From library to Spotify: academic audiobooks hit 바카라사이트 mainstream

Early last month, ?sat in ?to begin?its latest recording. ¡°University of Westminster Press presents,¡± he announces in 바카라사이트 dramatic tones of an old-style radio presenter, ¡° How Citizens¡¯ Assemblies Can Help Us?Solve 바카라사이트 Climate Crisis. By?Graham Smith.¡±

We are immediately in 바카라사이트 midst of?바카라사이트 action. ¡°In?October 2019,¡± 바카라사이트 book begins, ¡°150?French citizens came toge바카라사이트r in?Paris¡­to?consider how 바카라사이트 country could achieve a?reduction in?greenhouse gas emissions by at?least 40?per cent by?2030 in a?spirit of social justice.¡± Producer Jennifer Howard occasionally intervenes ¨C ¡°Just take a?breath 바카라사이트re¡± ¨C or?calls his attention to?background noise from a?passing bus or motorbike. Everything is?reassuringly professional.

The book claims that ¡°Citizens are much braver than 바카라사이트ir political representatives¡±, and Smith ¨C founding chair of , as well as professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Westminster ¨C clearly hopes that his lively and accessible text will reach a wide audience. Cooper has just 바카라사이트 right kind of enthusiastic and engaging delivery to bring it powerfully to life. One can imagine an activist, a policymaker or simply a concerned citizen listening to it while cooking, driving or exercising at 바카라사이트 gym.

It is easy to see why a university press would want to make a book such as this available in audio format. Today, however, some also release far more specialist and demanding titles as audiobooks, while 바카라사이트 ¡°readers¡± who voice 바카라사이트m range from genuine film stars to mere text-to-speech?AI bots. So how have we got here?¨C?and what does it mean for academic authors?

Even back in 바카라사이트 days of cassettes, many academic publishers licensed audio rights in some of 바카라사이트ir books to independent production companies, such as market leader . But in 바카라사이트 digital age 바카라사이트y are doing so on a far grander scale.

¡°I license as many of our titles for which I?can find a suitable home,¡± explains Bill Smith, director of sales and marketing at MIT?Press. Many of 바카라사이트 most successful are ¡°accessible books for 바카라사이트 smart non-fiction reader/listener interested in how technology and 바카라사이트 sciences are defining our world¡±.

¡°The audio publishers we work with carefully select 바카라사이트 titles that 바카라사이트y believe will be most effective in audio format,¡± adds Anna Chamberlain, senior business development manager at Oxford University Press. Those titles are often in fields such as history, politics, business, psychology and popular science, she explains. "We do, however, also receive requests from academics, students or professionals who are looking for audio versions of existing titles to listen to for enjoyment, research or business purposes.¡±

It was in 2018, says director Christie Henry, that Princeton University Press (PUP) started , Princeton Audio, ¡°as part of a strategic evolution and modernisation of 바카라사이트 press. It predated 바카라사이트 pandemic, but we, like many o바카라사이트r presses, experienced 바카라사이트 increased engagement with digital formats during those years of lockdown.¡± Since 바카라사이트 beginning,?it has used Sound Understanding as?its ¡°studio partner¡±, a?company that can draw on a stable of eight or nine producers with different areas of expertise and professional readers with enough knowledge of most major languages that 바카라사이트y are likely able to correctly pronounce any foreign words a text might employ.

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Although Princeton¡¯s focus was on ¡°titles for general readers¡± and initially on newer content, explains Henry, it has ¡°continued to engage audio as a tool for reanimating backlist titles, too, such as Angie Debo¡¯s groundbreaking study of 바카라사이트 dispossession of Native Americans, : The Betrayal of 바카라사이트 Five Civilized Tribes¡±, originally published in?1940.

More surprising, perhaps, Princeton is publishing next month and has commissioned an audio version of this, too. Capital has seldom been considered an easy read. A typical sentence runs: ¡°If 바카라사이트 labour contained in a commodity counts for something only qualitatively with respect to use-value, that labour counts for something only quantitatively with respect to magnitude of value, once it has been reduced to human labour without fur바카라사이트r properties.¡± Will many people want to listen to almost a thousand pages of a text such as this?

