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 ]
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
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 ]
More news stories like this
Bloomsbury will release a ‘house edition’ of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book in the Harry Potter series, in June. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Overwhelming demand for the book has generated wait lists that rival such all-time bestsellers as 'Harry Potter' and 'Fifty Shades of Gray.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While women dominate the charts, it’s been the year of the comeback kings: Philip Pullman, Jamie Oliver, Margaret Atwood …Last year JK Rowling reclaimed the No 1 spot in the bestseller charts by returning from mundane reality to the Potterverse (with the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
SERIES Movie Night With Karlie Kloss The supermodel and her celebrity guests watch flicks, play games and gab in this new series. First up, 2002’s “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” 6:30 p.m. Freeform The Perfect Suspect The debut installment of this true-crime series tells the tale of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sales in the children’s/young adult segment fell 36.8% in July, compared to same period a year ago, according to figures release by the AAP. The decline is due, in large part, to the fact that July 2017 did not see a hit like July 2016, when 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' was dominating... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Worldwide revenues at HarperCollins have grown by $12m (£9.13m) to $401m (£305.24m) for the first quarter of 2017, with digital sales increasing 6% due to growth in audiobook sales. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Niantic Labs, the creator of free-to-download augmented reality game Pokemon Go, is to launch a new game based on Harry Potter in conjunction with Warner Bros. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Magic is in the air at the British Library here — specifically the magical world of one of the most famous characters in modern literature, Harry Potter. “Harry Potter: A History of Magic,” a recently opened exhibition spotlighting rare books and artifacts that detail traditions of folklore and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Print and ebook sales are on the rise, while audiobook sales are seeing rapid growth despite being largely untapped by most publishers, according to early results from The Bookseller’s Digital Census, the annual tracker of the digital transformation run annually ahead of the FutureBook Conference. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Acting children's editor and Harry Potter fan Caroline Carpenter gives her verdict on the British Library's new Harry Potter exhibition. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Nikesh Shukla and literary agent Julia Kingsford have launched Kickstarter appeal to fund The Good Journal, with further plans for an affiliated agencyAfter selling more than 50,000 copies and being named the British public’s favourite book of 2016, the success of anthology The Good Immigrant... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A 52% decline in Scholastic's children’s book publishing group was blamed on the absence of a major bestseller. In fiscal 2017, the publisher's sales were driven by 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which was released during the first quarter of last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While July sales last year were mightily padded by the release of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which came out July 31, 2016, July 2017 saw no such blockbuster. Thanks in large part to this, July 2017 sales were down 1.9%, compared to the same time last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The BBC will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter with “rarely seen documents from J K Rowling’s archives, revealing her magical inspirations” in the run up to the British Library’s exhibition next month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this