I read a non-fiction book recently called THE WORLD IS FLAT, which is about outsourcing and the global economy. I listened to it on audio, and the book brings up an interesting point in regard to audiobook publishing. As an audiobook reviewer, I have found myself frequently frustrated with the fact that audiobooks have nearly no lead time from production to publication, so reviewers have very little time to get their reviews done in a timely fashion (resulting in audio reviews that are “older” than desirable). The reason THE WORLD IS FLAT got me thinking about this, is because it discusses Wal-Mart, and how being the industry powerhouse it is, it was able to make certain demands to its suppliers in order to make its business more efficient (i.e., they forced all suppliers to use a certain type of tracking device with all packages which made Wal-Mart’s distribution system more manageable).

A powerful publication, like Publishers Weekly, or some other high-profile venue, could be in some position to dictate demands to audio publishers…namely, that they figure out a way to get reviewers audiobooks in a more timely fashion. With high-speed internet and digital audio publishing (more FLAT WORLD stuff), there’s no reason that reviewers shouldn’t be able to get audiobooks a bit faster than we are. Surely, publishers could get audiobooks to reviewers in a stripped bare-edition, without packaging, perhaps even just a single MP3-CD. But MP3-CDs aren’t even strictly necessary — publishers could set up ways for reviewers to download audiobooks via secure web servers (they would still have to be in a compressed format like MP3, as regular CD files [WAV files] would be much too large). New audio publisher Paperback Digital sells audiobooks to consumers this way, and Audible.com, of course, has a similar setup.

If a call center in Bangalore can field my customer service requests, or talk me through a computer problem, surely an audio publisher in my own country can get me a review copy of an audiobook at least a month before it goes on sale.