Remember the times when your mom used to tell you bedtime stories? Or the times when your mom was too tired and dad had to do it and he made up some whopper on the fly just to put you to sleep? Those were the days, huh? Well, don't look now, but happy days may be here again.... sort of.

You may have been listening to podcasts for quite some time now and never heard of podiobooks. Essentially, these are audio novels written by independent authors that you can download and listen to.

Don't let the independent nature fool you. The majority of the material that comes out from the source is actually very good. The voice talents are also of excellent quality and often do a nice job of creating an atmosphere where you can totally immerse yourself in.

More importantly, this medium is exciting because of the fact that aspiring writers bow have an avenue to get started and be heard. It's not uncommon to hear tales of great novelists who were initially shunned by publishers early in their careers. With audio podcasts, upstarts have a shot at developing a cult following which will eventually give them the lift they need to break into the scene where bigwigs dwell.

If you're interested, you can start by checking out Podiobooks and downloading stuff that catches your eye. Just read the description of the material you're getting as some have sexual innuendo and brutality in the phrases. We don't want that to play while having dinner with the kids. Enjoy!