Though still a fraction of the overall book market, audiobooks continue their double-digit annual growth: the global audiobooks market is expected to reach $35.04 billion by 2030, and U.S. audiobook sales topped ebook sales for the second year in a row. At last count, more than seventy-five thousand titles have been published, a number that will dramatically increase as AI narration brings cost and production time down.
Most audiobooks are narrated renditions of already-published print or ebooks, but the category’s success has led to increased experimentation, with “audiobook originals” or “audio first” productions gaining traction — and fans.
But defining what makes an audiobook an “original” is not easy. Audible co-opted the term early on to describe any title that was its “exclusive,” regardless of whether it had a print life as well. When we talked to a range of producers, publishers and industry vets about this, it became clear that, as Joy Smith, Head of Audio at Rebel Girls admitted, this is a “hazy” term.
Audible notwithstanding, most agree that audiobook originals are released exclusively in audio format, without a corresponding print or ebook version. There seem to be some broad rules; these audiobook originals are (often):
- An author’s first foray into another genre or medium
- Written specifically for audio format OR reimagined as an audiobook
- Frequently (but not always) shorter in length (3-5 hours) than typical audiobooks
- “Immersive” — produced with music and sound effects, multiple voices, better production quality, etc.
- A way to connect to fans who may not have listened to audiobooks, e.g. podcast enthusiasts, book and ebook readers, fans of the author’s music, acting, comedy, etc.
- A way to get to market quickly (a production timeline of four vs. twelve-plus months)
Smith says that originals “written with audio-first in mind are a different craft.” Whether that’s a podcast that is edited for an audiobook audience, or written specifically as an audiobook, it’s a different beast from a text-first project. (Rebel Girls’ own podcast program is “Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.”)
She believes that, as with print books, “if you have a good story, that’s what brings the audience” —though, she adds, nothing happens without discoverability. Many we spoke to admit that Audible is the main conduit for audiobook sales, approaching 90% of market share, though some listeners go to Apple, Kobo, or (through libraries) Overdrive.
Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House are among those publishers that are devoting more resources to creating audiobooks that originate outside of the traditional text-based book-ebook-audiobook formula. S&S’s Lara Blackman is focusing on these originals: “This is a good way to introduce podcast listeners to audiobooks, or when introducing authors and franchises to a new audience.” For example, Star Trek: No Man’s Land was a tie-in with the tv show. And S&S just published William Kent Krueger’s The Levee, a novella, as an original audiobook. Kruger explains on his author page that “storytelling is an oral tradition…When writing a story, I read that story out loud, both as I’m composing it and when it’s completed. To me, a good story ought to flow easily off the tongue. And when I listen to the words, the sentences, the paragraphs, I hear not only the clunk that ought not to be there (so that I can edit it out) but also the beauty in the cadences I’ve created, the truth of the scenes I’ve imagined, the reality of the characters I’ve created with nothing but words.” That’s a ringing endorsement of audio (and his work).
No one is quite sure when publishers started creating “originals,” but Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, released in 2015 and featuring an original musical score and large cast (including Michael Sheen as Lucifer), is one of the best known in this category. Other examples of recent well-known recordings include PRH Audio’s publication of Erik Larson’s No One Goes Alone, his first-ever work of fiction; Audible’s production of Dolly Parton’s memoir-set-to-songs, Dolly Parton, Songteller; and S&S’s original “Audio Drama,” Star Trek: Picard.
These “productions” are not audio transcriptions. They are, says Robin Lai, Head of Audio Custom Shop at John Marshall Media, new creations. For instance, screenwriters “concepted” Anatomy of Desire, a reimagining of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, as a multicast audio drama, though there is a derivative book as well. HarperCollins published Woke Up This Morning, an audiobook based on a series of podcasts about The Sopranos by Steve Schirripa and Michael Imperioli. PRH worked with historian Timothy Snyder on a forthcoming “audio-exclusive” version On Tyranny, now with a subtitle: Updated with Twenty New Lessons from Russia’s War on Ukraine. It took six weeks from proposal to finished recording.
Meanwhile, James Patterson has a multi-project and first-look development deal for a slate of audio-only projects with Audible. In a Hollywood Reporter article, Zola Mashariki, head of Audible Studios, says that Audible is also able to give creatives the ability to pursue passion projects in a way that may not be possible through the traditional studio model: “Audio is much cheaper, [so] we can take much more risk and say, ‘Let’s try that and let’s see,’ because we are building for a future that is unknown…”
Agent Kimberly Bower sold Corinne Michaels’s You Loved Me Once to Audible, in part because the author was going beyond her typical romance cetagory into women’s fiction, which might have confused her loyal readers. But it was an extra incentive when she found out that actress – and Audie winner — Julia Whelan would narrate the book. Bower says that originals are harder to do now that so many publishers insist on owning audiobooks rights when they acquire a book.
Michele Cobb, the head of the Audio Publishers Association and Executive Director of The Podcast Academy, notes that original audiobooks are still a small piece of the market. Some publishers, like L.A. Theatre Works (which does staged plays) and GraphicAudio (“a movie in your mind”), have been aware of the potential for a long time. But as audiobook sales are growing, people are willing to experiment more. Originals can promote an author or narrator, an event, etc. – and it’s instructive to see how many Audie Award nominees fall into categories that are not transcription of books, nor represented by traditional audiobook publishers.
There’s general agreement that audiobooks and podcasts influence each other and are increasingly seen as synergistic. For instance, Pushkin Industries, an audio production company co-founded by Jacob Weisberg and Malcolm Gladwell in 2018, does podcasts and (some) audiobooks based thereon. But, says Audiobook Editorial Director Kerri Kolen, enhanced, original audiobooks are mainly being created because there’s an audience for them, especially among younger listeners. Featuring music, sound effects and high production values, these originals are coming into their own. While some consumers (and literary agents) are still trying to understand what these new downloads are, the response from listeners is overwhelmingly positive. And the creative synergy between authors and producers is exciting: Kolen, who was once an Executive Editor at PRH, enjoys “taking chances and trying new things” in these yet-uncharted waters. One recent project, which is nominated for an Audie, is Heartbreak, based on a memoir by Florence Williams but significantly changed from the original text version. It is one of the few audiobooks to get a separate review in The New York Times. Other “audio firsts” include Miracle & Wonder by Paul Simon and Malcolm Gladwell, which is also nominated for an Audie.
An area still (so to speak) in its infancy is children’s audio. Neil Patrick Harris’s The Magic Misfits series was an early example of original children’s audiobooks, and more recently, Jamie Lee Curtis’s “show,” Letters From Camp, made successful audiobooks. But Shira Schindel, who has worked for both Audible and Blackstone, echoes others when she prophesies that “there will be money to be made in children’s audio, but it may need a new platform, because Audible is not ideal for children’s subscriptions.” She mentions Yoto and similar audio devices that often come pre-loaded with stories. A new one, Storybutton, promotes itself as the antidote to screen time, but COPPA rules and a lack of focused marketing mean that this will take time to develop. Still, with parents wanting children to get away from screens, there’s untapped opportunity, say several of those interviewed.
Where is the market for “audiobook originals” going? There seems to be a consensus that, wonderful as podcasts are, a fickle advertiser base means they don’t earn the sort of return that books and audiobooks do. Audiobooks have a following, but to engage new listeners, an enhanced version of the book, podcast or production may be the Best Next Step. The creator community is excited, but now it’s time to sell it to the Listener. “And that,” says Kerri Kolen of Pushkin, “is going to take time.”
