Product Recommendation- Audible Plus Catalogue

Giving you more with your $16.45 monthly subscription.

I used to think to myself, “Audible, stop talking up the concept of being an Audible Member”, as there was no such thing as a “Member”! As you the “Member”, essentially gave them money (for Australia, it was $16.45) per month, and in return I receive an audio book per month.

So, our relationship was entirely a commercial relationship, not a membership. As I associate being a part of a membership, to perks, a community, something I had a sense of belonging to! And don’t get me started on how being a “Member” enabled me a discounted rate to audio books if I ever decided to purchase a book with cold hard cash. As honestly, who is paying an additional $14.95 a book on-top of their monthly fee? And how crazy are those full prices! Between $30 – $50 per book!? Madness.

But in 2019, they started to introduce a few perks for “Members”, like access to Audible original podcasts, and now and then, you’re alerted to the free book of the month offers. Which was nice, but the free book wasn’t always of your taste.

But stop the presses! In September last year (2021), Audible introduced the ‘Audible Plus Catalogue’, a list of 11,000+ audio books, podcasts, and original content. For the 1 credit per month Member, suddenly it enabled you an unlimited access to books! Woohoo! So gone are the days where you’re rationing your listening, as you’re fast approaching the end of the title and your next month’s credit hadn’t dropped yet. Now with the Plus Catalogue you can listen to your hearts content, because once you’ve finished your paid book, you can now browse the Plus Catalogue and see what free book takes your fancy!

Honestly I hadn’t found the time to properly explore the Plus Catalogue until several months ago- and there are real gems in the Plus Catalogue! It’s not like ‘Project Gutenberg’, where all the books are out of copyright, thus free and oh-so-boring to consume, as the language is so old. But titles in the Plus Catalogue are proper titles which you’d otherwise pay your hard earned to buy! Or you might kick yourself, when you see titles which you’ve previously spent a credit on but are now free. Grrrr!

So, to date, I’ve listened to ‘Lifespan’ by David Sinclair, ‘At Home’ by Bill Bryson, and currently I’m tearing through ‘The Dragon Blood’ trilogy by Lindsay Buroker. And each of these titles, I’ve really enjoyed….. maybe even more than the titles I’ve chosen myself? As the Plus Catalogue feels like a curated list, titles proven to be crowd pleasers.

And the Audible Originals have been great as well! We listened to the recordings from the 2021 Australian Comedy Festival, that was an unexpected find and much appreciated! Thank you Audible.

So, all in all, I do feel more like a Member now (did you notice, I didn’t use the inverted commas that time?), as now I have an actual perk for being a Member. Although I haven’t quite gotten there in terms of feeling like I’m a part of a community nor a sense of belonging. But while saying that, the account is registered under my wife’s email address, so she’s getting all the Audible emails- perhaps getting them, receivers feel like they’re a part of a community? *Shrug*.

So, for existing Members, this is old news! But for those who have been umming and ahhing about the decision to get Audible. I’d say get it! As now there is plenty more you’ll be getting with your $16.45 monthly fee! For more info, and to start your free 2 month trial, just click HERE!