Buondì.
I read somewhere recently that in the world of book publishing the hot category is audiobooks.
Perhaps that’s because people don’t have time to read the actual books, but can listen to them while doing other things, such as commuting or doing chores.
I didn’t think any more about it, though this piece of information must have got lodged in my head somewhere, and resurfaced when I started thinking about marketing our newest ‘easy reader’ ebook, a few days back.
Following on from our recent title Dagli antichi greci a noi (B1/2) which looked at the influence of Ancient Greek on modern Italian (and other languages such as English), we now have a couple of Ancient Greek bonkbusters for you (in simplified modern Italian, obviously), starting with Iliade, about which I knew nothing.
My first marketing idea was to find the full version online and do a bookclub for those who were interested, as we did back in the pandemic. But the text turned out to be scarily long and difficult, and, well, life’s too short.
But what about an audio book, I wondered, so fired up the library app on my smartphone, which allows me to search for and ‘borrow’ two audiobooks each month, for free.
Being cumulatively sleep-deprived, thanks to waking every three hours each night to feed Bug, I initially downloaded and started to listen to Odissea, which was thirteen hours long!
I got about an hour into it, before finally figuring out (I didn’t understand everything I heard, naturally) that this was not the epic poem that I needed to market this week, but a completely different one which I’ll be selling you next month.
Meno male, as it was way too hard for me.
So I went back to the app’s search function and located Iliade instead, just seven hours long and with thankfully better audio quality. This time I managed a whole two hours before quitting, as it was still very hard, and life was now even shorter.
Audiobooks? Sounds like a great idea, I hear lots of people are into them, and I’m always willing to listen to advice.
But you know? I missed having something to read. I’m pretty hot at reading, as I’ve been doing it for a fraction over ten elevenths of my entire life!
So ideally, I’d like to have the audio AND the text, please, in one neat package, so that – well, you know – the text supports the listening, while the listening gets me through the text much faster than if I were just reading.
Which is, basically, the concept behind our ‘easy readers’, and I suppose, having proof-read and published hundreds of them, I’d gotten used to the idea.
But I was still missing a marketing concept…
Oh well, I guess this’ll have to do: FREE AUDIOBOOKS!
I’m assuming you don’t have an Italian library app on your phone, so here’s Iliade, Omero – Lettura Integrale on Youtube. It’s thirteen and a half hours long, and as I mentioned (though my version was different), rather hard.
Enjoy!
OR… this is the link to the audio version of our ‘easy reader’, on Soundcloud. It’s thirty-three minutes and seventeen seconds.
Virtually all of our ‘easy readers’ have online audio, but I’d never thought of marketing them as (just) ‘audio books’. Perhaps I will.
Anyway, give the ‘easy’ version a go, why don’t you? Of course, it’s even easier if you have the text to go with it. You’ll find a good chunk of that in the FREE Sample Chapter (.pdf). Open the .pdf, get the audio playing, and follow along.
See? It’s as I wrote: the text supports the listening, and the listening gets you though the text quicker, and so on to the sexy/gory bits before you get bored.
If free’s your thing, from our Catalog page you can access the sample chapters of all our ‘easy readers’, and therefore obtain the link to the online audio for the entire story.
Free audio books! Hundreds of them!
As to whether you should splash out £7.49 for this week’s new ebook, that’s entirely up to you.
A mercoledì.
Homer’s Iliade, ‘easy reader + audio’ – 25% this week!
Improve your Italian reading and listening skills with this B1-level Italian ‘easy reader’ ebook, L’Iliade (attributed to Homer).
L’Iliade è un poema epico scritto in greco antico nell’VIII secolo a.C. Insieme all’Odissea è il più antico poema della storia occidentale. L’opera è tradizionalmente attribuita a Omero, ma ci sono molti dubbi.
Una lunga guerra si combatte da dieci anni fuori dalle enormi mura di Troia. Paride, un principe troiano, è responsabile: ha rapito Elena, la moglie del re di Sparta, Menelao, e i Greci sono venuti a riprendere la bellissima donna.
I Troiani difendono la propria città contro i Greci. Ettore è il più valoroso e nobile dei guerrieri troiani e tutta la città di Troia lo adora e lo stima per il suo coraggio. Ma l’eroe più forte dello schieramento greco è Achille, il figlio semi-divino di un uomo mortale e della dea Teti…
Why read the Italian version of a classic of world literature? Well, why not? Sometimes a familiar tale is reassuring when faced with the complexities of reading and listening in the language you’re learning.
Besides, you can do both! We have ‘easy reader’ versions of some of the classics of Italian literature, too!
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- introduction + 8 chapters to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Buy L’Iliade (B1) just £7.49 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
How do I access my ebook?
When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?
P.S. 
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