Photo: pixabay
The launch of a new audiobooks platform in New Zealand is being seen as a boon for Kiwi authors and local bookstores.
Seattle-based Libro.fm started out North American ten years ago and is now available in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The industry has been dominated by the likes of Amazon's Audible and Google Audiobooks - overall the audiobooks market has gone from being worth a US$1 billion dollars five years ago, to US $5 billion last year.
But Libro.fm is run as a social purpose corporation which gives consumers the option to select a local bookstore of their choice to receive a commission each time an audiobook is purchased through the site. Local booksellers have welcomed its entry into the market - but are enough New Zealand books making it into the audiobook format?
Kathryn speaks with Libro.fm's co-founder Nick Johnson, and Claire Murdoch who's President of the Publishers Association of New Zealand
