Ripping an audiobook into MP3 or downloading it from any source other than audible.com or apple will give you plain mp3 files. to get your ipod to recognize the books as audiobooks, you have to rip the files as AAC files. You select this by going to >Edit>Preferences>Importing Tab, then selecting AAC from the drop down menu of types of files. Then import or convert your files (do the latter by highlighting all the mp3 audibook files you want changed in your library, then right click and choose “convert to aac”).

The next step is the pain in the butt. Go into your file library on your computer (not in iPod) and click on each file and change the file name type (the letters after the dot) from .m4a to .m4b. You wil get a standard disclaimer message saying that such a change will render the files unstable, but don’t worry, it won’t in this case. I’m told there’s software that will do this grunt work for you, and that’s a bonus (especially if you rip an audiobook from one of those pig-ignorant companies like brilliant audio which track each cd with 99 tracks, most of them about 40 seconds long), but I haven’t gotten around to looking into that yet.

After that, iTunes won’t know where the hell those files are. Just delete them from your library registry (making sure to click on the “NO” you don’t want to move those files to the recycling bin), then go to >File>Add Folder to Library, and from there you add the files back to your library and upload to your iPod.

If any of this was at all helpful, show a little love, and drop on by my site and check out my audiobook reviews. You might find something you like.