AudioFile's Inside Track

Ernest Hemingway's novel have been rare as audiobooks except in the library market until Simon & Schuster's recent agreement with Hemingway's heirs. Actor Campbell Scott is in the studio this week recording FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. A FAREWELL TO ARMS, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and others soon to follow. S & S previously published three volumes of Hemingway's short stories, read by Stacy Keach.

ACE: Check that backlist!

Two major publishers are launching childre's audio lines: Simon & Schuster Audio will add children's titles this summer, beginning with PETER PAN IN SCARLET by Geraldine McCaughrean--a sequel to J.M. Barrie's classic. Scholastic Audio, under the helm of Jennifer Feldman, former publisher of BBC Audiobooks America, plans 20 children's titles for 2006 in both book-and-CD read-along format and conventional audiobooks. Publishers Weekly reports .

THE ACE: Why is the return of Peter Pan so interesting? Author Geraldine McCaughrean, though little-known in the U.S., is hugely popular and celebrated in the UK. AudioFile recently interviewed Geraldine.

BMW's online short movies were a big hit. Now the German automaker has commissioned original audiobook short stories. Random House UK and BMW offer four stories to be released over the next two months, beginning with Don Winslow's BEAUTIFUL RIDE--a BMW Z4 convertible stars.

THE ACE: An innovative use of evolving technologies, the stories are podcasts [free] that can be downloaded to desktops and digital devices.

Jim Dale, celebrated narrator of the Harry Potter series, Audie-winner, Earphones-winner, MBE [Member of the Order of the British Empire] and Grammy-nominee and 2000 Grammy-winner, did not take home the 2006 Children's Spoken Word Grammy last night. But, he's consoled by receiving his second Guinness World Record for "Most Simultaneous Entries in an Audiobook Top Ten List" when all six Harry Potter titles monopolized the top slots of Amazon.com's audio bestseller list.

THE ACE: Marlo Thomas took the children's category Grammy Award over audiobook favorites Jim Dale and Tim Curry.

The unlikely combination of George Carlin, Sean Penn, Garrison Keillor, Barack Obama and Al Franken went head-to-head in this year's Grammy Awards. Barack Obama, came up the winner--for his memoir DREAMS FROM MY FATHER from Random House Audio.

THE ACE: The Obama audiobook shows off what audio can do best: Use bonus material--Obama's 2004 keynote speech from the Democratic Convention--to enrich the audio experience.

The popularity of podcasts is encouraging fans to step up to home microphones and record their own audiobooks. NPR reported Amateur Audio Books Catch Fire on the Web on the trend and lists Web sites where we can find such podcasts: LibriVox, PodioBooks, Urban Art Adventures, Dead White Males.
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THE ACE: AudioFile is launching a blog of spoken reviews called SoundReviews. Anyone interested in subscribing or featuring it--ask us for the launch date.