Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Industry leaders react to APA sales survey results in Spoken-Word Audio Market Holds On, a Publishers Weekly article by Jim Milliot. Thoughtful comments on changes due to the economy, the library & bookstore markets, shifts from CD to downloads, DRM, and the increase in sales of pre-loaded Playway audiobooks.

Web Site Story: a love story for geeks from CollegeHumor:

Thanks to Neatorama for the link!

Share why you support the public library at geekthelibrary.org , an initiative of OCLC and the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation. Library supporters can learn ways to lobby for library funding, get facts & stats to support their community action, upload their library stories to Flickr or YouTube, and link up via Facebook and Twitter. [...]

Hate ripping titles using iTunes? A free download from Apple can help those with Apple computers: Audiobook Builder. Here’s more from the Apple website:
How do you move Audiobooks to your iPod or iPhone? Do you rip to iTunes, then move every imported track to a special playlist before syncing? That means hundreds of confusing track [...]

Click here for a printable list of 50 books, five magazines, and five audiobooks that make up the Ultimate Teen Bookshelf, named by the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association. Subscribers to the YALSA-BK electronic discussion list suggested titles for the Ultimate Teen Bookshelf, which were vetted by Pam Spencer Holley and Judy [...]

Twenty top new titles for children & adults were named by the UK’s Audio Publishing Association, as well as 20 notable backlist titles.  US favorites, such as Tea Time for the Traditionally Built and The Graveyard Book appear on the list, as well as distinctly UK titles such as The Last Fighting Tommy by Harry [...]

Rolling monks on fire + Phillip Glass = video strangeness

Thanks to Miss Celliana for the link!

Public libraries using OverDrive as their download service for audiobooks, eBooks, music, and video just expanded their offerings – and made quite a few patrons much happier. In the past, iPod users were frustrated with the Windows-MP3 device-only compatibility with OverDrive’s file format. But the release of OverDrive’s no-cost Media Console version 3.2 for Windows [...]

Pre-loaded audio format and downloads increase, childrens & YA numbers decrease. Total industry revenue down only 6.7%. Audiobooks remain a bright spot in publishing. Get more information by reading the complete 2009 APA Sales Survey press release here.

Just in case you missed my mention on Twitter: Scott Brick, award-winning audiobook reader & producer, has teamed up with the Audio Publishers Association to create Share the Experience, a virtual American Idol for aspiring audiobook narrators. Here’s the scoop from Brick’s awesome blog:
To celebrate my tenth anniversary as an audiobook narrator, I’ve enlisted the [...]