Audiobooks business gets a boost in India

Reado Audiobooks has inked a deal with leading audiobook publisher Simon & Schuster Audio to distribute and sell its 2,000 audio books, including Indian titles in digital (MP3) format, Reado said in a statement Thursday.

The books, all from Simon & Schuster's racks, can be downloaded from Reado's website. The popular categories of books to be sold are bestselling fiction, non-fiction, business, self-improvement, inspiration, language learning programmes, original audiobook productions and children's titles.

Some of the best sellers that will be available on audio under the deal include "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, "The Secret" by Rhond a Byrne, "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie, "Kris Jenner" by Kris Jenner (Kim Kardhashian's mother), "Under The Dome " by Stephen King, "Assholes Finish First" by Tucker Max and "Midas Touch" by Donald Trump.

Some of popular Indian books that Reado alraedy has on its audio format are "Immortals of Meluah", "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish", "Dork", "Sherlock Holmes", "The Jungle Book" and "Gandhi CEO".

Founder of Reado Audiobooks, Sumit Suneja said his company was rapidly expanding to reach out to a larger audience. "We expect to see an increase of 50-60 percent increase in the audiobooks sale in the next two quarters," Suneja said.

"In addition to the above, I believe that audiobooks market in India itself will grow at 100 per cent rate in the next five years. It is expected to be a $600 million global industry," he said.

Reado partners with Penguin, Hachette, Audibles.com among others.

Suneja said, "Many Indian players are trying to get a piece of the audio books pie, which will lead to more diverse content as well as cost correction in the years to come". Reado also watermarks audiobooks to protect them from piracy, he added.