PAINPANG.COM: AUDIO BOOKS

thinking... shooting off mouth...

making noise... searching for meaning...

finding... music... life... words... making music...

sudden death... shocking pain... stunned silence...

filled with grave questions... doubts... thinking...

thinking... "get a gun... a gun... a big gun...

lots of guns... lots of big guns...

really big guns...

bomb..."

DAMN IT. I CAN'T HEAR MY SELF THINK.

How can I quietly contemplate my own noisy but incredibly urgent and therefore important thoughts with all these other stimuli competing for my attention? Can the thoughtful contemplation of the printed word survive in the presence of the spoken word... music... sounds... and other distractions? Will the printed word and the future of human communication survive the relentless drive towards increased stimulation that may or may not produce increased understanding... greater meaning?

—Lemony Snooks

"With book sales flat, publishers are loading up audio books with sound effects, visuals and celebrities. Robert J. Hughes on whether they're sound additions —or just more noise." WSJ

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Wall Street Journal

March 25, 2005

"AUDIO BOOKS

Turn Up the Volumes"

By Robert J. Hughes

THE LATEST INSTALLMENT in the Lemony Snicket series "The Grim Grotto" pits a pair of orphans against an evil count and features deadly mushroom spores and a treatise on wasabi mustard. But what hooked 15-year-old Mallory Morse wasn't the twisty plot or offbeat details—it was the book's musical score, word games and digital art gallery.

That's because Ms. Morse "read" the novel as an audio book in a new... format, spending as much time clicking on the extras... as she did listening to the story. The special effects "really opened up [the Lemony Snicket] world to me," says Ms. Morse, who lives in Willowbrook, Ill. "The game was fun, and I loved the picture gallery."

Trying to update the audio-book business, publishers are starting to go after the digitally savvy consumer with features more typical of movie DVDs, from interviews with starring characters to archival recordings. Many of the new releases include... visual and interactive material—such as old maps, self-improvement questionnaires and photos... The indusry is also boosting production values, with bigger budgets and famous readers...

With a record number of audio books coming out this year, (WSJ) decided to check out the newest and coolest features of the spring releases. Our goal: To figure out which really added to the listening experience and which were just pricey gizmos. We were surprised by what we heard. Gimmicks like the surround-sound effect of a "Star Wars" audio book really added to our enjoyment...

... the bells-and-whistles strategy seems to be making progress. While the $7 billion book industry has been struggling with flat sales since 2000, the $800 million audio book business has been growing steadily at 10% a year over the same period. By adding soundtracks, author interviews and other extras, publishers say they can reach an iPod generation obsessed with downloading—and, more importantly, fatten up the prices of audio books. A recently released audio version of James Joyce's "Ulysses" comes with... excerpts of music mentioned in the novel; it costs $149. By contrast, the 1995 no-frills version... abridged... sells for $27.84.

The industry is "trying to heighten the experience so we can hook [consumers] on this particular format," says Ana Maria Allessi, publisher of Harper Audio, whose "The Little House on the Prairie" audio books include period fiddle music.

Unlike movies that go straight to video without having a feature release, books tend to get an audio version only if publishers believe the hardcover sister will sell at least 50,000 copies. (Audio books typically sell somewhere between 6% and 10% of the hardcover's numbers.) The industry tends to favor mysteries, thrillers and business books, but also looks for novels with strong narratives like "The Kite Runner," about a young boy growing up in Afghanistan.

WORTHY OF A LOW-BUDGET MOVIE

There are also some upgrades worthy of a low-budget movie. For the new audio release of Louis L'Amour's "Son of a Wanted Man," producer Beau L'Amour (the late author's son) spent $75,000—more than triple the standard audio-book budget—to record the real sounds of trains and gunshots and stagecoach wheels. History buffs can pick up a new audio book about presidential assassinations—"Assassination Vacation"—featuring Stephen King reading the part of Abraham Lincoln.

While few publishers market their audio releases separately, they are increasingly focusing their attentions on the audio divisions... And Barnes & Noble is pushing publishers to add more extras, which the chain thinks help popularize audio books. "We're very bullish on them," says Theresa Thompson, the chain's director of audio books.

Still, audio fans like stay-at-home mom Jessie Grearson in Falmouth, Maine, prefer quieter, old-fashioned audio books like "Rebecca" or "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." There, the only task is to listen—which she does in her car or while doing chores. "So many productions want to cram the effect of TV into an audio," says Ms. Grearson, 43. "It can be exhausting."

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