The popular ad slogan "You've come a long way, baby" might well characterize the audio industry, which was displayed to good advantage in Chicago. In fact, much of the talk among audio publishers and other professionals at this year's BEA centered on recent strides made in the field—the Audiobook of the Year Award, increased media attention, formation of the Audiobook Foundation—as well as a general optimism about the season ahead.
The audio publishers PW spoke with at the show were pleased with both the amount of foot traffic and the general "good energy" that pulsated throughout McCormick Place. That positive vibe extended to the full slate of meetings that most publishers kept during the show. "We've had appointments with booksellers who were prepared to do business," said Brian Downing, publisher of Recorded Books. "Book buyers at some of the larger retailers are buying more titles and more copies," he added. "There seem to be more promotional opportunities as well. There's a whole new tenor out there and audio is getting a lot of attention. We're very encouraged by what we see this year."
Jeanne-Marie Hudson, marketing director of Audio Renaissance, noted, "We have had some amazing meetings with retailers, including more independents. We're close to the tipping point—people are recognizing that audio is growing." Haila Williams, acquisitions manager for Blackstone Audio, described a similar experience: "We have had a lot of interest from libraries, and representatives from the big retailers are spending time with us this year."
The Audio Partners booth played host to Clive Brill, British director of The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare, an Audiobook of the Year finalist. "Everyone here seems to be incredibly positive and supportive," Brill said of the BEA crowds. Grady Hesters, publisher of Audio Partners, remarked, "This is just the beginning," when it comes to the Arkangel. The next steps include releasing various groupings of the plays (histories, comedies, etc.) as well as educational programs and individual recordings.
Authors Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry signed their individual audiobooks at the Brilliance Audio booth and also talked up their coauthored fall children's book Peter and the Starcatchers (Hyperion/Disney Editions), a prequel to Peter Pan. Brilliance will release the Peter audiobook, narrated by Jim Dale (of Grammy-winning Harry Potter fame), in September; it's the company's first children's title. A number of booksellers took their chances on Brilliance's "Get Caught Listening" raffle contest, but only one store prevailed. Ken and Linda Vinstra, owners of Great Northern Bookstore in Oscoda, Mich. won the grand prize of airfare to, and passage on, the Get Caught Reading at Sea cruise this October, sponsored by the Association of American Publishers and various individual publishing houses. With any luck, the winners will be able to meet fellow passengers Mary Higgins Clark, Lee Child and Carly Phillips on the Lido deck.
At the Time Warner AudioBooks booth, David Sedaris signed his just-published Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Many in the long line were already fans of his audiobooks, including last year's David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall, another ABY finalist. Jon Stewart spoke at Sunday's author breakfast and was feted at a Saturday night party celebrating the September release of the political humor title America (the Audiobook), written and read by Stewart and the writers of The Daily Show. And still aiming for the funny bone, Hyperion Audiobooks (dist. by Time Warner) has the October title When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops? by George Carlin, who was the headliner at BEA's Saturday night benefit for the Book Industry Foundation.
Random House Audio was celebrating its Audiobook of the Year honor, presented to Listening Library's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale, at Friday night's Audie Awards. The publisher also received lots of queries about the imminent release of its abridged audiobook My Life read by Bill Clinton. In a related note, booksellers who didn't get to see Clinton as BEA's keynote speaker on Friday night can download his speech free of charge from Audible.com. "We've already had about 10,000 downloads," noted Beth Anderson, Audible's v-p. Random's political focus stretches into fall with the much-anticipated The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty by Kitty Kelley, due out September 14.
Stephen King wraps up his epic series with The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower in November for Simon & Schuster Audio. In addition, retailers visiting the S&S Audio booth expressed interest in Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. The November audiobook by the authors of The Nanny Diaries will have an as-yet-unnamed celebrity reader.
Other follow-ups to bestsellers piqued booksellers' interest at BEA. Augusten Burroughs, who spoke at Saturday's sold-out Audiobook and Author Tea, continues to build his oeuvre of satirical memoirs with his reading of his new book Magical Thinking for Audio Renaissance, due in October. Audio Renaissance is also home to I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, a speaker at BEA's Sunday morning breakfast. And Recorded Books debuts The Sunday Philosophy Club (Sept.), the first title in Alexander McCall Smith's new sleuth series, which he promoted during Saturday morning's author breakfast.
For a more extensive look at this fall's audio offerings, don't miss PW's Fall Audio Announcements issue, August 2.
