Audiobooks

Today on the Morning Media Menu, Buddy Media communications VP Joe Ciarallo shared a dispatch from the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). He told us how publishers are developing content for a very unexpected new platform: cars.

Ciarallo explained in the interview: “NPR has built an app for Ford cars. Obviously, NPR listeners spend a lot of time listening in the car. Now Ford has an app platform for their vehicles, and NPR built a voice-enabled app for your car. You can get in your car and say, ‘Give me the news’ and boom, Morning Edition comes on. That was an interesting, thinking about the automotive company as a media platform, we’re seeing more there.”

As cars get more advanced, audiobook producers, podcasters, literary app developers and publishers should get involved in this space–a great way to bring books to a new kind of reader.

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Audible.com has hired major actors to produce “tour de force performances” of new audiobooks. The stars helped choose the books, and the lineup includes Samuel L. Jackson reading A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes and Kim Basinger reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

What celebrity would you choose to read your favorite book? The program will add more celebrities in the future. We’ve included the current list below…

Kate Winslet explained why she read Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola:  “You use a different part of your brain and it keeps your creative juices flowing … It is challenging, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun as well. As a listener, being able to tune out and be taken into another world, an atmosphere, an environment that is being created entirely for you by somebody else’s voice is really a wonderful, magical thing.”

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Film and stage legend Vanessa Redgrave will narrate the audiobook edition of Joan Didion‘s upcoming memoir, Blue Nights.

The book will explore the tragic death of Didion’s daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne. In 2007, Redgrave played the great journalist in the theatrical adaptation of another Didion book, The Year of Magical Thinking.

Here’s more from the Joan Didion Info blog: “in 2009, Vanessa Redgrave’s daughter, the actress Natasha Richardson died in a skiing accident in Canada … The resemblance of their personal tragedies seemed to give rise to a close friendship between the two women. Didion was reported at the time to have visited Richardson in hospital in New York shortly before she died.”

Samuel L. Jackson earned hundreds of thousands of downloads last week when he read Go the F*** to Sleep for Audible. In addition, YouTube users have watched his reading nearly 20,000 times.

Adam Mansbach‘s profane children’s book for adults has spawned a number of unofficial videos on YouTube as well. These earnest readers have earned hundreds of thousands of views, sharing the book with a new online audience.

We’ve embedded a few video book readings below, but beware: ALL THESE VIDEOS CONTAIN NSFW LANGUAGE.

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Samuel L. Jackson recorded a six-minute audiobook version of Adam Mansbach‘s profane children’s book for adults, Go the F*** to Sleep.

Currently (as of this June 15 writing) Audible is offering the funny audiobook for free–follow this link to download. Apparently filmmaker and brilliant narrator Werner Herzog will also record an audiobook version.

Jackson explained in the narration: “I was anxious to do the audio read of this book because my agent has twins and he gave me the book and I read it and I fell out laughing. I remember all those times when I did read to my daughter when she was that age. Everybody tells you reading stories will put kids to sleep, but it never works. It didn’t in my house.”

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The Audio Publishers Association is hosting a “Get Caught Listening” contest. To enter, create a three-minute or less video promoting audiobooks.

The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 while second place gets $2,500 and third place gets $1,000. Judges will narrow down the contestant pool to ten finalists and make an announcement on June 1st. After that, readers will vote for the top three favorites.

The contest ends May 15, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Check out all the rules and the entry form here.

Last night, Jon Stewart & The Daily Show writers won the Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Award for Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race. Julie Andrews and her daughter (Emma Walton Hamilton) won the Best Spoken Word Album for Children award for the poetry collection, Julie Andrews’ Collection Of Poems, Songs, And Lullabies.

In the video embedded above, Andrews reads a poem. Andrews also won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In her acceptance speech earlier this month, the actress talked about her work as a children’s author.

When Stewart read at a New York City Barnes & Noble, he explained the book’s premise: “This is the entirety of the human experience. How we got here, what we did while we were here, and obviously, how we’re leaving. We’ll tell you, it’s really quite funny.”

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A number of audiobooks have been nominated for spoken word Grammy Awards (logo via) in both the adult and children’s category. The awards ceremony is scheduled for February 13, 2011.

Here’s more about the spoken word category: “For albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded non-musical recordings, poetry & storytelling performances and/or narrations with or without musical collaboration or accompaniment. ”

Best Spoken Word Album Nominees (Listed with performing artist)
1. American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson [HarperAudio]
2. The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman [HarperAudio]
3. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook) by Jon Stewart (With Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, John Oliver & Sigourney Weaver [Hachette Audio]
5. A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Future… by
Michael J. Fox [Hyperion Audio]
6. This Time Together: Laughter And Reflection by Carol Burnett [Random House Audio]
7. The Woody Allen Collection: Mere Anarchy, Side Effects, Without Feathers, Getting Even by Woody Allen [Audible Inc.]

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Johnny Depp reads in the audiobook version of Keith Richards‘ memoir, Life.

The audiobook will also feature readings by musician Joe Hurley and The Rolling Stones guitarist himself.  Both the memoir and the audiobook will be released tomorrow.

Hurley had this statement: “It was a privilege to help tell his story … When you read the book, you feel that Keith’s sitting in a favourite armchair, reflecting, and sharing his wild ride, his life, with just you. The same sense you get from a great singer, he is singing in your ear, no one else.”

Over at The Huffington Post, you can take a Google Maps trip through Richards’ memoir.

LibriVox founder Hugh McGuire launched a new audiobook company today. Iambik Audio unveiled 11 new literary fiction audiobooks from indie publishers in the U.S. and Canada, including audiobooks for Gordon Lish and Lydia Millet.

The complete list of new audiobooks follows below. Prices range between $5 and $10 for the individual titles. Iambik Audio titles can be purchased on the website or through distribution partners like Audible, Overdrive, and eMusic.

Here’s more from the release: “Iambik aims to change the way commercial audiobooks are made. For audiobook listeners, Iambik will offer hand-picked collections of audiobooks … with no digital rights management—meaning they can be played on any computer or mobile device. For publishers and authors, Iambik approaches everything as a partnership, by promoting print and ebooks, as well as selling audiobooks, and by giving healthy royalties on all sales.”

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