With a wide range of titles, we see a lot of excitement about the format, and it gets a lot of new listeners to try audiobooks.
Interview with Michelle Cobb, Audio Publishers Association and Robin Whitten, AudioFile Magazine
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At a gala evening in the New York Historical Society palatial headquarters recently, the Audio Publishers Association announced the winners of the 2018 Audie Awards, the Oscars of spoken-word entertainment. Neil Gaiman won an Audie for narration by author. Other winners included Bruce Springsteen, Trevor Noah, and Ann Leckie.
No wonder, really, that the publishing world has rolled out the red carpet for audiobooks. Revenue from audiobook sales has more than doubled since 2012, yielding a welcome digitally driven boost to publishers’ bottom lines in an otherwise tight book market.
The Audio Publishers Association has just released data on 2017 audiobook sales, and Michele Cobb, APA executive director, and Robin Whitten of AudioFile Magazine tell CCC’s Chris Kenneally that publishing houses, large and small, have cranked up the volume and the output of audiobooks.
“Many book publishers also publish audiobooks, and we’re seeing a rise in that, where people who have not traditionally had their own audio division, they’re starting to do some of their own audiobooks,” she explains.
“Additionally, there are a lot of independent audio publishers that are out there buying rights and creating original audio product, and they are all putting this great stuff into the market. And with a wide range of titles, we see a lot of excitement about the format, and it gets a lot of new listeners to try audiobooks.”
