stephen king the stand audiobook unabridged

Audiobook publishers released some 25,000 titles in 2013, compared with 3,430 in 2004, according to the Audio Publishers Association.īrand-name authors like Mr. Revenue and unit sales for downloaded audio grew around 27 percent in 2014 compared with the previous year, easily outpacing e-books and print, a recent report from the Association of American Publishers showed. The arrival of “Drunken Fireworks” as a stand-alone work of audio is the latest sign that audiobooks, which were once little more than an afterthought for writers and publishers, are evolving into a vibrant and independent art form.ĭigital audiobooks have become one of the fastest growing categories in publishing, bolstered by the growing use of smartphones. “It’s an oral kind of story that should be listened to,” he said. The narrator, Alden McCausland, is a bumbling, unemployed man who spends his days drinking coffee brandy cocktails with his mother, and going to great, and illegal, lengths to outdo his nemesis’s annual fireworks display.

“Drunken Fireworks” unfolds as a detailed statement given to the police by a hard-partying man who is arrested for his role in a Fourth of July fireworks competition on a lake in Maine. “Yes, they are, and they might even be better.” “Every now and then, the discussion will come up, ‘Are audiobooks as good as books in print?’ and the answer to me is a no-brainer,” he said. King is betting that “Drunken Fireworks” will turn more of his readers into audiobook converts. Though he risks disappointing devoted fans of his print books, Mr. In an unusual experiment, he released a new short story, “Drunken Fireworks,” as an audiobook exclusive on Tuesday morning, months before the story arrives in print.

King will find out whether his fans share his appetite for narrated books.

Stephen king the stand audiobook unabridged