Podiobooks.com - Free Audio Books via Podcast

Podiobooks.com is a service offering free audio books for download in podcast format – or “podiobooks.” Users can receive their podiobook episodes via RSS fed or can download episodes directly from this site, which currently offers 3931 episodes in 187 titles. The site is fairly simple and intuitive to navigate, and anyone can browse the books (or search by keyword, genre, etc.) and listen to a first chapter straight from the website. As a registered member, you can subscribe to a book and indicate how often you’d like to receive new episodes – you download one episode at a time, with the advantage being that your mp3 player won’t be overloaded and there’s no need to keep track of where you are in a book. Some podiobooks are labeled “in process,” which means that not all chapters are available on the site yet. Members can rate books or publish comments to the site, and anyone can browse through various lists like “Today’s Top Subscriptions” or “Top Overall Rating.”

All podiobooks are free to download, but donations are encouraged. 75% of a donation goes to the book’s author, while the remaining 25% going to podiobooks.com for upkeep and maintenance.

“Why are the books on Podiobooks.com free of charge? Many authors do this to get exposure for their work, others do it in the hopes you'll buy their next work in development. Still others simply do it for the sheer joy of writing. And while it's not required, you have the option to donate money to the author of your choice … Thanks for giving our site a try. We hope you find podiobooks as infectious as we have!”

The fact that podiobooks are free is the most obvious reason why this site could catch on. Both podcasts and audio books are gaining popularity in today’s fast-paced society, where old-fashioned leisure time - like reading a book – is harder to come by. Many people might enjoy taking a free audio book with them on their mp3 player, perhaps discovering a fairly unknown author in the process.

Will there be widespread interest in the relatively unknown titles and authors available via podiobooks? Would members rather download full books than one episode at a time?