Knockagh Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Has anyone any idea why BL audio books are so darn expensive. I listen to a lot of podcasts and books throughout the day. I'm a farmer and so have some tasks each day were I can plug in earphones and enjoy some easy listening while I destroy my back and body toiling. I've bought a few BL audios way back when they came out at first and enjoyed them and I keep looking at the books but they are prohibitively expensive. I buy a lot of BL books and I know they are more expensive than most and I'm not gripping about that it's a niche hobby and i want our beloved authors rewarded well and the company to thrive but the audios are eye watering. I listened to American Gods last week it cost £7.99, that would get me an hour of BL. It doesn't add up at all. Are any of them good enough to warrant the money? Am I missing out? I'm going to buy one to give it go, any advice? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAlephNull Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I feel your pain. I really wish BL was on Audible already... Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864241 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indefragable Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Probably fir the reasons you can get an entire Team Yankee army for the cost of 5x Terminators. But GW ain't gonna change. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864254 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranwulf Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I would bet this has something to do that Warhammer itself its already a bit of niche, and Audiobooks even MORE niche. So offer and demand, most likely. Ran Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864289 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Looking at Audible, I cannot help but think that BL would rock the charts with new HH releases there. I hope that bringing their books to Kindle at long last, after years of not wanting to do it because it'd relinquish some control to Amazon, they'll realize that the benefits in reach far outweigh the negatives in profit cuts. Audible would be very healthy in the long run and grow their audience a great deal. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864366 Share on other sites More sharing options...
veterannoob Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Has anyone any idea why BL audio books are so darn expensive. I listen to a lot of podcasts and books throughout the day. I'm a farmer and so have some tasks each day were I can plug in earphones and enjoy some easy listening while I destroy my back and body toiling. I've bought a few BL audios way back when they came out at first and enjoyed them and I keep looking at the books but they are prohibitively expensive. I buy a lot of BL books and I know they are more expensive than most and I'm not gripping about that it's a niche hobby and i want our beloved authors rewarded well and the company to thrive but the audios are eye watering. I listened to American Gods last week it cost £7.99, that would get me an hour of BL. It doesn't add up at all. Are any of them good enough to warrant the money? Am I missing out? I'm going to buy one to give it go, any advice? I think after interviewing the producer (and actor John Banks) a few months back for Combat Phase podcast, it has many factors which may seem odd for us to understand the cost, logistics, avaialbility, etc. of actors, their unions, when/how they can be brought together efficiently to record. And as we know from FW or BL...there are much smaller staffs than we'd think. ;) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864479 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indefragable Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Vet: I'm sure of all that. And I bet there's some weird wonky factors to audiobooks as well (maybe proofreaders charge extra for them or something? Recording studios rent by the hour and it takes longer in the studio thus higher cost?). There are so many processes and industries out there with their peculiarities. Anyways, even given the niche medium aimed at a niche audience, they're :cuss -ing pricey. I am that niche person in a niche audience who would get these, but I have completely stopped. The price tag--for me--is just no longer justifiable when you can get 5x paperbacks for the same cost. It's actually something that has made me cut back on BL purchases as a whole, and that's not being said to be gripey. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864808 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calas Typhon Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I would imagine it is a lot harder to record them and I don't think it comes cheap either. I do love the Audiodramas. Grey Talon was particularly impressive for an audiopiece. I would not buy an Audiobook however unless it was a Legion I love. I do have a hefty collection which I listen to when working out or sometimes whilst working on the door through my earpiece, I suppose the problem is that people buy them at that price, so the price does not go down (same with everything GW related) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864835 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH79 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I believe there are many, many more factors involved here than what I'm about to suggest, but to me this is the basic explanation of cost. All of Black Library audio releases until some point mid 2013 were produced and manufactured by Big Finish & subsequently for the longest period, Heavy Entertainment. Black Library's current prices were standardised by the cost involved in this process from circa 2011 and when they moved their audio production in house left them as is. The main difference now is that they stand to make more money back on each release as the cost involved will have lessened a fair bit, again many factors involved here. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864931 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 I'm not stingy or mean when it comes to books I buy most (pretty much all of) the limited eds, which I know are super expensive but they are limited and I get something to hold. And I really do want good BL authors to be well paid but I just don't get the audio prices. Maybe if a paperback version was included with the price it might make more sense. Pitty is i would love to buy them. If the books were £15 to £18 I would buy heaps. And that would still have them more expensive than the average audio book. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4864993 Share on other sites More sharing options...
