All About Book of the Month Audiobooks

A few months ago, Book of the Month Club announced that they were adding audiobooks as an option, which THRILLED me!

It’s generally easier for me to get to an audiobook than to a paper book and having the option to use my Book of the Month credits for audiobooks instead of a physical book is a thrill for me!

Here’s how it works!

Book of the Month has traditionally been for physical books only (they’ve been around since 1926!) – I have a whole post here about how Book of the Month Club works, but the short version is that you sign up for a subscription and each month you can choose from 5-7 new titles (sometimes including ones that haven’t even been released yet!). You can choose one book or up to three books or you can skip a month.

Now you can use your monthly credit for an audiobook instead of a paper book and you can switch back and forth between using your credits on paper books and audiobooks. Book of the Month Club is the first subscription I’ve seen that does both physical books and audiobooks, so this feels pretty cool to me!

It’s pretty straight-forward; just use your credit for an audiobook on the months you want that or on a physical book if you’d prefer that. You don’t have to commit to one or the other.

A few things you should know about Book of the Month Club audiobooks:

• Pretty much all things Book of the Month Club audiobooks will be in the app, rather than on the website. That’s where you’ll be able to search for audiobooks, download them and listen to them.
• Not all Book of the Month Club titles are available as audiobooks. In the few months since they’ve launched audiobooks, they’ve added SO MANY audiobook titles, so I assume eventually it’ll be most, if not all, titles available as audiobooks, but for now, it’s not 100%.
• There is a rewards program for Book of the Month Club audiobooks. They call it “audiobook ear-nings” and when you buy 5 audiobooks (doesn’t have to be all at one time), you’ll earn a free credit that you’ll be able to spend on . . .you guessed it. Another audiobook.

When I mentioned the addition of audiobooks to Book of the Month Club, here were some of the questions that came up:

I don’t see audio as an option? Is it a separate platform?
Go to the Book of the Month Club app and you’ll see a button with headphones in the bottom right corner called “Listen.”

I associate Book of the Month with physical books. What format will the audio be?
It’ll be in the Book of the Month Club app. Just like you listen to Audible book on the Audible app or Scribd books in the Scribd app, you’ll listen to Book of the Month Club books in the Book of the Month Club app.

Difference between Audible and BOTM?
Audible is a little bit cheaper (although if you sign up for a longer subscription and with the rewards credits, it’ll probably come out about even). Audible also has the Audible Plus library so you have more options of things to listen to. Book of the Month is going to be significantly more curated and less overwhelming. Really, I think it’s mostly personal preference of where you want to spend your money and what kind of experience you want.

Will you be able to do add ons for audiobooks? What’s the cost?
The add-ons won’t work for audiobooks – they’ll all require a credit!

How is it better than Scribd?
The thing I always say is that there is almost never a perfect solution – you’ll always be making trade-offs. If you want to listen to a wide variety of things, Scribd might be a better option for you. If you want highly curated, specific titles, Book of the Month Club might be a better fit. They’re both excellent options.

If you do all audio is there a price difference?
Not really – books and audiobooks will both cost a credit (although additional add-on physical books are less expensive than your monthly credit) so for the most part, there won’t be a difference between physical and audiobooks, cost wise.

Can you get a combo of audio and tangible books?
Yes! If you have a 2 credit plan, you can use one credit to pick a physical book and have it shipped and then you can use your second credit to get an audiobook.

How do they get sent to you?
Once you use your credit on an audiobook, it’ll show up immediately in your account, ready to listen to!

Do you actually own them or is it more like Audible?
It’ll be like most audiobook platforms (Audible, Chirp, etc) where you don’t have access to the actual files.

Can you skip months?
Yep, just like the physical Book of the Month Club subscription, you can skip any month you want!

It is available in Canada?
It should work just fine – they ship books to Canada too!

I don’t get the appeal. Why not use the library?
This might not be for you and that’s fine! If your library is meeting all your needs, then you’re in a great spot! If you prefer not to wait in long hold lines or your library has a lousy selection or you don’t want a timeline on how many days you have to finish reading or listening to a book, this might be just right for you!

Any other questions about Book of the Month audiobooks? Let me know in the comments and I’m happy to help!

if you liked this post all about book of the month audiobooks, you might also like these other posts:

• Book of the Month Club: Why it is my favorite book subscription
• 11 Tips for Being a Good Book Club Member
• 8 Excellent Audiobook Subscription Options

Photos by Heather Mildenstein