The Complete Guide to Free Audio Books Online

free audio booksYour time and money are precious. Audio books help you make the most of your time because you can listen to them while commuting to and from work, at the gym, doing chores around the home or performing repetitive tasks at work. And audio books don’t need to be expensive; in fact, there are many excellent sites you can download audio books for free.

This article will help you discover the best free audio books the internet has to offer. These audio books fall into the following categories:

  • Public domain audio books. If a book is in the public domain it means that the copyright on the book has expired and therefore anyone is free to distribute it. LibriVox, the largest publisher of free audio books , has a public domain wiki page if you would like to learn more about this subject.
  • Audio books available under a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons licenses allow the distribution of copyrighted works. This easy to understand one-page explanation of rights, with associated visual symbols, explains the specifics of the six main Creative Commons licenses.
  • Audio books available from the library. Companies such as OverDrive publish audio books which are available to download from your library to your personal computer or portable device.

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Want to download a high-quality audio book for free?

You can choose this audio book from a library of 100,000+ audio books (this free download includes the latest best sellers).

I discovered audio books more than 2 years ago when, after starting a new job, the time I spent commuting each day increased to more than 2 hours. At the time I spent a lot of time researching the best place online to download audio books. Eventually I found Audible, and since then I haven’t looked back. Here’s why I’m such a big fan:
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  • Huge selection. Audible has an ever-expanding library of more than 100,000 audio books, magazines, newspapers and podcasts. In fact, Audible is the largest provider of digital audio books for download.
  • Bookmarking Feature. Audible’s patented bookmarking technology allows you to bookmark your exact position so it’s saved when you turn off your MP3 player. When you’re ready to start listening again your player will resume from the exact point at which you stopped.
  • Superior quality. Audible audio books are either read by professional narrators or by the author.
  • Free trial. Audible offers a 14-day free trial, meaning you can try their audio book download service risk-free.

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learn more about Audible free download offer

How does Audible work?

  1. Sign up for a new account (you can use your existing Amazon.com sign-on if you have one).
  2. Download the Audible software (available for Windows and Mac, or as an iTunes add-on if you’re doing the iPod/iPhone).
  3. Select and download your free audio book.
  4. Either listen to the audio book on your computer, or transfer it to your portable listening device (Android, iPhone, iPod, Blackberry or 500+ mp3 players).

After the 14-day free trial expires, you’ll start getting billed $14.95 per month for your Gold Membership (that’s less than $0.50 per day, except in Feb). This membership entitles you to 1 credit per month (most audio books can be downloaded for 1 credit), 30 percent off any additional purchases, and a free subscription to audio versions of The New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

Of course, you can always cancel your account before the end of the trial, end up paying nothing, and walk away with your free book. However, I’m confident that once you have tried Audible you will want to keep your membership. As you can see in the below screen shot, I have been a member since March 14, 2008.

audible free download

Why join vs. purchasing one audio book at a time?

audible free download
Photo by Fey Ilyas

There are a number of benefits to becoming an Audible member. These include:
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  • Special pricing for members. Gold members pay $14.95 per audio book. This is a HUGE discount over retails prices. For example, Audible’s retail price for The Help by Kathryn Stockett (a #1 New York Times Bestseller) is $27.97, meaning you would save $13.02 as an Audible member.
  • 30% members only discount on additional audio books. If 1 audio book per month is not enough for you, you can download additional audio books at 30% off retail as a member.
  • No obligation. Cancel anytime. Audible is so certain you’ll love their service that they offer a no hassle cancellation policy. If for any reason whatsoever you’re not pleased with their service, simply cancel and keep the books you’ve downloaded.

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What now?

If you would like to sign up for Audible’s 14 day risk-free  trial, or would simply like to learn more about this special offer, click the following link:

Free Audiobook Downloads

free audio book downloadsAudio books can be expensive to buy. Fortunately, there are some great sites where you can download and listen to audio books for free. Below are 10 of my favorite sites to find free audio book downloads:

Books Should Be Free – provides a visually appealing way to browse audio books published by Librivox. You can see the book cover, view audio books by genre and browse the top 100 audio books available for download.

Learn Out Loud -  offers more than 2,000 free audio and video titles. In addition to audio books, Learn Out Loud has lectures, speeches, sermons and interviews available for download. The site is very user friendly, allowing you to both filter results and sort by most popular, member rating, etc.

