As Billy Crystal’s character said in Princess Bride,  “mostly dead is slightly alive.”  You can breathe new life into your older books by giving them a voice.

With audiobook sales up over 20% two years in a row and Audible listening up 38%, there is revolutionary growth in audiobooks.

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) reports in some cases, such as “The Martian,” audiobook versions are registering three or four times the sales number of the original work. They are, in effect, replacing the text version as the primary version of the book.

Why a book released years ago should be relaunched as an audiobook:

• Treat your audiobook launch as a completely new way to reach your audience
  This is your new baby being born. Announce it with the same enthusiasm as any proud book launch parent.
• Audiobook listeners are a new audience for your book
  The explosive growth in listening on smartphones and in “connected cars” is steadily increasing the number of audiobook buyers, especially over subscription services from Audible and iTunes.
• More money from existing content
  Your manuscript will only need a few minor changes (refer to “listening” instead of “reading”) to create a new royalty payment income stream.
• There are fewer books in audio in each genre
  In each genre – especially Young Adult, Romance/Erotica, and Mystery/Suspense, there are far fewer audiobook titles, making it easier for fans to find your book.
• You can share your audiobook with your entire email list – for free!
  Through Audible’s new “Send this Book” promotion, you can send a free copy of your audiobook to friends, family and fans.
• New reviews call attention to all versions of your book
  You can get reviews of your audiobook through services such as Audiobook Boom.
• New promotional opportunities
  You can create YouTube video trailers using audio excerpts from your book
• Amazon’s Whispersync feature can help you sell Kindle ebook versions
  Kindle and audiobook buyers often buy both versions at a discount so they can pick up where they left off in each version.
• Hearing the words you wrote brought back to life can re-energize you to write again
  Whether you voice your own book or find a great narrator, you can find yourself motivated to bring life to your next book.

Audiobooks are a wonderful form of storytelling. You have an opportunity to take the words off the pages and give them a new voice, and a new life.

Richard Rieman of RR Voice brings both living and mostly dead books to life as an audiobook self-publishing consultant, top Audible narrator, and in-studio producer of authors narrating their own titles. Richard is author of “The Author’s Guide to Audiobook Creation,” an International Book Awards finalist.