Audible vs. Libro.fm: How You Can Support Your Local Bookstore
There’s a trending quote in the book community: “Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from reading your book.” I’ve seen this quote as the frosting on a cake and as captions on Bookstagram posts. These obstacles are everything from your job to daily chores like laundry, dishes, or walking your dog. The way that we read is ever-evolving; it continues to shift based on these desires to read at any moment. Audiobooks have entered the game as an option that allows people to multitask. Now we can read on our lunch breaks without staining the pages of our books with Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce. We can clean the house, exercise, or make our daily commute to work while still ingesting a book. It’s technology at its finest: Giving us what we want when we want it. Of course, the rise of audiobooks was met by Amazon with open arms. Audible had diligent independent book shoppers ready to surrender their money. But I have great news: There’s another option—one that supports your local bookstore!
Here at Book + Bottle, Libro.fm is our knight in shining armor. It offers a solution to the problem of wanting audiobooks without wanting to support Amazon. Libro.fm shares a few things in common with Audible. Both platforms allow you to choose from over 250,000 audiobooks, include one audiobook credit per month, and give you 30% off additional audiobooks and gifted audiobooks. However, Libro.fm does something crucial that Audible does not. Every purchase on Libro.fm helps to support an independent bookstore of your choice. Places like Book + Bottle directly profit from Libro.fm. They work to mend the harm done by Amazon and uplift bookstores that work so hard to make your reading experience special. As a whole, Libro.fm is dedicated to providing resources that help you resist Amazon in your reading habits.
And—as if supporting your independent bookstore isn’t enough—Libro.fm provides a plethora of extra perks. For one, your membership credits never expire. If you can’t get to them right away, you can save them for as long as you need. You also keep these credits if you need to hold or cancel your account. My personal favorite of their perks is that Libro.fm has DRM-free downloads, meaning you own your audiobooks. It was one of my biggest qualms with Audible that an audiobook wouldn’t stay with me even if I no longer subscribed to their platform; this is how it works when you purchase physical books, so why not audiobooks? Libro.fm fixed this problem.
More than anything, Libro.fm has created a platform that mimics the feel of walking into an independent bookstore. The audiobooks on their platform have bookseller picks with blurbs of reviews. These feel authentic and lend an element of care to the process of acquiring audiobooks. As a bookseller myself—and a recent audiobook convert—I recommend audiobooks to customers every day. This, paired with the bookseller reviews on their platform, allows the book community to feel fruitful because Libro.fm exists. Their platform sparks conversations and gives booksellers the option to advocate for audiobooks.
In the vein of sparking conversations, it’s important to highlight why resisting Amazon is crucial for indie bookstores. Amazon cuts prices on books so low that they don’t make a profit. This is an effort to undercut small bookstores that can’t do the same. Once they efficiently do this, bookstores will be extinct and Amazon will jack up these prices. It’s a tactic that affects Book + Bottle—and many other small bookstores—every day. There was once a time when we saw Barnes & Noble as the villain of the book industry. Yet, in light of this new monster that is Amazon, Barnes & Noble actually helps to hold independent bookstores up. If this unified front proves anything, it’s that Amazon does far more harm than good. We have a book in our shop that covers ideas like this in a very concise way: How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine (Owner of the Raven Book Store).
Book + Bottle has been open since March of 2020 and we depend on people who shop local to stay in business and keep providing you with products we believe in. If you’re an audiobook listener, Libro.fm is a great solution. It acts as a sustainable option that keeps money in your community. If you’re excited by this platform, then I’ll round this up by giving you a few audiobook recommendations. These are three audiobooks that I’ve listened to and loved:
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Narrated by Tom Hanks!)
If you have any other questions about Libro.fm, come visit us! Our booksellers want to help you in your audiobook journey.