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APA Announces Finalists for Audiobook of the Year Award

Kathleen Hughes — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:10:31 +0000

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) has announced the three titles that are in the running for Audiobook of the Year. They are:
“Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales,” narrated by a full cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Helen Mirren, Don Cheadle, and Alan Rickman; “The Time of My Life,” written and read by Patrick Swayze; and “The World of Promise Audio Bible,” performed by a full cast of over 600 actors, including narration by Michael York.
The winner will be announced at the Audies Gala Ceremony on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, at the Museum of the City of New York, in New York City.
For more information visit the APA website at www.audiopub.org.

Sea Without Salt

Michael May — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:15:37 +0000

From the preconference session Where Readers Go Books Follow: The Future of Audio Materials in Public Libraries:

Joyce Saricks and Mary K. Chelton, I worship you! But why was there no discussion about Digital Rights Management or how long it might be before librarians are able to provide access to digital audiobooks to patrons with iPods?

Audiobook narrator Scott Brick was very cool with faded jeans, untucked shirt, and tinted glasses!

When he first saw his name in a library catalog, Scott Brick called his friend and exclaimed, “Dude! I’ve made it!”

The reason why Scott Brick is an audiobook narrator can be summarized by a quote from Stephen R. Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane: “A life without tales is like a sea without salt.”

Podcast: Celebrating Excellence in Audiobooks for Children and Young Adults

Andrea Mercado — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:16:26 +0000

I’ve never recorded a session for podcast and *not* sat in on the same session (my post of the session I attended is forthcoming), so this is something new. Many thanks to Melissa Faubel Johnson for minding the digital recorder!

The description for the session, which was presented Saturday, June 23, was as follows:

Audiobooks are a growing portion of library collections. Here is an event to celebrate and learn about the creation of quality audiobook products from the perspective of authors, narrators and producers who build the blocks that create great listening experiences. This program will focus on audiobooks for young adults and children and is cosponsored by ALSC and YALSA.

Many thanks to ALSC for working with us to record and podcast the session!

Here’s the list of when each speaker begins in the recording, and a little tidbit about each speaker’s segment. It sounds like it was a very interesting and entertaining recording, and I’m sad I missed it (even though I wouldn’t have normally attended this session in the first place), so I’m glad we have the podcast to share with all of you.

Intro: Mary Burkey, Moderator, Odyssey Award Committee Chair, introduces the session, and talks a little about the Odyssey Award, a collaboration between ALSC and YALSA.

5:37: Bruce Coville, Author, Full Cast Audio:

16:03: Judy Blume, Author, Books on Tape/Listening Library – very humorous presentation with bits about reading her books to audio. Her advice to writers is to read aloud!

31:00: John Green, Author, Brilliance Audiobooks – Creator/contributor to the videoblog Brotherhood 2.0 who has worked for NPR, includes bits on the relationship between text and audio.

47:00: Jack Gantos, Author, Books on Tape/Listening Library – Oh my word, he’s funny. Jack tells the story of how a reading of his book that was like “Miracle Whip on white bread” led him to read his own books for audio.

58:40: Question and Answer
Really interesting stuff about sending books to audio before print, behind the scenes at an audiobook recording from an author’s perspective, Fisher Price mp3 players, enhanced audio book CDs, and the fabulous emotion in audiobooks. Unfortunately, the recording stops short of the conclusionary comments, but we still got a good bit of it, and it’s still a good listen.