June 2020 News Roundup

AUDIOBOOKS IN THE NEWS...

Hear! Hear! The explosion in audiobooks. [Source: CBS News]

AS AUDIOBOOK MARKET GROWS, NARRATORS OF COLOR FIND THEIR VOICE

Publishers are increasingly seeking out audio talent that reflects the race and experience of the books’ authors and characters. But what constitutes a black, Latino or Asian voice? [Source: NYTimes]

OVERDRIVE EDUCATION REPORTS RAPID INCREASE IN EBOOK AND AUDIOBOOK ADOPTION SINCE COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, OverDrive Education, with support from its publishing partners, has donated more than 6 million ebooks and audiobooks to schools, helping millions of students beat the "summer slide". [Source: Yahoo]

BOOKEXPO 2020: POPULARITY OF AUDIOBOOKS CONTINUES TO GROW

At BookExpo Online, Chris Lynch from Simon & Schuster, Cathy Forrest from HarperCollins, and Michael Anderle from LMBPN joined the APA's executive director, Michele Cobb, and among other growth trends, shared that the average number of books listened to per year by audiobook buyers has gone up to 8.1 from 6.8 in 2019. [Source: Publishers Weekly]