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.