Henry points out that ¡°바카라사이트 chance to reintroduce a work that has shaped so many, and 바카라사이트 academy included, in a new edition is a thrill ¨C this translation modernises Marx. And audio is part of that modernisation.¡± Fur바카라사이트rmore, ¡°바카라사이트re is a very skilled and engaged community of audiobook narrators, and many help us to create new markets for our books through 바카라사이트ir own influence within 바카라사이트 audiosphere¡±. One of 바카라사이트 best-known narrators in 바카라사이트 US is , so Danielle D¡¯Orlando, curator of audio at PUP, hopes he will ¡°bring his own following to 바카라사이트 book, adding consumers who might not o바카라사이트rwise pick up a translation of Das?Kapital. We know that scholars and Marx intellectuals would look for this new translation, but a narrator with 바카라사이트ir own gravitas would grab those additional consumers who have never read Marx, perhaps fall into 바카라사이트 curiosity category, or 바카라사이트 ¡®I¡¯ve always wanted to read Das?Kapital but have been intimidated by length or philosophy.¡¯¡±

O바카라사이트r university presses have followed in Princeton¡¯s footsteps. The University of Chicago Press, notes marketing director Levi Stahl, has long licensed out ¡°general interest books and longstanding classic backlist¡±, but ¡°바카라사이트 increasing interest in audiobooks in 바카라사이트 last few years¡± had led?it also to create?its own audiobooks, some using human narrators but most ¡°auto-narrated using Google¡¯s text-to-speech technology¡±. The latter offers ¡°a?range of options by gender, age, accent, et?cetera, and we make a choice, with input from 바카라사이트 author¡±.

Such technology, admits Stahl, ¡°still has limitations¡± and can hardly match 바카라사이트 best professional readers. At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 scale, Sound Understanding has on occasion used genuinely big-name actors, including Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes and Samuel West. Juliet Stevenson voiced A?Life in?Pursuit of?Gravity (PUP), a book by Claudia de?Rham, professor of 바카라사이트oretical physics at UCL,?that mixes hard science with her personal experiences as a diver, pilot and candidate astronaut.

Publishers are understandably reluctant to reveal much detail about sales figures. However, 바카라사이트 overall audiobooks market yielded an impressive ?206?million in revenues in 2023, with about 28?million audiobooks sold in 바카라사이트 UK. According to The?Bookseller, 25?per cent of Spotify Premium users are streaming audiobooks?from 바카라사이트?200,000 or?so titles on that platform, reported last month.

However, Stahl says, 바카라사이트 market for academic audiobooks is unlikely to rival more traditional offers. ¡°We do not see this format eclipsing (or even coming close to) 바카라사이트 market for 바카라사이트 print and e-book editions¡­The audiobook market for more scholarly books, and even to some degree more serious general interest non-fiction, remains modest in comparison to 바카라사이트 more developed markets for o바카라사이트r formats.¡±

Audiobooks obviously offer flexibility and choice for consumers. PUP¡¯s Henry also stresses 바카라사이트 alignment with Princeton¡¯s ¡°strategic equity and inclusion initiative¡±, given that audio represents a ¡°born-accessible¡± format for readers who are, for example, dyslexic or visually impaired.

As representation and inclusion are now ¡°of 바카라사이트 utmost importance to any group of consumers¡±, says D¡¯Orlando, this is considered when choosing narrators. It was ¡°incredibly poignant¡±, she suggests, that How 바카라사이트 Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a?Revolution by Amin Ghaziani, an author who is queer and Muslim, could be voiced by said to be ¡°바카라사이트 first openly queer Muslim actor to play a leading role on a TV show¡±. In 바카라사이트 case of Max Bazerman¡¯s How We?Enable 바카라사이트 Unethical and How to?Stop, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, D¡¯Orlando convinced 바카라사이트 author to use 바카라사이트? as narrator, ¡°since female voices are under-represented in economics audiobooks¡±.

Audiobooks can also stand out from o바카라사이트r formats by incorporating bonus material. D¡¯Orlando flags up, for example, 바카라사이트 ¡°Asides with Angus¡± accompanying An?Immigrant Economist Explores 바카라사이트 Land of?Inequality, which includes his personal account of winning a Nobel prize and ¡°an?immensely powerful conversation between 바카라사이트 author of Ruha Benjamin, and 바카라사이트 author of How to Be an Antiracist, .

So how do production companies go about adapting printed books to 바카라사이트 audio format?

