In an effort to raise the profile of its most prestigious honor—the Audie Award—the Audio Publishers Association is moving the date for its annual Audie Awards Gala and streamlining the Awards themselves. These decisions were made during a recent meeting of the newly seated APA Board.
The black-tie Audie Awards Gala, which has traditionally taken place during BookExpo America, will move away from that timing to “improve our chances of gathering media attention,” according to a statement from APA Board president and vp of Weston Woods Studios and Scholastic Audio, Linda Lee. The Audies will be held on March 4, 2019 in New York City. The venue is still being finalized.
The Audie Awards categories have been refined, and the number of total categories will be trimmed to 24 from 30. In addition, the number of submissions per category has been capped “to encourage only the best of the best be submitted,” Lee stated. And in another twist, the APA will invite high-profile authors to judge the Audiobook of the Year award.
Deadlines have been moved up for Audie submissions, with the first wave due by August 8 (for titles published between November 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018) and Wave 2 submissions (titles published in September and October 2018) due October 1. Full details are available here.
“The bottom line is #audiobooksarehear and we want everyone to know it,” Lee said in her statement.
