Cool news alert!
Audible
You can sign up right here at Audible.com/romanceme.
Before we reveal some of the package’s features, let’s discuss the most important part: price.
Now let’s talk features:
- Authors already include Nora Roberts, Sylvia Day, Jennifer Crusie, Jayne Ann Krentz, & more!
- You can browse by subgenres (referred to as “micro-genres”) and popular character/plot tropes. As Audible puts it, “Audible Romance identifies 32 micro-genres and 122 story and character tropes that will allow listeners to explore deep into the catalog in fun ways and discover the romance titles that most appeal to their interests. Each micro-genre will have its own search page, and listeners can enjoy audio samples from each title included before diving into the full story.”
- That’s right – you can still listen to audio samples before taking the plunge! (Phew!)
- TAKE ME TO THE GOOD PART feature: “This is a feature often requested by romance readers and listeners since they often go back to or jump forward to their favorite moments in romance novels. Audible has identified 10 sections, or “good parts” of the book that are most common for Romance readers, such as “flirty banter,” “first meeting,” and of course the “hot, hot, hot” moments.” This feature will start out on 100 titles and will be expanding to more.
- THE STEAMINESS METER feature: Gauge the romance and content of the book by using Audible Romance’s five-level meter that ranges romances from Sweet, Simmering, Sizzling, Hot Damn, and O-O-OMG.
Amanda: I’m really excited about this. I’m slowly starting to get into audiobooks, but I could never justify paying $15 a month for one audiobook credit. But with the prospect of having unlimited access to a romance catalog is highly appealing.
I suppose my concerns rest with what books will be on offer. I’m unsure if the variety will skew more toward Audible Originals or bestselling romances.
That being said, the unlimited aspect is perfect for romance readers, who often read/listen to a metric butt-ton of books. For me, the cost of a subscription is an easier pill to swallow and I love the feature of being able to search by subgenre and trope.
Count me in!
Sarah: Ages ago, when we still lived in New Jersey, I went to a PTA event at our old school and ended up sitting next to a gentleman who worked at Audible (they are headquartered in Newark). I asked that poor dude a thousand and a half questions, like how the software could keep track of where I am in an audiobook and can keep my place in an ebook at the same time, and what the reaction to the syncing feature had been. I bet he wished he’d sat next to someone else. (Kidding – he had a bunch of questions for me, too, as to how I as a reader used ebooks and audiobooks. Best PTA evening ever.)
Now I want to sit down with the folks who came up with this program because oh, my stars, I think this is brilliant. It’s a digital fortress of romance audiobook catnip and I can think of at least five people I know who would adore a membership like this one. I hope the Audible Romance servers are ready.
And we have a three month membership to give away, thanks to Audible!
Standard disclaimers apply: we are not being compensated financially for this giveaway, though we are also receiving one membership for internal use. That noise you hear is Amanda’s excitement. Please don’t be alarmed. Open to US residents age 18 and over. Must be ready to listen to all the good parts, start to finish. Void where prohibited. We recommend earbuds and crafting for your audiobook listening. Comments will close Monday, 6 November, at 12pm ET and a winner will be announced shortly afterward.
To enter, just leave a comment below! What you think of this new Audible option? Are you curious, too?
Thanks again to Audible for the membership! Please give your servers some cookies and tea.
WINNER UPDATE: Congratulations to CK! Be sure to check your email shortly!
We hope you all enjoy checking out the new Audible romance program!
Maybe its just me, but I have found that the audio versions of romance or erotic romance that I like can vary greatly on how good the reader is. Its like a waste of my monthly token to choose a book and the reader is horrible. I have never returned a book either here or with the KU.
The only upside to unlimited is that you can move onto another title.
It looks very cool. I love how you can look up by character type and theme!
Wow, I MUST try this! Being a SAHM can be such drudgery. I timed myself and spend 4 hours a day just on nursing. Audible really preserves my sanity. Now it might be even better!
This sounds great! It sounds like a much better deal than the regular subscription too
it sounds good for readers
I am an audible subscriber and this sounds intriguing. But it will probably not be available for me, as I am living in Switzerland. Sniff.
I’m interested in the Nora Roberts selection. Between my 4 library cards I can still only find 2 digital audiobooks from her.
I LOVE this idea! $15.00 a month is a price I can actually afford.
I’m super interested in this. I’m not sure that I’ll subscribe right away as I’m currently a little low on funds, but I’d be interested in trying it out for three months. Maybe I’d get hooked.
Audible is the best,
Here for this! I burn through audiobooks every month so this could be great!
