Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, but sometimes shopping can play an inspirational role, too. Such was the case for Michael Snodgrass, founder and current president and publisher of Brilliance Audio. Back in the early '80s Snodgrass was working for a packaging company in Chicago but looking for an entrepreneurial venture that was "fun, interesting and unique." (That's where the shopping comes in.) "I started thinking, why, when I go into a bookstore, can I find hardcovers, paperbacks, leather-bound editions, but I can't buy audiobooks?" This was the "a-ha" query that led Snodgrass into what was then a relatively brave new world for unabridged fiction audiobooks sold at retail.
"When I did research into the audio industry I found a few titles by business authors, but they were recordings of seminars or workshops, not books," said Snodgrass. "I had envisioned fiction and being able to listen to a good book." Upon further exploration, he noted, "Books on Tape had started a rental business, but people had to find out about the company, ask for a catalogue, order the tapes and mail them back. My idea was to capitalize on the convenience of audio, the fact that I could listen to a book while I was otherwise occupied—driving, for instance. The convenience idea and the rental model didn't match up very well. I wanted to make it easier for people."
To that end, Snodgrass was prepared to position himself as offering services such as packaging, duplication and recording studio work to other print publishers and content providers. "When I pitched the concept to publishers they said, 'You have a very interesting idea. If it catches on, we'll try it. But why don't you do it?' About the seventh or eighth time I heard that, we decided to just do it ourselves, and we started an audio publishing company."
By late 1984, Snodgrass had moved operations from his kitchen table to a small office in Grand Haven, Mich., and the first Brilliance Audio list launched with eight titles including Heartburn by Nora Ephron, On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett and Lines and Shadows by Joseph Wambaugh. There was a considerable learning curve—on both sides of the negotiating table—in getting the venture off the ground, however. "No one had heard of audiobooks and no one knew what to do with audio rights," Snodgrass said. "We would call an agent about rights and they would say, 'that sounds like performing rights' and send us to a theatrical agent on the West Coast. Then another agent would say 'that falls under literary rights, you need to go back to the literary agent.' We finally learned to phrase it right—they were called non-dramatic rights back then—and work though the contracts more efficiently."
As the business grew, Snodgrass, initially Brilliance's sole owner, took on equity partners to further expand the company. (Brilliance remains privately held.) "We kept growing and we brought the packaging in-house and leased warehouse space," Snodgrass recalled. "We developed our own style, and eventually learned the advantages to having our own recording studio." But in the wake of continued growth, even the site's two recording studios and production suite became insufficient.
By 1995 Brilliance had outgrown its second configuration, and Snodgrass purchased five acres in a Grand Haven industrial park. Today the Brilliance campus is home to four digital studios, a post-production suite, a green room for voice talent, a warehouse, manufacturing space and the company's offices. "This is how we wanted it," said Snodgrass. "I guess the third time's a charm, when it comes to planning for space."
In the 20 years since Brilliance opened its doors, the audio landscape has seen much change. "Back then there was no such thing as audiobooks in bookstores," said v-p and associate publisher Eileen Hutton, who joined the company in 1989. "Most print publishers eventually started to gain a presence in bookstores with two-cassette abridgements," she continued. "For years people said audio would never be more than a two-cassette business because people didn't want to pay more than $20 for a title. But now the presence of audiobooks—unabridged, simultaneous releases as well as longer abridgements—in the bookstores, chains, warehouse clubs and libraries is amazing."
Snodgrass noted the significant technological advances he's witnessed during his time at Brilliance. "Everything is digital now and computer driven; that's a huge difference."
What hasn't changed, however, is Brilliance's forward momentum. These days the company produces 250 titles for the trade and libraries in a multitude of formats as well as offering production services to other spoken-word companies. Recent bestsellers include Reckless Abandon by Stuart Woods and Key of Valor by Nora Roberts. Brilliance has 120 employees on the payroll and also works with a number of freelancers.
On the new business front, earlier this month, Brilliance announced its acquisition of SoulMate Audio, a digital production company that converts audio files to the MP3 format. Brilliance has also just finalized an arrangement with OverDrive Inc., a noted player in the e-publishing world, that will offer Brilliance content as downloads for retail purchase or for library patrons to borrow via Overdrive's online network.
According to Hutton, the company has already surpassed its "aggressive" sales projections for each month this year and sales continue to be robust, something she says reflects Brilliance's strengths. "We do things so differently than others that we don't have to figure out what we're going to need months in advance," she said. "We can do reprints quickly; we can re-purpose returns quickly and offer multiple formats." Snodgrass concurs with Hutton's assessment. "We're specialists—all we do is spoken-word audio, so we can provide whatever the customer needs," he said.
Plans for celebrating the 20th anniversary include a cocktail reception during BookExpo America, in addition to a special birthday look for the Brilliance BEA booth. At the convention, Brilliance also offered booksellers a chance to win airfare and two tickets for a cruise via its Get Caught Listening contest.
