Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Grammys Speak Out
Congratulations to the audio publishers who may get a chance to walk the red carpet at the 48th Grammy Awards on February 8: Harper, HighBridge, Hyperion, Listening Library, Random House, Time Warner, Simon & Schuster!
www.grammy.com/awards/grammy/48Awards.aspx
THE ACE: Audiobooks were conspicuously absent in the Spoken Comedy category. The APA protested a rule change by NARAS restricting audiobook productions from the comedy album category, to no avail.
www.grammy.com/awards/grammy/48Awards.aspx
THE ACE: Audiobooks were conspicuously absent in the Spoken Comedy category. The APA protested a rule change by NARAS restricting audiobook productions from the comedy album category, to no avail.
Media Bay + MSN: Sounds Good
Microsoft's MusicNet and MediaBay unveil a distribution agreement and co-branded subscription service; SoundsGood.com is MediaBay's digital download site.
THE ACE: Take your pick--www.mediabay.com; www.audiobookclub.com; www.soundsgood.com; www.radiospirits.com
THE ACE: Take your pick--www.mediabay.com; www.audiobookclub.com; www.soundsgood.com; www.radiospirits.com
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Maja Thomas Heads Time Warner Digital Media
Maja Thomas, currently publisher of Time Warner Audiobooks, will head Time Warner Book Group's new Digital Media Division. Anthony Goff has been promoted to associate publisher of TWAudiobooks, and Karen Cera adds digital audio director to her creative director role.
THE ACE: Congratulations to Time Warner Audio: THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART PRESENTS AMERICA (THE AUDIOBOOK) won the 2005 Quill Award for best audiobook.
THE ACE: Congratulations to Time Warner Audio: THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART PRESENTS AMERICA (THE AUDIOBOOK) won the 2005 Quill Award for best audiobook.
New Audio Partners Publisher
Janet Benson has been named Publisher at Audio Partners Publishing Corp.,succeeding Linda Olsen, who remains President of the company. Janet has been with AP since 1990 as head of customer service for the Audio Editions catalog, and most recently as Associate Publisher.
THE ACE: Audio Partners'celebrated Arkangel Shakespeare programs are now available as the individual play, as well as, the 38-Play collection.
THE ACE: Audio Partners'celebrated Arkangel Shakespeare programs are now available as the individual play, as well as, the 38-Play collection.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Cure for the Common Commute
NYC commuters were treated to a "cure for the dreaded commute," aka audiobooks, at the busy intersections exiting the Holland Tunnel. In a clever promotion by Simply Audiobooks, over 1,000 audiobooks were given away, easing the pain for those drivers' commutes home. The cure here.
THE ACE: This type of guerilla marketing effort may be one reason Simply Audio's CEO Sean Neville just won Ernst & Young's Emerging Entrepreneur award. Simply Audiobooks
THE ACE: This type of guerilla marketing effort may be one reason Simply Audio's CEO Sean Neville just won Ernst & Young's Emerging Entrepreneur award. Simply Audiobooks
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
iHarry
The digital download of the Harry Potter series is available exclusively from the Apple iTunes store—equivalent to 82 CDs, the digital "box" set is $249. Best place for this super-sized audiobook? The Collector's Edition Harry Potter 20GB iPod-- engraved with the Hogwarts crest.
www.apple.com/itunes/harrypotter
THE ACE: Want your audiobooks on the iTunes store, contact Rob McDonald, rmcdonald@apple.com
www.apple.com/itunes/harrypotter
THE ACE: Want your audiobooks on the iTunes store, contact Rob McDonald, rmcdonald@apple.com
"Get Your Nose Out of That Book!" . . . and they did.
"Reading at Risk" is the apt name for the 2004 NEA report conducted by the Census Bureau. The survey polled 17,135 people about their reading habits. Fewer than half read a book in the previous year—a percentage that continues a downward trend alarming educators, librarians, and publishers.
www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html
THE ACE: Religious texts were the only category showing an upward trend.
www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html
THE ACE: Religious texts were the only category showing an upward trend.
Good Night & Good Luck
Interested in writing radio scripts? You may have missed the National Audio Theatre Festivals' script contest (submissions closed in November), but radio drama producers Jim French Production are hosting their 1st Annual Imagination Theatre Radio Script Competition. Get writing! The deadline is February 19, 2006.
www.jimfrenchproductions.com
THE ACE: A must for audio dramatists: NATF's annual Audio Theatre Week, June 18-24 2006 www.natf.org
www.jimfrenchproductions.com
THE ACE: A must for audio dramatists: NATF's annual Audio Theatre Week, June 18-24 2006 www.natf.org
Audiofy Apples
"Bookchips," the digital audiobook chips from Audiofy, are now supported by Apple laptops and desktop systems. Audiofy's memory card chip platform is supported on a wide range of devices, including Palm PDAs, Windows Ps, Pocket PC and Treo cell phones.
www.prweb.com/releases/2005/10/prweb302553.php
THE ACE: Want your audiobook in the Audiofy program? Contact Cart Reed creed@audiofy.com
www.prweb.com/releases/2005/10/prweb302553.php
THE ACE: Want your audiobook in the Audiofy program? Contact Cart Reed creed@audiofy.com
