Audible Wants Authors to Exclusivly Focus on Audiobooks

Audible is the largest company involved in the consumer audiobook sector and they want authors to start writing original content and bypass e-books altogether.

The global audiobook industry is currently worth 2.6 billion dollars and part of the reason why we have seen a dramatic increase in profitability is due to digital In the first eight months of 2014, sales were up 28% over the same period last year, far outstripping the growth of e-books, which rose 6%.

Audible is the undisputed market leader in audiobook production and distribution. Matthew Thornton the Director of Communications at Audible said “Audible content includes over 180,000 audiobooks and other spoken-word programming from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Non-audiobook content includes lectures, meditations, language lessons, comedy and periodicals.” Audible has added 40,000 titles their store in 2014, a very slight increase versus 2013. In both 2013 and 2014, Audible Studios and ACX productions account for just about half of all titles added to the Audible storefront.

One of the main reasons why Audible content is so successful is primarily attributed to the big name actors. Matthew Thornton explained a bit on how Audible embraces star power. “One of the ways we’ve worked to improve the overall customer experience of listening to audiobooks is in elevating the quality of audiobook performance—embracing A-List celebrities (among those who’ve recorded for Audible are Colin Firth, Dustin Hoffman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon) as well as up-and-coming young actors at Juilliard, Yale, Stella Adler and other acting schools where Audible offers narration workshops. We’ve had great success with celebrity-narrated projects like the Gyllenhaal-narrated The Great Gatsby, Ben Stiller performing The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

Most of the audio content that Amazon has produced has been based on e-books. This is starting to change as Audible is starting to ask well-known writers to create original audio works.

Don Katz, CEO and founder of Audible said in an recent interview with NPR “While performances are being elevated and attuned to this advanced listening experience, why not write to the form in an original way? So it’s not just book authors writing, but TV writers, and movie writers.”

Audible now has about 30 original audio works in the pipeline. One, which has already been released, is The Starling Project starring Alfred Molina. It was written by bestselling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver and it’s more like a radio drama than a book.

Michael Kozlowski

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.

InklingBooks
Audible has definitely become part of the Amazon corporate culture. Like Amazon, it thinks it “knows best” and can tell authors what they should or should not do. And, as with Amazon, lurking mere inches beneath the surface is its own naked self-interest. Audiobooks without ebooks means more sales for Audible.
That’s merely a variation on the company’s unhealthy obsession with control and exclusivity. At times, I am reminded of the early auto magnates who talked of building their own roads. If you owned a Ford, you could travel on Ford roads but not GM ones. That was a stupid idea. So are all these schemes for Amazon-only publishing and distribution.
Amazon/Audible also operate in a different cultural world from most Americans. There is a chattering class of people who want to read celebrity-narrated audiobooks. I think celebrities are mostly bores who have far too much money already. I’d rather see the work go to ordinary but talented people who need to house and feed their family. Also, I listen to a lot of free audiobooks from Librivox volunteers. Quite a few are excellent and most are good enough I enjoy listening quite well.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for stories to be written as audiobooks much like scripts are written for radio, television or movies. Different media need to be differently handled. To the extent that Audible wants to do that, I have no problem. It’s the audiobook-only and Audible-only mindset that bothers me.
In short, i believe in genuine diversity, not the fake chatter about it so common today, a chatter often closely linked to silencing all those who disagree with them.
Michael Kozlowski
I think Audible just likes to take risks.
Case and point, if you read newspaper articles online these days, such as the Guardian, you will notice audio editions on most pieces. These are like mini pod-casts where the article is read and commentary is given. Sometimes a little bit more backs story and context is given. Audible has been doing this for years, they even sponsor some newspapers and get their short form narratives available on Audible.
I think this is going to be a huge trend in 2015.
One of the advantages of a professional doing the reading, is that you have some measure of quality. These are trained actors that went to school, learned how to speak clearly and properly, don’t have lisps etc etc.
Emily King
So what about deaf people who would miss out on these “exclusive” works?
Michael Kozlowski
Radio Plays have been going on for like 60 years, what Audible is doing isn’t that different.
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/new-device-could-allow-individuals-hear-through-their-tongues
This is new tech!
Emily King
Sure.
But this is shifting the creative efforts of authors away from a more accessible medium. How would you feel if you were deaf and your favourite author has decided to do a deal with Audible and their next series was going to be audio only? Personally, if that were me, I’d feel pretty pissed.