How to make the most of your Amazon Audible subscription

Though the Amazon Audible library in India is smaller, here is how to make the most of it [File]
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Whether you’re trying to stay upright in a crowded bus or attacking a mountain of dishes in the sink, it is easier to listen to an audiobook in order to catch up with your reading, rather than trying to add a paperback novel to the chaotic mix.

To that end, Amazon’s Audible subscription offers readers in India thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, original productions, plays, and both Indian and foreign language offerings for a price of ₹199 per month.

While the India-based Audible library has been frequently criticised for its comparatively small selection of available titles, there are several tips and tricks you can try to make the most of your membership.

First and foremost, use your monthly credits wisely. When spent well, these free credits make your subscription pay for itself. For example, if you have two audiobooks you wish to download, you might use your one monthly Audible credit to download the more expensive book that is priced at ₹700 or more, for free. So, for the cost of your monthly ₹199 subscription fee, you have scored a much higher-value book for free.

Next, ensure you are picking out the right audiobook that gives you the most value for your money. It is not ideal to download paid non-fiction titles via Audible–especially if these are books with a number of multimedia elements such as tables, charts, and footnotes that are best engaged with visually.

While most fictional novels translate well to the audio format, poetry books are on the shorter side. Using your free monthly credit on a small poetry collection could mean that you will have to pay for more titles sooner than expected, or wait for your next free monthly credit to come in.

On the other hand, if you are planning to listen to a poem of epic proportions–say, Paradise Lost or the Mahabharata–you might even be able to find a free version because these works are in the public domain.

If you have used up your monthly Audible credit and don’t want to buy a book, you can instead look into the plenty of free yet engaging audiobooks, plays, podcasts, and original Audible productions that come with your subscription. What’s more, Audible’s abridged productions of classic novels–rendered by award-winning actors and dramatists, often with engaging audio effects–are a wonderful way to introduce children or English language students to more complex stories.

While newly released titles and audiobooks might be on the expensive side, older titles are usually cheaper, and many classics are available for free. You can listen to a preview of the book before adding it to your library, to judge if the narrator works out for you.

Finally, it helps to be subscribed to Audible-related marketing emails and messages, so that you are one of the first to know whenever there are new deals, bundles, free offers, or discounts to grab.