iPod and MP3 players are becoming omnipresent. Everywhere you go, you see the familiar headphones in someone’s ears. And with the busy lifestyles we live, it is no wonder that audiobook sales are soaring. The combination of audiobooks and iPods are now making it possible for people to listen to their books on tape, or audiobooks where ever they go.

Apple and its many retail partners managed to sell 88 iPods per minute in 2006 which totaled 46,432,000 iPods sold. That is more then 1 iPod sold per second! The Christmas season from October and December were obviously the busiest of the year.

IPod sales look to continue to grow in 2007. In the first quarter of 2006, total iPods sold were 8.53 million. It is estimated that for the first quarter of 2007 iPod sales will be over 10 million. Some predict that the new iPhone will slow down iPod sales, but others feel the iPhone will not be competition due to its US $500 Price plus associated fees.

Audiobook sales have also been soaring. In 2005, audiobook sales totaled $871 million. Audio books are getting a boost in sales due to the rise in popularity of downloadable audiobooks which represented 9 percent of total audio book sales in 2005. While that number may seem small, it is a 50 percent increase in sales from 2004. It is fair to predict that audiobook downloads are going to continue to rise due to the rise in popularity of iPods and MP3 players.

Another reason audiobook download sales are going to continue to soar is that as of this year, almost all new cars are now capable of playing digital audio files. 97 million Americans drive alone to work everyday, and commuters are stuck in traffic an average of 62 hours per year. That is 32 percent of the entire U.S. population, and that does not even include those who commute by bike, bus, train or car pool. Now that audiobooks can be played so easily in cars and on iPods, it’s easy to see that audiobook download sales are going to skyrocket even further.

It is clear that with the rise in iPods and MP3 players, and the rise in audiobook downloads go hand in hand. Listening to your audiobooks on iPods is a great way to maximize your time. It seems to be harder then ever to find the time to read. We can now find time to read, or rather listen thanks to our trusted iPods and MP3 players.

We can multi-task by listening to our audiobooks as we exercise, clean the house, commute to work, or even just listen to as we relax. In fact, there are several audiobook titles that are designed to help you fall asleep and to relax.

Many businessmen love listening to their sales or motivation audiobooks. Students are listening to assigned literature on their iPods as audiobooks. People are learning a foreign language with audiobooks. And couples are saving their relationships by listening to audiobooks.

Audiobook downloads are priced far better then audiobooks in prepackaged CD’s, which another great feature. There are also many free titles to listen to and many quality websites let you listen to five minutes of your audiobook before making a purchase.

It is easy to download your audiobook off of the Internet. You simply select your title, make the secure purchase, then you are ready to download. The download takes seconds to a few minutes depending on the size of the file on most computers. If you have a dialup, you can select the smallest size file for each title which is not as good of quality, but still sounds as good as any audiobook CD you may have purchased from the store. Once you download your audiobook, you can play it on your PC, burn it to disc, or you can load it to your iPod or MP3 player.

After learning how easy it is do listen to an audio book on your iPod or MP3 player, what are you waiting for, go out there and listen to you audio book today!