| It might come as a surprise to you that the concept | | | | convenient travel center further along your route. |
| of the audio book rental first became fashionable | | | | Great system! |
| way back in the 1970's. At that time, these began to | | | | You can see the benefit to the listener: not |
| proliferate as mass distribution began to kick in. City | | | | everybody has computer (or internet) access and so |
| and town libraries were the first establishments to | | | | the usual system is worthless as you are unable to |
| offer audio books as a sideline to actually reading | | | | download the material. Audio book rentals also have a |
| books! | | | | far wider collection of fiction and non-fiction, often |
| Gradually, those people who had recordings of their | | | | available in a variety of formats (do you remember |
| favorite novels began to branch out and look for | | | | cassettes?). |
| further recordings. New sites began to appear on the | | | | Is there a downside? Well, I guess it depends on |
| web where folks could subscribe and then download | | | | how much time you can put aside to listen to your |
| public domain recordings of novels and stories that | | | | audio book. With a downloaded book you can spend |
| were no longer in copyright. At first, these sites had | | | | as much time as you want and listen at your leisure. |
| a limited choice of recordings and didn't provide | | | | If you rent, you may not get to the end of your |
| modern fiction and non-fiction. It was inevitable, | | | | book before it needs to be returned to the rental |
| therefore, that people would look towards audio | | | | club. Also, unlike downloads, you may find yourself |
| book rentals as a viable alternative. | | | | competing with other readers (listeners!) for popular |
| The great thing about rentals (a type of audio book | | | | titles. As a result, you may have to be put on a |
| club) is that you can usually get an unlimited number | | | | waiting list until the copy becomes available. |
| of audio books, tapes, CDs, etc, to rent. Audio book | | | | Remember, depending on the company, there might |
| clubs are not usually 'unlimited.' However, rates can | | | | be limited stock available so this needs to be taken |
| vary quite a bit and so you should shop around, | | | | into consideration. However, usually this isn't such a |
| especially as different rental companies offer varying | | | | problem and audio book rentals usually take account |
| lengths of rental and ways of returning material. Also, | | | | of the needs of their customers. They will have |
| you might be lucky and get a free trial in which you | | | | conducted a great deal of market research and so |
| can assess the system. | | | | can offer different options and services for all |
| The whole process should be familiar as many people | | | | budgets. |
| already use rental services for hiring out DVDs. As an | | | | So, these are a great way to listen to classic |
| example, some rental companies focus on making | | | | literature or educate yourself with informative |
| audio books available at travel centers on major | | | | non-fiction. Just be aware that 'time' is an important |
| highways. Truckers and traveling salesmen use these | | | | factor when accessing books in this manner and also |
| services frequently to speed up those long, lonely | | | | costs can vary considerably as well. |
| hours on the road. Once your favorite novel has | | | | Give it a try and enjoy another method of accessing |
| bought, you can listen to it and then return it to a | | | | interesting literature! |