ENCOURAGING news for audiobook fans.
The Audio Publishers Association say sales were 18.2 per cent higher than in 2015, totalling around $2.1 billion.
And the actual number of books sold increased by 33.9%: that’s 89½ million.
Last year titles from the main audiobook publishers came to 50,937 – a 43.1 increase over 2015.
A lot of this was from digital downloads. And almost 30 per cent of the audiobook audience listened on their smartphones.
The most popular categories in 2016?
Mysteries, thrillers and suspense, science fiction, fantasy and romance.