Spotify announced that its audiobooks feature is now available in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Monaco. The company writes in a release, “Listeners in these markets will now have access to more than 300,000 audiobooks as part of their Premium subscription, including a robust mix of local-language and English-language titles featuring both independent publishers and major partners such as Bonnier.” They have also created a subscription option called Audiobooks+, which is “a recurring monthly add-on that provides additional listening hours” beyond the allotted fifteen hours.
Audio
Spotify Introduces Audiobook Recaps Feature
Spotify has rolled out a new audiobook feature called Recaps, offering “short audio summaries that help listeners seamlessly return to an audiobook they’ve already started, without needing to rewind or re-listen.” Recaps become available after a user has listened to 15-20 minutes of the book, and cover the segment of the book the user has heard. The company writes in a release, “When a listener returns to a story after a break, they can tap the Recap button at the top of an audiobook page to hear a tailored summary of what’s happened so far.” They also note that the […]
Simon Maverick Launches in the UK
Simon & Schuster has launched its audio imprint Simon Maverick in the UK, following its January 2025 US launch. The imprint is focused on self-published authors. Titles include Lauren Palphreyman’s romantasy Wolf King series, BookTok personality Jaysea Lynn’s For Whom the Belle Tolls, and I.V. Ophelia’s The Poisoner. Alice Twomey has been promoted to audio publisher, audio & Simon Maverick and the company is hiring for a commissioning editor and an assistant editor. The imprint will be acquiring self-published UK authors across “a range of fiction genres, as well as non-fiction.” Twomey, said, “We’re really excited to be expanding this […]
Judith Curr on Building Atria, Publishing Colleen Hoover, and More
Judith Curr was on the Open Book Podcast, in a wide-ranging conversation about her publishing career. After 17 years working in publishing in Australia (“There was sort of like a ceiling that was there. Any other company at that time would just feel like for me exactly the same thing, but just a different address.”) she moved to the US to become editor in chief of Ballantine. “I went to Simon & Schuster and then Simon & Schuster decided to have a reorganization,” she says, “and they wanted to bring somebody else in to run Pocket Books and bring it […]
More Availability for Digital Audio Sales Data
Earlier this year we started offering Circana Bookscan’s digital audio sales data from PubTrack Digital Audio as an upgrade to the agents, authors and other professionals who get annual data subscriptions through PM. Now we are incorporating that data when available into Dealmakers records, which show complete point-of-sales across all editions for over 80,000 titles. Plus, as of this week, those people who get our ridiculously affordable monthly Bookscan Data Package also have the option to add digital audio when available, when adding new titles to the monthly tracker. (Digital audiobook sales are available only for titles published by Hachette […]
Hello Sunshine and iHeartPodcasts and Launch ‘Bookmarked’ Podcast
Hello Sunshine and iHeartPodcasts are launching a new books podcast called ‘Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club.’ Journalist and TV host Danielle Robay will “bring together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese’s Book Club and beyond.” The first episode debuts on June 24, featuring conversations with Emily Henry and Yulin Kuang. New episodes will come out on Tuesdays after that. The podcast will also feature, “a listener-submitted question and answer segment with submissions taken through a dedicated hotline, giving audiences the chance to engage and participate in the conversation.” “At Reese’s Book Club, we’re always looking for new ways to bring […]