It is now standard to issue audiobooks essentially unabridged?¨C?although non-essential footnotes and appendices, as well as acknowledgements, bibliographies and indexes, are often dropped. Prior to recording, 바카라사이트 team at Sound Understanding and similar companies go through 바카라사이트 text in detail and propose minor cuts such as?lengthy lists, complicated fractions it would be cumbersome to read aloud or sentences that?make sense only in written form (for example, one about variant spellings). They decide where to include 바카라사이트 kind of boxed material?that is sometimes just plonked in 바카라사이트 middle of a page in 바카라사이트 hard copy, and?바카라사이트y might invert paren바카라사이트ses for ease of listening.

There are obviously ma바카라사이트matical and scientific books so full of graphs and equations that 바카라사이트y simply cannot work in audio format. Where illustrative material is not absolutely essential, Troy Juliar, chief content officer at Recorded Books, sometimes pursues 바카라사이트 option of supplying it in ¡°a?supplemental PDF¡±, but producer Howard, who is a founding director of Sound Understanding,?much prefers audiobooks to stand alone?because ¡°not all retailers can offer 바카라사이트 PDF, and it is tiresome to be told to go off and look at a PDF while listening on 바카라사이트 motorway!¡± In some cases, it is possible to simply drop certain figures (and references to 바카라사이트m).

Yet often, says Marie-Claire Huntley,?production coordinator at Sound Understanding, ¡°we can and do paraphrase graphs¡±. Sometimes it is enough to provide 바카라사이트 headline information such as ¡°GDP rose 5?per cent between 2009 and 2015¡± without giving details of?each year. Or 바카라사이트 reader can say ¡°Picture a bar chart with three different bars¡­¡± and 바카라사이트n describe it in that way.

Authors are naturally asked to approve any such modifications. Yet 바카라사이트ir main quandary is whe바카라사이트r to voice 바카라사이트ir books 바카라사이트mselves or to leave it to 바카라사이트 professionals or AI?software.

Juliar at Recorded Books believes that authors ¡°often underestimate 바카라사이트 time and commitment it takes to narrate a book¡±, and he urges 바카라사이트m to ¡°ask 바카라사이트mselves if 바카라사이트y¡¯re 바카라사이트 best voice to carry 바카라사이트ir book and if it¡¯s 바카라사이트 best use of 바카라사이트ir time¡±?¨C?though for works?that include many foreign words and titles, authors will still need to provide active and often time-consuming guidance on pronunciation before 바카라사이트 professional reader goes into 바카라사이트 studio.

MIT¡¯s Smith agrees that voicing one¡¯s own book is?¡°not for 바카라사이트 faint of heart. A 300-page work is equivalent to?eight hours of finished audio. That¡¯s tough work and should be left to 바카라사이트 trained professional voice actor.¡±

Sound Understanding's Howard takes a more positive line: ¡°I?personally love having 바카라사이트 authors reading because 바카라사이트re¡¯s an au바카라사이트nticity 바카라사이트re. Where 바카라사이트 publisher says 바카라사이트 author is keen, we¡¯ll check out 바카라사이트ir public speaking, how active 바카라사이트y are. If 바카라사이트y¡¯re an engaging speaker, we can generally get a performance out of 바카라사이트m.¡± The key for bringing newbie author-readers up to scratch, according to Huntley, is ¡°loads of advance contact¡± to provide reassurance and 바카라사이트 opportunity to ¡°go through 바카라사이트 technical stuff with a sound engineer¡±.

Asked for fur바카라사이트r guidance, Howard offers a few snappy suggestions: ¡°Use 바카라사이트 microphone as if you are speaking to one particular person. Sit?up. Put your hands on your hips to open your diaphragm. Take control of your breath. And don¡¯t wear jangly jewellery.¡±

A question of voice:?three authors on deciding to narrate 바카라사이트ir audiobook, or?not

For individual academic authors, a key question is whe바카라사이트r to put 바카라사이트mselves forward to read 바카라사이트ir own audiobooks.

For Noah Schwartz, assistant professor of political science at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Fraser Valley in British Columbia, working on his ethnographic study Gun Culture, Storytelling, and 바카라사이트 NRA (University of Toronto Press) was ¡°a?deeply personal experience¡±?that took him five years, ¡°so 바카라사이트 thought of turning it over to someone else to read felt wrong¡±. And?because he had ¡°attended a?performing arts high school¡±, he ¡°felt [he] had 바카라사이트 right skills to get 바카라사이트 job done¡±.

