Audiobook and EBook Appeals - Week Eleven Prompt

I first became familiar with ebooks back in 2010 when my aunt got me an Amazon Kindle for my 16th birthday (see the picture to the left). My Kindle was a very useful tool for me during high school and college. I often read classics in my English classes and was able to get them for free on the Kindle. Even though  I would receive a physical copy in high school, I could not make notes in it, so I would make the notes on my Kindle. I could also “bookmark” pages. This was the way I would combat what Dunneback and Trott (2011) say about e-readers having page number indications, but it not being the same as a physical book (p. 328). While there can be indications of your placement in the book, ebooks are more difficult to “flip” through. Yet, if you own an e-reader, you can become used to its features like highlighting  and bookmarking sections. At least that is what has happened in my experience. 

I have only been getting into audiobooks the past couple of years. I agree with Mediatore (2003) who writes that “Narration changes and intensifies every element of a book’s appeal” (p. 319). My favorite audiobooks are ones where the narrator had an excellent voice. Specifically in The Raven Boys series, Will Patton’s ability to create diverse voices for the characters brings them to life. This experience is why I also agree with Mediatore’s (2003) statement that “characterization can be one of the most important elements of an audiobook” (p. 319). Regardless of whether I read a print book or an ebook, if I don’t feel anything for the characters, I don’t like the book. Thus, the narration is a very important appeal that readers’ advisors must be aware of.

While doing readers’ advisory for ebooks and audiobooks can seem daunting, I do not think it needs to be so difficult. After reading this week’s articles, I realized that readers’ advisory for these formats is very similar to print books, just with a few added elements. It is like in mathematics when you learn the basic equations and then they start giving you more complicated equations. As long as you know the basic equation, you can build on it. So, as long as you know pacing, setting, characterization, and tone, adding narration and font size can be natural additions. This is because factors like narration and length for an audiobook and font size for ebooks directly affect appeal factors such as pacing and tone. Since these formats for reading are only going to become more commonplace, these appeal factors should be regularly integrated into readers’ advisory.

References:

Dunneback, K., & Trott, B. (2011). E-books and Readers' Advisory. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(4), 325-329. 

Mediatore, K. (2003). Reading with Your Ears: Readers' Advisory and Audio Books. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(4), 318-323.