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Ears to the ground: Australian audiobook reading culture

A free information session

  • ONLINE VIA ZOOM

The popularity of audiobooks has boomed in recent years, with research suggesting a third of Australians now listen to audiobooks. Their rise has proved to be more sustainable and promising in the long-term than other forms of digital reading like ebooks, but very little was known about audiobook reading culture – until now.

Audiobooks and Digital Book Culture: Australian Books and Publishing at a Time of Global Disruption, a research project led by Dr Millicent Weber out of the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at the Australian National University and funded by the Australian Research Council, set out to find answers to the common questions authors and publishers alike have been asking, such as:

  • Who is listening to audiobooks, and what are they listening to?
  • How does audiobook consumption sit in relation to print and ebook reading, and how does it fit with patterns of cultural consumption more broadly?
  • What are audiobook listeners’ perceptions of themselves, and what they’re listening to?
  • Do audiobook listeners see themselves as readers, or does this fall into a different conceptual category?
  • And what is the perception among the audiobook reading community of technological interventions, particularly the rise of AI narration?

If you want to learn more about the consumption of audiobooks in Australia, and how it operates as both a market and as a unique, multifaceted listening community, don’t miss this free information session with Dr Millicent Weber who will guide you through the report’s key findings, including the trends for audiobook publishing in Australia and the experiences of audiobook readers, authors, and publishers.

There will be time for questions from the audience.

Who is this for?

  • Authors wanting to gain a better understanding of Australia’s audiobook market
  • Authors and publishers curious to learn how they can better appeal to audiobook consumers

About the presenter

Millicent Weber
Millicent Weber
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Can't make it to the live session?

No problem! Everyone booked in to this event will be emailed a link and passcode to access the recording afterwards. This recording will be available to view for 10 days after the live session. This also means that if you wish to revisit the session after attending it live to take further notes, you can do so!

After 10 days, the link will expire and the recording will no longer be available to view.