Meerkat Prompts: Audiobooks
Every now and then, I’ll see a trend on social media that as both a lover of reading books, and somehow who enjoys writing, irks me. It is an attitude that I find quite baffling, and it speaks to a great deal of ignorance, assuming that this is not merely ragebait (more on that later).
Should audiobooks count as books? Do they qualify? To me the answer is obvious: yes. This should not be up for debate. Audiobooks are a form of book, and an important one at. For people with visual impairments audiobooks are the only way for someone to enjoy a book. For others, it may be that they absorb stories easier in verbal form than in written form (just as some people learn by doing, rather than by listening or reading). Everyone takes in information in different ways. There is no one legitimate method of enjoying a book.
Certainly as an author, I want people to be able to enjoy my books in as many ways as possible! I think it makes sense for authors to support the audiobook format, just as it makes sense to support the ebook format, and naturally the printed book. We should embrace various ways to get out stories and adventures out to as many people as possible.
Genuine Belief, or Rage-baiting?
It’s hard to contemplate why people would deride audiobooks as a valid form of enjoying a story. If the argument on social media is coming from an actual, tangible belief, it is impossible for me to understand. The argument could come from a serious place, but I think it’s more likely that the people making such posts are trolling. They are seeking, in the form of such petty and ridiculous remarks, to gain attention, and unfortunately society – particularly on social media – does tend to reward such behaviour.
The attention will bring clicks, and on Twitter this tends to lead to money as well, if you happen to have a blue tick. The other side of this engagement farming is therefore all about money. The best tactic with this (and this certainly applies to any form of rage-baiting on social media) is to ignore it. Of course, I say this, but I am not always the greatest at ignoring trolls!
Enjoy books how you want. Do so in the manner that suits you best. Ignore the trolls who would try to dictate to you a ‘correct’ way. That’s the best advice I can give.
‘Kat Comments