Can’t wait to try it 🙂
Ooooooohhhh!!! So exciting! I’ve never really gotten into audiobooks because I can’t afford them on top of my book habit. But I have kindle unlimited and will probably add this on because I would love some audiobooks to listen on long drives!
I listen to audio books while walking, so I am expecting a 20 lb weight loss with this service. I may never come back inside!
I already subscribe to Audible: I love this idea! I hope it shines some light on some smaller/debut authors.
Okay, I’ve resisted the idea of subscribing to Audible because money is very much a concern. But this seems like a very decent program, more so if they don’t inflate it with original audible content, and have a decent selection of best sellers/better known authors.
I hope somewhere there is a romance reading staffer at Audible that is getting a fat bonus for coming up with this idea. It’s brilliant!!! I never considered an Audible subscription because of the price for 1 book. This package as an add on to my KU subscription changed EVERYTHING! Finally, someone actually talked to romance readers about what we want and how we consume books.
I’m so excited about this!
Super curious – I’m wanting to listen to more books while I do other stuff besides sitting on my butt, eating and reading (my favorite past time.)
Wow!! This really has my attention!! I will defiantly be looking into this.
This is so awesome! I’m so taking advantage of the trial period. I hope this is as good as it sounds.
The hotness meter, and the *good parts* features would be so cool, I’m tempted to try it for those alone. At the same time, skipping around easily is why I like the written form.
This is a great idea. I will have to check it out!
Sounds awesome!!
This is a really great idea! I tend to read audiobooks way faster than ebooks (I don’t read physical books much these days). Heck, I even had a Sceibd membership back when they had unlimited audiobooks! #ItwasHEAVEN
And yet, I can’t quite rationalize the Audible fees. This offer is greatness, really
I’ve been an Audible member for years. I love my Kindle Unlimited, so yeah, I am all about an unlimited add on to my Audible. I just won’t tell my husband that. 😉
I’m somewhat on the fence. I am an audible subscriber and I have the two credit option. However, if I could download the book before listening on this new service, I’d be all over it. I cannot stream anything due to a low internet bandwidth. So I suppose if it is only streaming there would be no point.
I’m definitely interested! I just listened to my first romance audiobook ever ‘It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover and it definitely helped me through some long runs/car rides.
I am curious to go out and find out what books come in this package because my biggest problem with audible, is that you have to pay so much for one credit and its not worth it to me so that is why I normally stick with library audio’s but I love this idea. Because if there are multiple books included, than I am so for it.
This is pretty awesome. Like many, I struggled w paying $14.95 for a credit but this add seems legit and worth it. Thanks for the chance!
This is fantastic news. I’ve sent emails suggesting something like this in the past to Amazon’s customer service and I think to Mr. Bezos himself, arguing that it would most likely lead to increased sales for printed books. I have little desire to “own” audio copies of books (I listen to at least 20 audiobooks per month). but I often want to buy a printed copy of something I’ve fallen in love with after listening. I pay my monthly Audible bill with some resentment (as other commenters noted), and often save my credits for particularly expensive items I might have to wait eons for to borrow from the library. Now I will be a much happier Audible customer! Thanks so much for sharing this news 🙂
UNLIMITED?!?!!!!!!!! I have a Scribd membership I am considering dropping, partly because I only get one audio credit, and extras are $15 a pop. Was thinking about an audible membership, but it was the same price, but with some cheaper options. Unlimited grabs my attention.
This sounds amazing. I love the idea of unlimited books. I like the idea of Audible but I think it’s too expensive for the amount of books they offer per plan.
This sounds interesting. I have recently waffled on cutting back on my Audible membership because of expenses, but I might consider this. The reason I even have had Audible in the first place is because that service has books that the Library of Congress doesn’t.
This just made my whole life! yay!
I fell in love with audiobooks several years ago and have had an Audible membership for a couple of years. I usually end up getting a book I already had on Kindle for the then-price of $2, which apparently has now increased to $7 or $8, according to a previous commenter. That makes so much more sense now – I kept waiting for my already Kindle-owned books to change price to the $2, but they haven’t and now I know why. So having this as an option will definitely help me … afford to buy more books … that I already own. That made sense in my head 🙂
I was always hesitant to join Audible, but THIS sounds just right! Thanks for letting us know about it.
I was always hesitant to join Audible, as I didn’t think I would find a new book each month that I would truly enjoy. Now, THIS is perfect! Thanks for letting us know about it!
Awesome!!!
Yay! I am some kind of thrilled about this. I love audiobooks. Can’t wait to subscribe to this.