Barnes & Noble has launched its own audiobook MP3 store, offering more than 10,000 titles. The average price per download will be $10 to $20, but there’s an online coupon available to everyone for 50% off one title (the coupon expires 4 May). Their MP3s are available for instant download and transfer to portable players.
And, to celebrate the launch, they’re offering eight stories and one novel as free downloads (see this page). The freebies include:
“Truth or Dare” by Elizabeth Berg
“Ysrael” by Junot Diaz
a story from Best New Horror by Joe Hill
“Merrano of the Dry Country” by Louis L’Amour
“Super Goat Man” by Jonathan Lethem
“The Babysitter’s Code” by Laura Lippman
“Fathers” by Alice Munro
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
“Great Day” by Kurt Vonnegut
“As the use of MP3 players, iPods, iPhones and other digital devices continues to increase, it is important for Barnes & Noble to continue to expand our audio selection and satisfy our customers’ listening preferences. The launch of the Barnes & Noble Audiobook MP3 Store is a natural progression in our commitment to book lovers and audiobook fans,” said Tom Burke, B&N’s Executive Vice President for E-Commerce. “The addition of audiobook MP3s rounds out our already great selection of audiobook CDs available on BN.com and provides our customers with another easily accessible way to indulge in their love of books.”
They currently have 326 titles in their Science Fiction & Fantasy section. The top ten best-sellers include:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (narrated by Ray Bradbury)
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (narrated by Martin Shaw)
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (narrated by Neil Gaiman)
Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton (narrated by Claudia Black)
The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz (narrated by Kirsten Kairos)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (narrated by Tom Hollander)
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (narrated by Tony Roberts)
American Gods by Neil Gaiman (narrated by George Guidall)
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King (narrated by George Guidall)
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (narrated by Frank Muller)
Distributor OverDrive is handling the maintenance and distribution of B&N’s audiobook store.
After Overdrive broke up their relationship with Fictionwise (leaving people with books that can’t be ported to new devices) and then Barnes acquired Fictionwise, you’d think Barnes would have enough sense not to do business with Overdrive again.