plastic_slug Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Where are all of these 'cheap' audiobooks people are talking about? Audible is $15 for one book a month in the US. After that, you pay regular rates, which are frequently in the $20-$25 range for a ten hour or so book. Similar on iBooks; $20 is about the rate on a ten hour read. Black Library charges $31 for its average audiobook novel. Pricier, but considering the niche nature of both Black Library and audiobooks in general, it doesn't seem that expensive. There aren't too many paid activities you can be entertained for more than ten hours for around 3 bucks an hour, or less. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4865501 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Audible usually gives you a discount bringing any book you buy down by half, or even down to 10 or 5 bucks. Yes, the full price for non-subscribers often goes up to 50 bucks, but when you're subscribed, you're paying a fraction of that. Officially you get at least a 30% discount on Audible.com, and Audible.co.uk even advertises up to 70%. That being said, EU territories are about 50% cheaper on the subscription already. You pay 7.99 in british pounds, or 10€ elsewhere. I'll still make the argument that BL would make a good chunk of additional money off of just having their books available on Audible at all. Yes, there's a split in revenue, but since they produce them in-house already anyway, there are no production fees involved. All it'd do is increase their effective range to people who may not even have known there are audiobooks for 40k or the HH. They'd reach new customers by offering more flexibility. Having a bare-bones audio app for mobiles just doesn't cut it when you have Audible already so widespread and even advertised on Kindles which most customers will already be using to read the ebooks anyway, especially now that BL is present on Amazon with kindle books. As for the cost-effectiveness, I agree in principle that the rate isn't bad, but I disagree that there are few options aside from them. Gaming has never been cheaper, for example. Right now you can go and get Alien: Isolation for around 5 bucks along with a half-dozen other Horror games on Humblebundle. Earlier this year you could get a Monthly bundle for $12 with Total War: Warhammer included as headliner with another 5 decent games on top. People put hundreds of hours into Total War: Warhammer already, and the value there is actually increasing with content updates. If you want cheap entertainment activities in your life, the market has never been more accomodating. On top of that, you have to keep in mind that the print books are drastically cheaper than the audiobook editions. While it may not be so noticeable when it comes to premium hardcovers or limited editions, you often can get 3 paperbacks for the price of one audiobook. You can't passively listen to those, sure, but the price discrepancy is keeping plenty of people from even wanting to give it a try. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4865607 Share on other sites More sharing options...
veterannoob Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Prices were over the threshold. The BL audio app did wonders! still expensive, yes. But for AoS, cutting $50 books in half, and $50 10-12 hr books down to $30.99, Primarchs to $19.99...the The Beast Arises price experiment worked well IMO. Would Audible be awesome...? But, of course! ;) Still, I think they've made strides. I wish they'd just do more audiobooks or change up some selections. I do know there's some epic stuff coming. .. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4865634 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 I'm on audible as I listen to quite a lot of audio stuff and rarely pay over £10. Anyway if I was going to bite the bullet which (expensive) book should I plump for? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4865808 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zouche Chahaya Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 What discourages me is how many people resort to piracy. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4866000 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zouche Chahaya Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 What happened to my post? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4866003 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calas Typhon Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 What discourages me is how many people resort to piracy. I somewhat understand it in all honesty If you're poor and can't read, why pay £30 for an audiobook when you can get it for free with pretty much no consequences or a low chance of getting caught? I don't advocate it, but I understand why people do it, I still purchase them and will continue to do so more than likely. Life is too miserable and busy to get discouraged by something so small! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4867104 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 What discourages me is how many people resort to piracy. For that there a lot of reasons - as to the class separation on the lovely planet you call Earth. And first of all - because sometimes BL prices for 30-40 minutes audio DRAMA ARE RIDICULOUS. And because shipping prices outside UK ARE RIDICULOUS. Because quality and story for half of them ARE RIDICULOUS. That's from the point why most of us understand why people resort to piracy. On the other note - I buy audio stuff very rarely, mainly for the long trips. And for that they are sufficient. But - sometimes there are such jewels where that I simply can't stop myself to go and buy several copies to send as birthday or anniversary presents to my friend who love W40K. The best example is 'The Dark Compliance' - the quality is so amazing, it's worth each penny of it's price. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4870110 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share Posted September 19, 2017 BL now has a limited selection, all 40k I think, on audible!! Woop woop, I'm well chuffed. Fabius Bile isn't on yet, but I will be buying that up straight off. Will also be listening to Eisenhorn trilogy. This is great great news. My audible wish list is expanding! Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4889920 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 BL now has a limited selection, all 40k I think, on audible!! Woop woop, I'm well chuffed. Fabius Bile isn't on yet, but I will be buying that up straight off. Will also be listening to Eisenhorn trilogy. This is great great news. My audible wish list is expanding! AS with the HH and shorts separated - it's nice they are getting it all into order at long last Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4889945 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkChaplain Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 I was just browsing the coming soon section and saw a bunch of them pop up. Awesome. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4889980 Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritorA Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 I was just browsing the coming soon section and saw a bunch of them pop up. Awesome. you haven't checked it in awhile it seems - they are where for 2 weeks now :) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4890021 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 Helsreach is the book of the day on audible at £2.99! Bargin here folks for those who don’t have the talkie version yet Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4901642 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH79 Posted October 3, 2017 Share Posted October 3, 2017 Helsreach is the book of the day on audible at £2.99! Bargin here folks for those who don’t have the talkie version yet Sold... again! For a penny less than a Tesco lunchtime meal deal you get circa 12 hours of absolute gold!! I'll happily skip my sandwich today and help support BL & our Aaron on audible! Thanks for the heads up - EDIT! I must say I'm quite confused by the pricing structure on Audible, it makes no sense and differs massively to the BL website. For example TBA is £20 per title at BL but on Audible it's £30! Eisenhorn is £25 per title at BL but again £30 on Audible. The worst offender has to be Traitors Gorge which is only £15 at BL but again £30 on Audible... £30 for a very short Novella! Primarchs Books are all £20 at BL but on Audible Book 1 is £30 with Books 2, 3 & 4 priced correctly at £20! I can't quite grasp the confusing price structure...could this be a mistake on Audibles part or are they pricing this as they see fit as opposed to what BL may have recommended? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4901670 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockagh Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 I’m assuming those are the prices given by BL to audible. BL would probably, legitimately, prefer you purchased through them directly. The benefit for readers is through membership of audible. You get one book per month included in your £7.99 subscription fee so you could get a monthly BL book for £7.99 as opposed to the direct BL price. This is the bargin audible are selling not the pay as you go option which is more expensive. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/338459-audio-books/#findComment-4901747 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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