Audiobook release

[Moderator]

Random House Audio will be releasing the long-awaited unabridged audiobook edition of The Stand which will be read by Grover Gardner. The exact date of publication has not yet been determined, but is tentatively scheduled to be on February 14, 2012. The recording will be released for purchase digitally by Audible.com and iTunes and available in the library market on CD. There will not be a CD format available for purchase by consumers--just a digital download. The length is expected to be about 44 hours. I have not yet been given a price for the download.

[Haunted]

Hallelujah!! ROADTRIP!! That would probably take us from coast to coast, eh? Great news!!

[RocketMan]

I really, really have been waiting for this - but I hope the non-digital version will be available to consumers as well. My car radio won't "eat" anything other than plain old CDs, and I desperately need this for my commute!

[Moderator]

Unfortunately, that's not in the plans but perhaps your local library will have the CD version or could get one for you through an inter-library loan. You might want to get your name on the list now so you'll be first in line when it's released. :smile2: Or perhaps you can burn your own CDs from a digital download--I don't know exactly how those work. :dunno:

[SharonC]

Great news. I will be purchasing this one for sure.

[GNTLGNT]

....a .44 Magnum release-"Go ahead, make my literary day!"

[bluesology]

RocketMan - if you purchase the audiobook from Audible you have the option of burning the book on to CD. Just keep in mind you will need a lot of them. If the audiobook is 44 hours long - you will probably need at least that many discs.

[bluesology]

Ms. Mod - taking the length into consideration, am I correct in assuming that the unabridged version is the one being read?

[Moderator]

Yes, it's unabridged.

[RocketMan]

Unfortunately, that's not in the plans but perhaps your local library will have the CD version or could get one for you through an inter-library loan. You might want to get your name on the list now so you'll be first in line when it's released. :smile2: Or perhaps you can burn your own CDs from a digital download--I don't know exactly how those work. :dunno:
Since I'm German, I don't think my library stocking this particular audiobook is in the cards...

However, I checked Amazon.com and BookDepository and saw that you can pre-order the library version from them. Well, they always offer these versions, but usually at outrageous prices. The deal they have for The Stand isn't half bad at $63.

Cool. Cool-cool-cool.

[king family fan]

I would love to purchase this one. It seems so much in my world of King.I just can't purchase enough.LOL

[Elemeno P]

I mean this in the most respectful and exciting way....


Finally!!!

[killem2]

Wait, how is this the unabridged version? I have an audiobook, that reads word for words of the "uncut" book. How exactly is this different from that one?

[fushingfeef]

Random House Audio will be releasing the long-awaited unabridged audiobook edition of The Stand which will be read by Grover Gardner. The exact date of publication has not yet been determined, but is tentatively scheduled to be on February 14, 2012. The recording will be released for purchase digitally by Audible.com and iTunes and available in the library market on CD. There will not be a CD format available for purchase by consumers--just a digital download. The length is expected to be about 44 hours. I have not yet been given a price for the download.

Marsha, is today indeed the day The Stand audiobook is being released? I didn't see anything on the main site.

[Moderator]

Good question. It doesn't look like information has been updated beyond February 2012 release and I haven't had any recent news from the publisher. Let me see what I can find out and will post it here when I get an answer.

[fljoe0]

Here is the link to Random House - say it "will be" available 2-14

http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/catalog/display.php?isbn=9780307987570

[dsurrett]

I get emails from audible.com and they sent one out this morning saying The Stand is now available.

[not_nadine]

Will there be a sample?

[fljoe0]

Will there be a sample?

Go to the random house link in my post above and you will find an audio clip

[fushingfeef]

It's not on Amazon at this point. Wonder if Audible has an exclusive window on this one.

[Moderator]

Not that I'm aware of but it's possible. Still trying to find my original emails about it--would really help if I could remember the name of the person I got them from. :blush:

[fushingfeef]

I don't know how you juggle all this stuff on top of moderating the board, Marsha. Some days you must wish Steve wrote as slowly as J.D. Salinger.

[Moderator]

:smile2:

[91rewoT]

Can anyone tell me how books on CDs work? (ah, yeah, mine are all on, ahem, cassettes) What I'm really wondering is when you stop it, does it start back up right where you left off? Thanks!

