I have to gush about Scribd -- unlimited ebooks AND audiobooks what!

It started with the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, getting me to think about audio books again. They have been hit-or-miss with my children, and it was fairly infrequent.

We have had a really good week with audio books, and I wanted to share why I think it's working, and gush about Scribd.

What is working:

• Letting them listen to books they are familiar with (either I've read it to them before, or they are familiar with the characters, etc.)
• Letting them listen at bedtime
• Listening in the van 
• Short books/short listening times

I have borrowed CD books from the library, downloaded some for free from the library, bought some cheap ones from Audible, and I now subscribe to Scribd. Scribd is my favorite thing right now! I wish there was a referral program. Bummer.

I also signed up for a promotional price deal from Audible, but I won't likely continue with it. The deal is 3 months at $7.49/month, and 1 credit per month. One credit = one book. With membership, you can also purchase titles at at least 30% off regular price.

If you own a Kindle ebook version, you can sometimes get a discounted audio book of that title.

So, I can buy 3 books or collections of books (whatever they are selling for 1 credit) for $22.47 during my promo time. After that, it is $14.95/m for 1 credit. 

Or. I can spend $8.99/month with Scribd and have unlimited access to tons of audio books and plenty of ebooks. Yep, the Netflix for audio and ebooks is an appropriate description. From what I've seen so far, there are many duplicate ebooks from Audible to Scribd.

The downside of Scribd, for some, is you need to use either your computer, smart phone, tablet or Kindle Fire to access the Scribd app. You cannot transfer files to a more basic MP3 player. You CAN save files for offline listening.

I don't care for the search feature, in that there is no filter. I don't want to search for a children's book and have some steamy romance novel cover show up. My kids don't need to see that. So, I save books ahead of time in their own "collection." 

For what we get for the price, you can't beat it. You can't buy an Audible credit for that price aside from promos, and public libraries typically have digital limitations. My own allows us only 5 digital titles at once, and I'm unable to return the downloaded audio book ahead of time to free up space for another book. I can return ebooks, though. Of course, if your library has a good selection of physical audio books, that's something to keep in mind. Mine is lacking.

Soo....if you enjoy digital books in any form and have a capable smart player, go get your free month trial. Let me know what you think!