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 ]
Magician series among children’s books boosting revenue at publishing house, with pre-tax profits at £1.9m Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury has reported a jump in half-year sales after a strong performance from educational and children’s books. Sales were up 11.6% to £52.7m in the six months to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new play will pick up the story of Harry Potter where the seventh and final volume of JK Rowling's saga left off, with a plot involving a grown-up Harry and his youngest son, Albus. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Potter' fans now know what the upcoming play will be about and it involves more of the characters from the book series than they may have thought. The show is set to open in London in the summer of 2016. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s a big week for old favorites, especially among children’s authors: Rick Riordan has the #1 book in the country, Harry Potter is back with a new look, and ‘Twilight'’s Bella and Edward are back with new genders. Plus two books delved into Kennedy Clan history, Patti Smith follows up ‘Just... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J.K. Rowling’s 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone' knocked Andy Weir’s 'The Martian' from its #1 spot on the iBooks Bestsellers list for the week ended October 11. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's been several years since the last book in the 'Potter' series was published, but judging by the fervor of fans, the boy wizard isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From the multi-coloured sorting hat, to the sinister Snape to the red glow of Ron’s hair, we revel in Jim Kay’s glorious pictures for the new illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone• Win a copy of the new illustrated edition, plus a signed Jim Kay print and a Harry Potter... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More popular here than JK Rowling, No 1 children's author Andy Griffiths is in New Zealand meeting fans and signing books to promote his much-loved Treehouse book series. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2015-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The ad industry is looking into whether it has potential legal remedies against ad blockers in the U.S., but the issue is already playing out in German courts -- in favor of the blockers.The regional court in Cologne ruled this week, for example, in favor of Adblock Plus and Eyeo, the company... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Environmental Protection Agency should have listened to Ron Weasley’s dad. In the Harry Potter books and films, Arthur Weasley is a bureaucrat in the British magical world’s chief regulatory agency, the Ministry of Magic, where his job is to protect people from dangerous devices. He is known... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the 'Potter' books, Hogwarts students always head back to school on Sept. 1. Many fans are celebrating today and 'Potter' fanatics have a new book (by Rowling although not set in the 'Potter' universe), a new theme park, and – a bit farther out – a new movie to look forward to. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling often interacts with fans on Twitter to share previously unknown facts about the characters from the wizarding world of her books, but a recent confession about Hagrid has left some people sad. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The results of the latest annual sales survey from the Audiobook Publishers Association are in, and they show big jumps in both sales and title output in 2014. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Big successes in the publishing industry come in threes…or fours, fives, and sixes. Serialisation is a key factor in developing brands and launching star authors such as JK Rowling and George RR Martin. Publishing a series means each successive book accumulates a larger readership (propagated... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury will this November publish a deluxe edition of the illustrated Harry Potter, with artwork by Jim Kay, priced at £150. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – Deluxe Illustrated Edition will be published alongside the £30 version, also illustrated by Kay. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harper Lee’s unexpected companion novel to To Kill a Mockingbird has bookshops readying for huge salesRead the first chapterListen to an extract read by Reese WitherspoonFirst chapter review: A beguiling journey into the pastSix months ago, it was a book the literary world would have laughed off... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paula Hawkins’s novel has now been top of the UK hardback book chart for 20 weeks, outlasting even Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol• How Paula Hawkins wrote ‘the new Gone Girl’A record set six years ago by Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol was broken this week by Paula Hawkins’s dark thriller The Girl on the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Personal Creations show how long it takes kids to read classic books, from Clifford the Big Red Dog to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The post How Long It Takes Kids to Read Popular Books appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Potter' author J.K. Rowling recently revealed more details about the new play about the boy wizard that's opening in London in 2016. What will the story of the new play be? Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author J K Rowling has confirmed that a Harry Potter play, entitled "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", will open in the West End next year. Rowling broke the news today (26th June) on Twitter, saying the play “will tell a new story, which is the result of a collaboration between writer Jack... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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