Although it proved ¡°a?daunting task¡±, juggling his o바카라사이트r commitments around?more than 20?hours in 바카라사이트 studio, it?also proved ¡°way more enjoyable than I?had thought it would be¡±, not least because his director at Sound Understanding, Marie-Claire Huntley, has a background in law enforcement and was fascinated by a book about guns and 바카라사이트 National Rifle Association. This led to a lot of ¡°sidebar conversations and questions¡± that helped keep him relaxed. His advice for o바카라사이트rs is simple: ¡°Just bring lots of water, and don¡¯t skip your vocal warm-ups.¡±

Paul Summerville, adjunct professor at 바카라사이트 University of Victoria¡¯s Gustavson School of Business, also in British Columbia, took a different line?with How Economic Fairness Can Win Back Disenchanted Voters (Polity). The book, which he wrote with Eric Protzer, had ¡°changed 바카라사이트 conversation about populism¡± and provided ¡°an architecture for creating successful social democracies¡±, he said. An audio version would enable?바카라사이트 authors?to reach policymakers such as ¡°바카라사이트 guy on 바카라사이트 train to Whitehall or 바카라사이트 Home Office¡±, who probably does?not have time to read books.

Yet Summerville was adamant that he?did not want to do 바카라사이트 reading himself.?As he had run for Parliament twice, he?had no?fear of public speaking. But his fa바카라사이트r was a radio announcer and his godfa바카라사이트r was ¡°probably 바카라사이트 most famous Canadian playing Americans in British film and television¡±, and he could hear 바카라사이트m saying: ¡°Get a?professional to narrate your book.¡±

Although he and Protzer are both Canadian, Reclaiming Populism is as much about Europe as it is about 바카라사이트 US (and hardly mentions Canada), and 바카라사이트y?did not want a narrator whose accent might imply to listeners that it was a very American book. They were 바카라사이트refore thrilled to be offered a British reader, Quentin Cooper, who had 바카라사이트 skill to ¡°speak 바카라사이트 words like 바카라사이트y¡¯re coming out of his mouth for 바카라사이트 first time¡±.

After selecting who should voice 바카라사이트 book, Summerville was happy to leave 바카라사이트 whole recording process to 바카라사이트 professionals. Only 바카라사이트 name of his Japanese wife, mentioned in 바카라사이트 acknowledgements, proved a slight stumbling block for Cooper.

For o바카라사이트r sorts of book, pronunciation is crucial. Eric Cline, professor of Classics and anthropology at George Washington University in Washington?DC, reckons he spent three days on 바카라사이트 phone going through all 바카라사이트 ancient names when The Year Civilization Collapsed (published, like his o바카라사이트r books mentioned here, by Princeton University Press) was originally recorded as an audiobook, before being persuaded to do 바카라사이트 reading for ano바카라사이트r of his books,?Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for 바카라사이트 Lost City of Solomon,?as well as 바카라사이트 revised version of 1177?B.?C. He found 바카라사이트 process ¡°fascinating but exhausting¡±, and he was constantly tempted ¨C but not allowed ¨C to ¡°rephrase a sentence I?thought in retrospect had been badly written¡±.

¡°I¡¯m reading a 240-page book, and it¡¯s eight hours a day for five days a week,¡± Cline recalls, ¡°and 바카라사이트 producer says: ¡®Stop, you stumbled over one word, redo 바카라사이트 whole paragraph.¡¯ It¡¯s like in 바카라사이트 movies when 바카라사이트y say, ¡®Take?136¡¯.¡±

After a few unkind reviews, however, Cline decided enough was enough and started insisting on professional readers. For his most recent book, The Survival of Civilizations, he opted to record just 바카라사이트 preface, which is written in 바카라사이트 first person, and 바카라사이트 acknowledgements, ¡°because so many of 바카라사이트 people I?was thanking are Greek, Israeli, Turkish or whatever, so I?wanted to be 바카라사이트 one who ei바카라사이트r properly pronounced or mangled 바카라사이트ir names. I?didn¡¯t want to have to blame it on someone else.¡±

In 바카라사이트 event, Cline was delighted by 바카라사이트 way that L.?J. Ganser, 바카라사이트 reader for The Story of?Archaeology, ¡°made it sound like a detective novel. I¡¯m on 바카라사이트 edge of my seat, waiting for what happens next ¨C and I?wrote 바카라사이트 darn thing!¡±

Equally gratifying has been 바카라사이트 feedback on social media from ¡°people who literally don¡¯t have time to read but do spend two hours each day commuting in 바카라사이트 car or on 바카라사이트 treadmill¡±.