All those people who listen to the MP3 audio books have an edge over others. Though the audio books have come into the picture just recently, many people (in millions) are already regular in listening to audio books. What’s more, some of the new books are simultaneously being released in the paperback and the audio edition. The main reason behind the success of audio books is that it saves people the time which is required for reading the book. While people can’t find time to read books due to their busy schedule, they certainly can listen to audio books while doing their everyday work like working, driving, cleaning, jogging, etc. It wouldn’t be wrong to state that audio books are the future of books.
Before commenting on the price of audio books, and stating whether they are cheap or expensive, we need to look into some other aspects. The first question is which audio books are being considered? The downloaded ones, the ones on a CD, on a tape, or any other form? If we call it cheap or expensive, with whom are we making the comparison? First, let us consider the prices of audio books, and then discuss various determinants of those prices. After that, we shall comment on the cheap, discount audio books.
Audio books can come for free, or they may be charged for about $100. Generally, whenever we make a comparison of audio book titles, we conclude that books on CD’s or cassettes are more expensive as compared to the MP3 audio books, which are available at a very cheap price.
Now let’s discuss about the determinants of prices of the books. There are basically three factors which determine the audio book prices, which are:
1. Production costs: The producers will obviously cover the material, labor and overhead expenses incurred for production of the audio book. The labor here includes payment to the reader who reads the book in a manner which would arrest the attention off the listener. The materials required include the cassette or CD cover, printing, and other such things. The overhead comprise of selling and distribution expenses and other such related items. It is found that materials are not required for production of MP3 books!
2. Publishing costs: The publishing costs for audio books on cassettes and CD’s are almost of the same type. Space is always required for the storage of the old-fashioned books. Again, it must be said that in case of an MP3 audio book, no such storage space is required at all!
3. Copyrights: The author always gets a part of the revenue earned by the sale of the book as commission. This holds for audio books as well.
From the above points, it is very much clear that for discount audio books, MP3 audio books are available at a very cheap price and can be considered. Also, if you already possess an MP3 player, and want to take advantage of discount audio books, then the MP3 versions are always beneficial. In fact, free audio books are available for download in many cases.
If you are not habituate to read the physical book by sitting for a long time after completion of exhausting works, you should try audio books. It is one of the best options by which you can make your reading more interesting and entertaining in a more relax way. To listen anything are more interesting than reading that thing in a physical book. Nowadays, there are various kinds of audio book available online such as novel, literature book, history audio book, short stories, science fiction, biography audio book, romance book, philosophy audio book along with many other kinds of book. Some websites also offer free download of the audio books while some website provide it on the rent. 
Audio books are becoming more and more popular in recent years partly due to the busy lifestyle of city dwellers and the popularity of MP3 players and iPods. Unlike paperback books, you can listen to an audio book anytime anywhere, while you are jogging, shopping, or doing exercise. There are several ways to grab a copy of audio book. You can buy an audio CD, download a digital audio file, or rent the audio CD. So which method is suitable for you?