It's now been a decade since Time Warner AudioBooks, publisher of the audiobooks based on titles from Warner Books and Little, Brown (as well as Hyperion, under the Hyperion Audiobooks line), arrived in the marketplace. Its first list consisted of a modest three titles. But 10 years does indeed make a difference. In 2003 the company released 45 titles under the Time Warner AudioBooks name and 13 under the Hyperion Audiobooks banner (inaugurated in 2001). Since 1999 revenues have been increasing roughly 10%-20% per year. And the sounds of TWAB will soon be heard across the pond, too, with the launch later this month of Time Warner AudioBooks UK.
Clearly these various milestones are something to celebrate—which is exactly what TWAB plans to do in the coming weeks and months. But before the partying begins, a brief history seems in order.
Back in 1991, Maja Thomas (current v-p and publisher of TWAB) had recently completed graduate work in English literature at Princeton University and was seeking employment. She was hired at Atlantic Records (a Time Warner company) and given the task of launching a program of audio-original study guides. The new division created for this product line was called A+ Audio.
Two years later, Larry Kirshbaum, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Book Group, and Maureen Egen, president and COO of Time Warner Book Group, began working with A+ Audio to develop a TW audiobook line. Soon after, Time Warner AudioBooks was born, with Thomas, Judy McGuinn and John Whitman comprising the original in-house starting lineup.
"I've been associated with the company for 12 years now and it's been a long and wonderful relationship," Thomas said. Her colleagues obviously agree. "As far as we're concerned, Maja is the first word and the last word when it comes to audiobooks," said Kirshbaum. "She has been a great pioneer and a continued enthusiast for the audio genre. Her ongoing success speaks for itself."
Asked about the biggest changes in the company and in the audio business during her tenure, Thomas noted, "Most important has been consumer understanding and acceptance of the product. I used to hear comments like 'Oh, those are for the blind, right?' all the time. But in recent years audio has finally tipped over into critical mass and that's been nice. I think celebrity narrators have helped that, and people hearing their favorite authors read audiobooks has helped that as well."
According to Thomas, other key changes include the trend toward the unabridged format, "which banishes the perception that listening to an audiobook is 'cheating' or inferior to reading a book," as well as the rise of the CD, "which complicates things for us, but we will give the consumer the format they want." Advancing technology and an increasingly computer-savvy consumer base are also important developments. "The success of Audible.com (the audio download service) is something we're watching in terms of younger listeners," Thomas said. "As those listeners mature we expect to see them in the bookstore buying audiobooks as well."
But perhaps one of the most difficult bumps on a generally successful road for TWAB involves the book group's (and hence, audiobook group) being on the auction block, unfortunate fallout from the tumultuous AOL-Time Warner merger. Just a few months ago, it was announced that the book group was no longer for sale and would remain under the Time Warner umbrella. Through it all, TWAB sales never faltered.
"It was very distracting," said Thomas of the months of uncertainty. "We may have lost a step, but my team kept their heads down and we kept putting things out. As a result, this is our greatest fall season ever. The experience was horrible, but senior management spent lots of time together talking about what we were going to do. This led to an increased sense of solidarity and it has made us a better, more unified company."
Let the Celebration Begin
With that sense of unity in tow, TWAB will launch TWAB UK this month with five titles, including Andrew McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Thomas serves as consultant for the new venture and has been traveling back and forth to London from TWAB offices in Los Angeles and New York while developing and finalizing projects in collaboration with Sarah Shrubb, who will oversee the line in the U.K.
"We will be sharing masters and will also be casting and using studios in London," Thomas said of how the working relationship will progress. "We're going to look carefully and publish judiciously, releasing what's most popular and most appropriate from season to season."
Thomas added that in light of the launch, she's very enthusiastic about British bookstore chain Waterstone's "making a big audio push." The retailer displays a top 10 list with annotations, provides listening stations and merchandises product with prominent, separate displays for CDs and cassettes. Thomas also noted the store's popular and successful "3-for-2" offers, which allow customers to pair audiobooks with other audiobook titles or certain print titles in a discount promotion.
Stateside, the company has unveiled a special anniversary logo to be used this coming year as well as a new general logo that will be shared by the U.S. and U.K. divisions going forward. A CD "best of the backlist" sampler will be sent to retail accounts, media and consumers; and a yearlong Web site promotion, including a "staff recommends" section, will run on www.twbookmark.com.
And hoping to generate even more enthusiasm at the retail level, a new discount program called Time Warner AudioBooks Replay is set to kick off. The plan will give booksellers/retailers $10 off (in addition to regular discounts) 10 popular backlist for 10 months. Additional anniversary materials and an outreach program will debut soon, and a celebratory dinner party in New York City is planned for this month.
Looking beyond the festivities, Thomas sees bright days ahead. "The fact that the audio business has grown in spite of a generally cold retail climate means the consumer is really embracing the form," she said. "We have some great titles and we continue to be excited about what we're doing here."