LibriVox – has a huge selection of audio books available for download. However, the site is not particularly user-friendly which is why I like Book Should Be Free and Librophile.

Librophile – provides a clean, simple interface for browsing audio books available from LibriVox.

New Fiction – offers a library of audio books that are performed by multiple actors, which they liken to modern-day radio dramas.

PodioBooks – offers serialized audio books distributed via RSS, much like a podcast. There are over 300 audio books available which are spread through a wide variety of genres including chick lit, fantasy, humor, magical realism and thrillers.

Project Gutenberg – has a decent selection of both human-read and computer-generated audio books (I suggest you don’t waste your time with the latter).

Spoken Alexandria Project – free audio book library with public domain classics and modern works.

Storynory – a free audio book site especially for kids. A new audio story is published every week.

Your Local Library – NetLibrary and OverDrive provide the infrastructure for libraries to distribute digital content (ie not just audio books, but also eBooks, music, and video). The best way to look further into this is to visit the website of your local library.

Bonus – while Audible and eMusic are not free audio book sites, they both offer a free audio book (including the latest bestsellers) as part of a no-obligation trial.

See also - The Complete Guide to Free Audio Books Online

Audible Platinum Membership

Audible is the largest provider of digital audio books for download. Audible’s content includes over 85,000 titles by more than 600 different providers, amounting to over 125,000 hours of audio programming.

Audible audio files are compatible with over 500 models of audio players, PDAs, streaming media devices and mobile phones (including iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones).

Audible Platinum Membership

Platinum members receive 2 credits per month and are charged $22.95 per month ($11.47 per credit).

Audible does not currently have a special introductory offer for the Platinum Membership. My advice is to initially sign up with the Gold Membership and later upgrade to the Platinum Membership if you find that 1 audio book per month is not enough.

If you’re unsure about signing up as a member, or are dissatisfied with Audible once you become a member, you can cancel your membership at anytime.

Audible Gold Membership Plan

Audible Gold Plan - Audible Free TrialAudible is the largest provider of digital audio books for download. Audible’s content includes over 85,000 titles from more than 1,000 content providers.

Most Audible listeners download audio books to their PCs and Macs and then transfer the audio books to MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or to smart mobile devices (SMDs) for listening on the go. Others transfer, or “burn,” the content to audio CDs, while some people simply listen at their computers or through a digital home entertainment network.

Audible audio files are compatible with over 500 models of audio players, PDAs, streaming media devices and mobile phones (including iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones).

Audible Gold Membership

Audible Gold members receive 1 credit per month which is good for any audio book you choose to download. An Audible membership includes the following benefits:

  • 30% off any audio book purchased without a credit
  • Free daily subscription to The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal
  • Member-exclusive sales and promotions

Audible currently has two special introductory offers for the Audible Gold Plan:

1. Discount Gold Offer:

New members can download an audio book for $7.49 per month for the first 3 months, and $14.95 per month thereafter.

2. Gold Free Trial:

New members can download a free audio book with a 14 day trial.

Note: the easiest way to sign up with Audible is to use your Amazon account (Audible is owned by Amazon).

The Gold Free Trial is a no obligation trial. If you are not 100% satisfied with Audible, you can cancel your Audible account before the end of the trial, pay nothing and keep your free audio books.

Audible also had a Platinum Membership Plan where members receive 2 credits per month. Audible does not currently have a special introductory offer for the Platinum Membership. My advice is to initially sign up with the Gold Membership and later upgrade to the Platinum Membership if you find that 1 audio book per month is not enough.

Audible.com Free Trial

With over 100,000 titles available, Audible.com is the largest online provider of digital audiobooks. One of the great things about Audible.com is that it offers a 30-day free trial of its audio book download service. The Audible.com free trial includes the following:

  • 1 free audiobook. Available for immediate download.
  • Choose from over 100,000 audio books. Audible has a huge and ever-expanding library of audio books available for download. Audio books available to download include New Releases, New York Times Bestsellers and Award Winners.
  • Listen on your iPod / MP3 player. Listen anywhere, anytime on iPod, iPhone, Android, Kindle, BlackBerry and over 500 mp3 devices.
  • No obligation. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged (yes, you can keep the audio book you downloaded).

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