, which used to be referred to as “books on tape,” for a number of years. It has been reported that the first recording of a book was done all the way back in the 1930s when audio recording equipment could still be considered to be in its infancy. Today, the most convenient, the most widely available, and the most cost effective option for enjoying the modern version of a book on tape is with an MP3 audio book.

With the MP3 players having gotten so popular with people of all ages, and having become less expensive as well, the selection of MP3 audio book download volumes has also expanded significantly. The reality is that in this digital age it can be easier to get an MP3 of a book that has been recorded than to put your hands on the same book on CD, which can no longer be considered the most popular format for audio books.

The process and the cost of delivering the product to the customer are greatly facilitated by being able to offer MP3 versions of their titles. With audio books on CD, or on the “old fashioned” cassette tape, the publisher has to pay up front for the production costs of putting the recording of the books onto those physical mediums. Not only is that an out of pocket expense, but there is no assurance that once the tape or CD audiobook inventory is made that it will be in demand by the public.

But if a publisher can offer their works in the form of an MP3 audio book, then they have the opportunity to test the market and get a read on how popular a particular audio book on CD might be before they ever have to invest a dollar to produce hard copies of their audio book offerings. If a particular title doesn’t sell as well as hoped, then they have gotten valuable market data with very low overhead and if it does sell well enough to justify going into production to burn the audio book CDs, then they will have an idea of how many to produce as a first run.

Another advantage to the publisher is that they do not have to worry about needing warehouse space to store the inventory of CD audio book titles, nor do they have to deal with distribution to retailers, or shipping to customers. Publishers of MP3 audio book download recordings can also sell direct to the customer from their website and cut out the expense of the “middle man” as well.

While these are all significant benefits to publishers of MP3 audio book download titles, the consumers gain a great deal as well. In most cases the MP3 version of an audio book will be less expensive, and some publishers have even provided free audio book versions to customers who purchase the printed book. At the same time, because it is easier and cheaper for the publishers to produce, MP3 audio book technology means that there are even more titles to choose from as well.

There are numerous people who express surprise when they learn that audio books have been available ever since the 1930s, even though they were not widely available until many years later. Now, some eighty years since that time, more and more people are listening to what used to be called “books on tape.” However, in this digital age, audio books are not often found on tape. MP3s are more popular. Even more popular are free MP3 audio book downloads that allow people to put the recording on their computer or iPod, without spending a nickel.

Even though audio books had been available for a number of years, they really gained in popularity in the late 1970s when the Sony Walkman became so popular. This small cassette tape player made it possible for people to easily take recorded material with them in a convenient way that had never before been popular. Then, about a decade later, the compact disc was introduced and suddenly the newest and best music and audio books on CD became more popular. While you can still buy an audio book on CD today, most people prefer to get their audio books in MP3 format.

There is no doubt that a little searching will produce a wide array of free MP3 audio book downloads from a number of websites. However, it is pretty unlikely that if you are looking for a brand new audio book release of a recent bestselling book that you’ll find it as a free download. Those new and popular titles will be available for sale though, and many via a download after purchase.

In some instances, an author, or their publisher, will offer a free MP3 audio book version of the work to customers who purchase the printed hardcover book. This can be a valuable incentive to the customer and also an effective advertising and marketing strategy that is particularly helpful when a brand new author is trying to gain a name and reputation.

Many times, an independent author who does not have their own publisher will build a website to promote a new book that they have written and will offer the free MP3 audio book as a bonus when the customer buys their printed book or their e-book. This can also be a good way to drive up sales or to launch a new website because people are always attracted to the potential to get something for free and most people consider an audio book download to have a lot of value, especially if it is on a topic about which they are interested.

There are a number of websites these days that have vast libraries of MP3 audio book downloads that cover just about any topic that have ever been written about. Some of these sites are membership websites and when you register as a free member or purchase a paid membership to their site, many will provide their new members with free MP3 audio book selections as a part of their membership.

You can also find many free MP3 audio book downloads by searching the websites of the various large public libraries. Also, there are some specialized websites that have undertaken projects of collecting a vast number of works that are now in the public domain and they have made e-books and audio books available for people to download either for free or by making a small donation to help with the costs of running the website.

Having a chance to listen to recorded books that are available in one of many audio formats is a really convenient and helpful way for busy people to enjoy a good book. While books on tape were once quite popular, the audio books on CD or MP3 audio book options are in more demand now. In fact, MP3 audio book titles are gaining in popularity because they are not only cheaper to buy, but there is also a growing number of free audio book MP3s that are available to download to your iPod.

However, not everyone who in enamored of audio books on their MP3 player or in their CD player is stressed for time. Many people prefer to multi-task, and audio books are a wonderful way to do that and to maximize the usage of their time. But, whether they are seeking out audio books because of time constraints or just due to preferences, they all agree that free audio book titles can make their day.

An audiobook player is usually a portable device and there are versions to play all three types of the aforementioned audio book formats. Of the three formats, the cassette tape is fading out of the marketplace and it can even be difficult to find “books on tape” these days. But, if you have a good cassette player and prefer this format, then there are free and cheap audio book cassettes available if you ask around.

There are several websites that encourage people to post their items that they no longer want or use so that other people who want them can get them for free. There are many audio book titles available this way, both as audio books on CD and on cassette tape. One of the main purposes of these sites is to keep people from throwing things away so that they don’t end up in a landfill. One of the biggest organized groups of this type is FreeCylcle.com and there are many types of items that people are giving away every single day.

Because an MP3 audio book is a completely electronic file, and does not have to be copied onto a physical device, such as a CD or tape, in order to be distributed, this is the least expensive type of recorded books on the market. As a result, there are more free audio book titles to choose from in MP3 audio book format than in the other two formats. The only expense is the MP3 audio book player; yet if you don’t mind listening to the audio book on your computer, then you do not even need that.

These days, there are numerous websites where you can find free audio book MP3 files to download. In most cases, you will find audio books on just about any topic you can imagine. Some sites offer free membership, while others offer paid memberships, which require you to register with them. Once done, you will have access to their library and the number of titles you can choose from will depend on whether you are a free or a paid member.