Audible is experimenting with a new way to surface book content by adding swipeable vertical videos to its app, including trailers, author interviews, and behind‑the‑scenes clips for select publishers. This move puts book discovery into a format familiar to mobile audiences, aligning it with broader trends in short‑form video consumption across platforms.
The new vertical video format appears directly within the Audible app’s browsing experience, letting users scroll through short clips much like they do on social feeds.
These videos can include eye‑catching book trailers that introduce the story and themes, quick author insights, or scenes that bring the creative process to life — all designed to engage users visually before they commit to an audiobook or eBook.
This mirrors how book trailers have long been employed in marketing to hook audiences before a full read or listen.
This addition reflects the broader rise of short‑form vertical video as a dominant content format across digital media. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have trained audiences to expect immersive, full‑screen videos that are quick to consume and swipe through — especially on mobile devices.
Publishers and brands have increasingly integrated vertical video into their sites and apps to boost engagement and time spent with content.
For authors and publishers, these short videos offer a new avenue to connect with audiences in moments when static artwork or text alone isn’t enough to capture attention. This could be especially valuable for discovering new releases, highlighting narrative hooks, or showcasing author personality in ways that traditional listing pages can’t.
The strategy also underscores how mobile‑first content formats — tailored to modern viewing habits — are stretching beyond social networks and into established media ecosystems like audiobook platforms.
As Audible continues to evolve its app experience, this move may signal a larger push toward multimedia storytelling within book discovery — one that embraces the speed and engagement of vertical video without leaving the world of long‑form narrative behind.
