A year ago, Audible Vacuum County was just a glimmer in our eyes. Kelly Clear sent me a demo, I liked it, and we decided to create an Audible version. Read all about it here:
I was talking with someone yesterday about the new Audible Edition ofVacuum County. Having read the great coverage that we got in the Licking News, this person wished me success in my new endeavor. "You can get a free copy of it on Audible," I pointed out.
"What is Audible?" that person asked.
And then I realized: Even someone who has read all the publicity, has seen the great video of the Making of Audible Vacuum County, and who wishes me all the greatest success in the world might not know what it is that I'm talking about. So I decided to try to explain it here.
While Audible started out independently, it is now a subsidiary of Amazon.
Here is a salient excerpt from the Wikipedia article:
Audible's content includes more than 200,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers and business information providers.[30] Content includes books of all genres, as well as radio shows (classic and current), speeches, interviews, stand-up comedy, and audio versions of periodicals such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
In addition to the regular price charged for audiobooks, Audible offers subscriptions with the following benefits:
Credits: For a monthly subscription fee, a customer receives one or two audio credits. Most titles can be purchased with one of these credits. Some titles (usually larger books or collections of more than one book) may cost two credits, while others (usually very short works) cost only a third of a credit. (Users may also purchase a year's subscription at a time, for a discount, receiving all credits at once, but only in some countries.) Platinum subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to the digital audio version of The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.
Subscriber Discount: A subscriber may choose to purchase additional books without credits for a 30% discount.
Additionally, some content—particularly political speeches, government hearings, content such as the 9/11 Report Speech, excerpts, and short stories from books—are available for free.
How to Get a Free Copy of Audible Vacuum County
There are two ways to get a free copy of Vacuum County, read by Kelly Clear on Audible.
How to Prove You Review Books
If you are an Audible Veteran, please show us that you have reviewed some of the books you have listened to. There are two places where people typically review Audible Books.
1) On Audible
On Audible, when you review a book, they ask you questions, and you answer them. Here is an example of a book I reviewed on Audible.
I don't know whether they don't trust people who listen to audiobooks to be able to write free style reviews, but on Audible, even if you are not the world's most prolific writer, they will prompt you with questions to cover the basic facts about the audiobook, including a separate critique of the content and of the reader.
2) On Amazon
On Amazon, you can write whatever you want, covering whatever aspects of the book that struck you. Here is an example of an Audible book that I reviewed on Amazon.
You might need to be signed in at Amazon to see that page. Amazon is very secretive, and not all my reviews show up on my reviewer page, nor can you get to my reviewer page from each of my reviews. The reason for this is not entirely clear.
Summary
Audible.com is a site owned by Amazon that specializes in Audiobooks. You can get a free copy of Audible Vacuum County there. If you have never joined Audible before, then you don't need to ask me and Kelly for anything. You can just choose Vacuum County as your first book and get it free. If you are already a member at Audible, show us that you write reviews, and we will send you a code you can use to get the book for free.
Any questions? Feel free to ask them in the comments.
RELATED
Biographical Vignettes
Here are some interesting Facts about Kelly Clear, who is the narrator of Vacuum County.
The Audible Edition of Vacuum County, read by Kelly Clear, is now available. It came out yesterday, at the same time as the article linked below in the Licking News.
You can get a free copy of the audiobook if you have never used Audible before. We want you to get that free copy, because there is a bounty paid to both Kelly and to me every time someone new joins Audible because of us.
If you do get the free book, this will also unlock the further opportunity to win a free Vacuum County T-shirt. All you have to do is listen closely, answer seven magical questions about the story, and submit your answers to Julia Hanna of Artshirt Designs, here:
There will be a drawing from those who got the answers right. Not everyone will get a free shirt, but the odds are in your favor. It costs nothing to get the book if you are new to Audible, and it costs nothing to enter the trivia contest. If you like getting things for free, and are also interested in books about freedom, this is an offer you won't want to pass up.
Those of you have been following this blog may remember that earlier in the year, I was very preoccupied with the death of the poet F.L. Light.
I wrote about Light, my expanding view of him over time, and how I found out about his death. Then I wrote about what had happened to his works online after his death.
Shortly after that, I started to talk about Kelly Clear and my collaboration with him over an Audible Edition of Vacuum County.
Kelly Clear, laughing
For anyone who might be interested in how these events are connected, and how I found such a great voice artist and musician to help me with this work, here is a video that explains everything. For me, it was serendipity, pure and simple.
If you would like to read Kelly Clear's review of Vacuum County, here it is. It's there with all the others. Right below it is the review by F L Light, entitled "Aggressive Hospitality."
