When we look at what print titles we want to make into audiobooks, the first consideration is story. Whether fiction or nonfiction, intended for children or adults, an engrossing story is paramount. Adding the right voice makes it unforgettable. A good audiobook marries text to performance, transporting you into the book and making you want more. Good audiobooks don’t just encourage listening—they encourage reading. What makes an audiobook good is when a narrator enhances the text without changing its intention. We pride ourselves on carefully matching the voice to the text. Again, this comes from the story itself. It is a narrator’s ability to affect the nuances of the author’s voice that separates the good from the great. When choosing narrators for Five by Fitzgerald, our upcoming collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories, we knew that Bronson Pinchot and Stephen R. Thorne were equal to the task of interpreting these classics, as they can simultaneously convey the humor and gravitas of Fitzgerald’s work, while making the sometimes anachronistic language sound fresh. Likewise, when taking on the narration of Irene Hunt’s Up the Road Slowly, Jaselyn Blanchard succeeded in bringing life to this seminal work.
Michele Cobb/AudioGoVice president, sales and marketing and President, Audio Publishers Association