When is a book not a book? When it is performed by a starry cast of hundreds. Except it has always been more complicated than thatNews this week of a 17% hike in the UK’s audiobook sales might seem like a niche business story, but it raises an existential question. What exactly is an audiobook today? Is it a book? Is it a play? Or is it becoming something else entirely? What is clear is that a jostle for market dominance is driving it into new dimensions. The streaming platform Spotify followed its move into podcasting two years ago with the launch of an audiobooks business. Though it has yet to start making its own recordings, last autumn it made a deal for 200,000 audiobooks to be available to its premium users.Not to be outdone, Amazon-owned Audible – accustomed to being the market leader – upped its game, hiring the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to record multi-voice versions of the Dickens novels Oliver Twist and David Copperfield, and announcing last month that it had reached an agreement for a recording of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, voiced by more than 100 actors and featuring a “groundbreaking new soundscape”. The new Potter audiobooks, it said, would not usurp but “sit alongside and complement” conventional recordings by Stephen Fry and Jim Dale, which Audible also hosts. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-05-10 17:25:03 UTC ]
In his annual year-end letter to staff, Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle cited the success of 'Becoming', a long list of literary awards and best book citations, and the continued global growth of audiobook sales as 2018 highlights. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Edtech startup KalamTech has created an app series about great thinkers from history, voiced by Stephen Fry. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s called “Crimes New Roman.” Harry Potter, the beloved children’s books by J.K. Rowling, is now a bona fide franchise, with books, theme parks, and countless movies. The latest? The Crimes of Grindelwald, a sequel to the spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It’s playing in movie... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2018-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," Virginia Woolf wrote in a famous 1929 essay. British businessman Arron Banks apparently disagrees, and he incurred the wrath of fans of "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling after mocking the author on Twitter for having... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Warner Bros.' "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" met expectations in winning the box office this weekend, opening in first place with $62.2 million, according to figures from measurement firm Comscore. The "Harry Potter" prequel, a follow-up to 2016's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook sales are continuing to rocket, with a number of the biggest publishers in the space confirming they are still experiencing “strong double-digit growth” year on year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The publishing industry might have to think back to Harry Potter’s heyday for a book that has garnered as much attention as the former first lady’s has. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2018-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling's endorsement of a petition fighting to protect libraries by ringfencing government funding has prompted an additional 10,000 signatures to be added in just four days. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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All-party inquiry into authors’ incomes hears new benefit’s rules could mean only the wealthy will write. Meanwhile booksellers welcomed budget business-rate changesMPs have been warned that the rollout of universal credit championed in Monday’s budget will further undermine professional... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential also helps boost publisher’s profits by 13% A surge in sales of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential and growing demand for the perennial favourite Harry Potter has helped to fuel a rise in first-half profits and revenue for the book publisher... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poland-based kids’ publisher Ameet will release a series of books based on the Wizarding World franchise—encompassing the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films—after partnering with Warner Bros Consumer Products. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling once surprised readers by telling them that all along, without mention in her books, one of her "Harry Potter" characters was gay. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This October Audible will release an audiobook of Pottermore Publishing’s Harry Potter: A History of Magic, read by Natalie Dormer. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Every day millions of people ask Google life’s most difficult questions. Our writers answer some of the commonest queriesBefore trying to answer this very important question, it is useful to ask yourself another one: “Why should I get my book published?” What do you hope to achieve by releasing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Blockbuster sales of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' helped drive revenue to $1.74 billion in fiscal 2017, but without a comparable hit, sales fell 6% in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2018. Operating income dropped 38%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Russian ebook distributor LitRes reports 45-percent growth year-over-year in ebook sales for the first half of this year. And Storytel, which ended its first year in May in the market, cites digital access over vast distances as a driver. The post Russia’s Growing Ebook and Audiobook Sales... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seven models of the spiders from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be unveiled across the UK at the end of the month to mark the novel’s 20th anniversary. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A six-year trend of double-digit growth year-over-year continues, according to the new report for 2017 from the US Audio Publishers Association. Audiobook sales last year totaled more than $2.5 billion. The post Audio Publishers Association Reports a 22.7-Percent Jump in 2017 Revenue appeared... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With the forthcoming release of its new operating system for phones and tablets, iOS 12, Apple is signaling a new emphasis on digital book and audiobook sales. The new operating system, set to hit in the fall, will replace Apple's long-serving iBooks app with a new Apple Books app. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Revivals redeemed a lackluster Broadway year. But now that the Tony Awards have closed the book on the 2017-18 season, it will be easy for producers and press agents to spin a self-congratulatory narrative. “The Band’s Visit,” as arrestingly original a show as “Hamilton” and “Fun Home,” won the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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