What About Audiobooks?

It seems in everyone's worrying about the fate of the printed book (or maybe it's just me) they seem to have forgotten about the audiobook, which is a significant revenue source for publishers. And now, we find a book publisher getting into podcasting.

Visitors to www.holtzbrinckpodcasts.com can subscribe or download each week's audio excerpts of selected books from Holtzbrinck trade publishers like Farrar Straus & Giroux, Henry Holt, Picador, St. Martin's Press, Tor/Forge and Audio Renaissance.

"What we're doing as a trade publisher is allowing users to experience new books whenever they want, the same way that they might not have the time to listen to a radio show the day it's broadcast, but will listen to it later," said Jeff Gomez, director of Internet marketing at Holtzbrinck, New York.

Podcasting is a system of publishing sound files online to let users subscribe to a recording via an RSS feed. Podcasting software on a user's computer regularly searches and downloads new podcasts. The files can be heard on the computer or downloaded to a portable music player.

Holtzbrinck's podcast categories are fiction, nonfiction, science fiction and self-help. A typical podcast is about 30 minutes, including up to three excerpts. Each excerpt lasts 10 minutes, comprising mostly a book's first chapter.

I wonder--many people have already eschewed the printed book for the audiobook; I wonder what the podcast will do to the audiobook--or at least the CD/cassette-based distribution thereof? Sure, it's all promotional now, but what will happen down the road?