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 ]
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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Can "Mean Girls" edge out "The Band's Visit" and "SpongeBob SquarePants"? Will "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" or "Angels in American" take home more trophies? Here's a quick rundown of key contenders from shows with the most nominations. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rooted in West African mythology, Tomi Adeyemi's YA debut is a colossal hit. She talks about activism, Harry Potter, and writerly perseverance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher hits £161.5m takings, driven by Potter sales and Lose Weight for GoodThe evergreen Harry Potter franchise and the popularity of TV chef Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good has driven book publisher Bloomsbury’s revenue to the highest level in its 32-year history.Bloomsbury Publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobook sales have doubled in the last five years, according to data from the Nielsen UK Books & Consumers survey. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales have doubled in the past five years, with commuters and men aged 25 to 44 accounting for the bulk of purchases. But many of us are unable to finish them – so here are a few you won’t give up onNo longer just the greatest invention for bathtub readers, the audiobook is, according to new... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the 20 years since Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone â the first novel in JK Rowling's global publishing phenomenon â was released, the bespectacled boy wizard has achieved many, many revolutionary things. Most importantly, he has transformed children's passion for reading â and... Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2018-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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