[dsurrett]

I promise I'm not on the audible.com payroll, but join for $7.49 a month for 3 months, get a book a month, then quit before the monthly fee goes to $14.95. Get The Stand, IT, and Needful Things and you've got well over 100 hours of quality downloads from the master.
I won't be offended if this can't be posted. :oops:

[Moderator]

Can anyone tell me how books on CDs work? (ah, yeah, mine are all on, ahem, cassettes) What I'm really wondering is when you stop it, does it start back up right where you left off? Thanks!

Yes. The problem comes in when you want to use the CD player for something else before you've finished or your partner uses your car and doesn't realize that all he has to do is leave the darn thing alone and switch over to radio or just turn the audio off so you don't lose your place because it keeps running or he ejects it. grrrrr :glare: In my car CD player, it does show a specific location on the CD so that if that happens and I (or someone else...ahem) marks down where it is, I can then return to that exact location on the track.

[Elemeno P]

Best part is it's reasonably priced.

Simply Audiobooks....here I come.

Can't wait!

[fushingfeef]

Yes. The problem comes in when you want to use the CD player for something else before you've finished or your partner uses your car and doesn't realize that all he has to do is leave the darn thing alone and switch over to radio or just turn the audio off so you don't lose your place because it keeps running or he ejects it. grrrrr :glare:
haha, I have the same situation too. To make matters worse sometimes my wife puts the audiobook CD into a completely different jewelbox and then I can't find it! She's lucky I love her...

[fljoe0]

I bought an mp-3 player specifically for audiobooks. I only load the current book I'm listening to on it so that I never lose my place. I bought one with a 4GB capacity. Most mp-3 books except for the super long ones are under 4GB. If you have an mp-3 player and an adapter, you may be able to hook the mp-3 player to your car stereo and not have to mess with the cds and not lose your place. I've not tried my mp-3 player in the car yet but I think what I described would work.

[91rewoT]

Yes. The problem comes in when you want to use the CD player for something else before you've finished or your partner uses your car and doesn't realize that all he has to do is leave the darn thing alone and switch over to radio or just turn the audio off so you don't lose your place because it keeps running or he ejects it. grrrrr :glare: In my car CD player, it does show a specific location on the CD so that if that happens and I (or someone else...ahem) marks down where it is, I can then return to that exact location on the track.

Thanks for the clarification...and the warning as well. That could definitely happen to me, so if I'll make sure I take precautions!

[fljoe0]

I promise I'm not on the audible.com payroll, but join for $7.49 a month for 3 months, get a book a month, then quit before the monthly fee goes to $14.95. Get The Stand, IT, and Needful Things and you've got well over 100 hours of quality downloads from the master.
I won't be offended if this can't be posted. :oops:

I've never downloaded a book, I've converted my cds to mp-3 files when I've wanted to put them on my mp-3 player. When I convert the cds, I usually do it at 320kbps so the files are probably larger than what you download.

So, my question for you is how large are downloads when you buy the mp-3 books online and what bitrate are they? Do you get a choice of different kinds of files?

[Elemeno P]

I use itunes to convert my CD's to M4b's. itunes does a great job of managing all my books.

Being as my favorite Non-DT book, I wonder why there wasn't more "hub-bub" about the AB release?

Maybe it's just me, but I think this is a really big deal.

[MikeB]

Great news but will this be availaibe from Audible in the UK???? I have been Constant Reader for many years and am now a Constant Listener but audible.co.uk makes this difficult as they have a very limited SK collection compared to the USA version of Audible. So can someone please tell me if, and hopefully when we UK listeners will be getting this?

[Mobe1969]

Yeah, once again, other English speaking ally countries get shafted with Audiobook releases. Audiobooks are simply the pits for "digital rights" nazi-ism, and they are truly trying to encourage piracy. I'm in Australia and I can't get it from Audible, US or UK. At least some shops will sneakily sell my the BoT CD Library version, which is due out today (http://library.booksontape.com/bookdetail.cfm/RHA3573).

