INFORMATION

The objective of The 40 Best Audiobooks Promotion is to promote the concept and range of Audiobooks worldwide, as well as showcase the very best audiobooks ever published.

This year, over 160 titles were submitted, and the final list of 40 were chosen by a panel of industry experts, whose choices were based on content, reading and production values. The final selection of 40 titles effectively highlights the breadth of audio content available - with the titles encompassing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comedy & children's categories.

A de-brief meeting for the 40 Best Audiobook Promotion took place on Wednesday, 19th August 2008 in the boardroom of 1 Alfred Place, London, WC1E 7EB. Where Nielsen BookScan representative Julie Meynink (Business Development Director) presented a number of findings from the promotion.</ br>These included:

• 70% increase in sales for all of the 40 selected audiobook titles in the 4w/e 12th July.
• The fiction sector saw sales growth of 187% in the 4 w/e 12th July, the highest of all sectors featured.
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was the best selling audio title in the 8 w/e 9th Aug and was voted the fifth most popular audio book.

Members of the Judging Panel, were:

• Jo Forshaw- Chairperson of Audiobook Publishers Association
• Rodney Troubridge- Waterstones
• Jo Howard- Chairperson of The Book Marketing Society
• Ruth Atkins- Borders
• Laurence Howell- Amazon.co.uk
• Sue Arnold- Audio literary Editor of the Guardian
• Kati Nicholl- Audio abridger & reviewer
• Jo Henry- Managing Director Publishing News