audible.com feature request – the audiobook you want is now available
March 9, 2010
I want to read Neal Stephenson’s Anathem. I could just go into Waterstones and buy it but I want to read it as an audiobook. I get much more time for audible books than physical books. Anathem has been recorded as an audiobook and is available to audible’s customers in the US. Unfortunately, due to the usual misguided machinations of publishers, the Anathem audiobook is not available in the UK, at least not yet.
Every now and again I check on audible.co.uk to see if it has materialised. Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon has shown up in recent weeks, but not Anathem.
What I would really like to see is a feature on audible’s website where I can lodge a list of books I would like to be alerted about by email when they become available. That would be so helpful. I guess there is the issue of making sure that the target book has been identified uniquely. I would have to key in the title and author myself, as opposed to selecting it from a list, so for example minor spelling errors might cause identification problems. Maybe we could be allowed to enter the ISBN number of the print version as an alternative. Or a link to the corresponding page on Amazon. Should be no issues there since Amazon now own audible.
In addition to helping customers discover when the audiobooks they want are ready to buy, the system could be helpful to audible in assessing the demand for different titles. If large numbers of people entered Anathem as a book they were interested in, that might help speed discussions with the publishers by demonstrating there was a market for that title as an audiobook.
Just a thought, dear Audible, you might like to consider.