I really am sick of audiobook publishers and their stupidity. I mean I have no issue with buying anything else these days- DVD, Blu Ray, Music, But books. So often I have to resort to getting expensive library editions, or in some cases not get them at all. Or I guess I could try what the publishers are encouraging me to do (pirate them) but I don't believe in that. Mad mad world...

[Moderator]

Publishers, like most all retailers, cater to what they think their demographic audience wants to buy. If they have enough people asking for a product, they will sell it. Another suggestion would be to see if your local library will have a copy in their circulation. You wouldn't (ethically) be able to add it to your library, but you could at least listen to it.

In the meantime, I'll see if I can find out anything about whether it is possible to purchase a copy in Australia.

[dsurrett]

I've never downloaded a book, I've converted my cds to mp-3 files when I've wanted to put them on my mp-3 player. When I convert the cds, I usually do it at 320kbps so the files are probably larger than what you download.

So, my question for you is how large are downloads when you buy the mp-3 books online and what bitrate are they? Do you get a choice of different kinds of files?

For someone who is in tech support (not at Audible), I'm not very techie at times. Audible does give a choice of download types. The site has a pretty good FAQ section, and they have good phone support as well. They should be able to answer any questions you have.

[Mobe1969]

Audible is a great way to get legitimate Audiobooks cheap, and I've been a member for years. Some of their audiobooks are faulty though so I have had to resort to rebuying them on CD. They are the publishers fault though. A great example is the digital download for Duma Key. If is full of so many errors that are like they ripped it from a really scratched CD in burst mode with no error correction. Another example is John Sandford's Rules of prey. Only minor complain with that, but the way the chapter stops are arranged, there is no pause between chapters. Eg, It would sound like "And Lucas got in his Porche and headed to the crime scene no, wait, she cried as the killer poked her with a knife" (not his words I'm making the text up, but you get my drift).

I have talked to Audible about regionality and it is the publishers, and even worse, the information they get is vague and last minute and sometimes they change their mind (eg, Under the Dome was available to Australia, now it isn't)

Mrs Mod, it'd be great if you could find out about Australia sales. It is very very unfair.

Sellers are expecting the library edition in the next week though (just heard back from Book Depository). It isn't cheap, but way cheaper than a lot of library eds, especially for one that size (I have to pay around $50-$60 each for the John Sandford audiobooks, and they are about 1/5 of the length)

[Mobe1969]

I still haven't got the audiobook shipped yet. I don't know what the heck is going on. I contacted Books on tape and they just said "The item went on sale on March 6,2012".

Last two times I've contacted Bookdepository they've told me "in the next week", then a few weeks later "immenently"... And Amazon NEVER got any in either.

I am really so sick of this. I paid over $80 for it, up front with the preorder discount, when I should have just been able to get it from Audible for $10 on my membership. Not like they are treading on a local australian distributor's audiobook of the damn thing. I'm sick of getting treated as a third class world citizen just because I'm Australian...

[fljoe0]

Audible is a great way to get legitimate Audiobooks cheap, and I've been a member for years. Some of their audiobooks are faulty though so I have had to resort to rebuying them on CD. They are the publishers fault though. A great example is the digital download for Duma Key. If is full of so many errors that are like they ripped it from a really scratched CD in burst mode with no error correction. Another example is John Sandford's Rules of prey. Only minor complain with that, but the way the chapter stops are arranged, there is no pause between chapters. Eg, It would sound like "And Lucas got in his Porche and headed to the crime scene no, wait, she cried as the killer poked her with a knife" (not his words I'm making the text up, but you get my drift).

I have talked to Audible about regionality and it is the publishers, and even worse, the information they get is vague and last minute and sometimes they change their mind (eg, Under the Dome was available to Australia, now it isn't)

Mrs Mod, it'd be great if you could find out about Australia sales. It is very very unfair.

Sellers are expecting the library edition in the next week though (just heard back from Book Depository). It isn't cheap, but way cheaper than a lot of library eds, especially for one that size (I have to pay around $50-$60 each for the John Sandford audiobooks, and they are about 1/5 of the length)

That is so irritating that after the books are converted that nobody proofs them. I have that same issue with the occasional kindle errors (the paid stuff, not the free volunteer work done on public domain works). After the conversion, can't they hire one person to read it or listen to it first before they sell it?