APAC 2023

11:30 AM-11:35 AM |HQ/Chair introductions

11:35 AM-12:50 PM |What’s Next in Audio? Audio Publishing executive panel moderated by Jim Dinegar

Moderator:
Jim Dinegar - Executive Director, Audio Publishers Association
Jim brings decades of leadership experience across major national organizations, combining strategic vision with a creative, forward-thinking approach. Before launching his management firm in 2022, he served as the Inaugural Director of The Center for Business in the Capital at American University. His career also includes leading the Greater Washington Board of Trade as President and CEO, and serving as Chief Operating Officer of the American Institute of Architects.

He has held board roles with organizations such as the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital. Originally from Queens, New York, Jim now lives in Arlington, Virginia. As he steps into his role with the APA, he brings fresh energy, perspective, and a collaborative spirit to his partnerships with the Board of Directors and staff.

Speakers:
Ana Maria Allessi - President, Hachette Audio
Ana Maria Allessi (President, Publisher of Hachette Audio), joined Hachette Book Group in 2022. An industry veteran with over 20 years of audiobook and digital content publishing and business development experience, Ana Maria supports the Hachette Audio team as they record, market, publicize and distribute best-in-class audiobooks for more than 15 HBG imprints. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Audio Publisher’s Association and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Amanda D'Acierno - President, Penguin Random House Audio Global
Amanda D’Acierno is President, Penguin Random House Audio, Global, overseeing the Random House Audio, Penguin Audio, BOT, and Listening Library imprints in the U.S.; expanding Penguin Random House’s audio publishing; and investing in recording studios worldwide. She guided the U.S. audio business through a period of robust growth, increasing the list from 500 titles in 2008 to 2,000 titles annually today, in collaboration with imprints across Penguin Random House and publishers throughout the industry. The Ahab Talent global casting platform, PRH Audio app, and Penguin Random House Audio Narrator Mentorship program were launched under her leadership.

Troy Juliar - Co-President and Chief Content Officer, RBMedia
Troy Juliar is Co-President and Chief Content Officer of RBMedia. He has worked since 2003 to build a catalog of over 100,000 titles and publishing program that releases 10,000 new audiobooks per year in four languages. He is grateful to have grown up in this industry among such interesting and thoughtful actors, peers, and competitors. He is still having fun.

Colleen Prendergast - Associate Director of Licensing, Spotify
Colleen Prendergast is the Associate Director of Licensing at Spotify, where she currently leads the company's audiobook publishing division. Previously, she oversaw the audiobook publishing and international content strategy for Findaway. She has worked in the publishing industry for more than 10 years.

12:50 PM-1:00 PM |Short Break

1:00 PM-2:00 PM | Models and Methods—Adapting to Trends and Change in Audiobook Marketing
Moderator:
Darcy Piedmonte - Director, Customer Acquisition & Success, NetGalley
Darcy Piedmonte, Director of Customer Acquisition & Success at NetGalley, assists publishers in promoting digital review copies and audiobooks to book advocates and professionals across the industry. With the launch of Booktrovert, Darcy also helps publishers and authors achieve their consumer marketing goals. Through partnerships, innovation, and best practices, Darcy ensures that NetGalley helps books succeed.

Speakers:
Allison Carney - Executive Director of Marketing, HarperCollins
Allison is the Executive Director of Marketing for the William Morrow Group at HarperCollins, overseeing nonfiction marketing strategy. Since joining HarperCollins in 2022, Allison has lead bestselling marketing campaigns for Live Wire by Kelly Ripa, Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson, Y'all Eat Yet? by Miranda Lambert, Worthy by Jada Pinkett Smith, The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul, Paris by Paris Hilton, You Never Know by Tom Selleck, and Cher: The Memoir, Part One by Cher, among others. Previously, Allison was a marketer at Penguin Random House and Macmillan. She is a graduate of Loyola University Maryland.

Corrin Foster - Vice President of Book Promotions and Marketing, Advantage Media Group
As VP of Book Marketing & Promotions, Corrin Foster develops and executes strategic book marketing campaigns working directly with authors to build their brand, establish authority, and connect with readers.
A passionate publishing professional with 20 years of branding and digital marketing experience Corrin holds an MBA from Indiana University, a BA in Marketing from Ball State University, is a graduate of the Yale Publishing Course, and was a Publishers Weekly Start Watch Honoree.
Over the course of her 15-year career in publishing, Corrin has overseen the marketing of 50+ NYT and WSJ bestsellers.

Anna Goolsby - Content Marketing Manager, Dreamscape Media LLC
Anna Goolsby is the Content Marketing Manager at Dreamscape Media, an award-winning publisher of audiobooks, ebooks, and videos. For three years, she has led the team's social media strategy, focusing on content that supports their catalog while enhancing the listeners' experience online. As a result, Dreamscape Media has seen growth in reach and engagement across all major platforms, organically meeting and connecting with their consumers where they are online. Anna's varied background also includes educational content development, publishing operations, and both consumer and nonprofit marketing, earning her unique end-to-end expertise in content strategy, creation, and innovation.

1:00 PM-2:00 PM |A Narrator Prepares

Moderator:
Ramon de Ocampo - Narrator
Ramon is an Audie Award, SOVAS Award, Listeners Choice Award, multiple Earphones Awards, and AudioBook Reviewers Choice Award winner. He is also an AudioFile Magazine prestigious "Golden Voice Narrator”, and in 2026 will be inducted into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. Among others, he is the voice of the iconic "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" audiobooks, and the bestselling “Red, White, and Royal Blue” . An accomplished TV/Stage/Film Actor, Ramon is known for recurring roles on hit TV shows including "The West Wing", "Notorious", "12 Monkeys", "Sons of Anarchy","Major Crimes”, “MacGyver”, “Dynasty”, and “The Lincoln Lawyer” among others. He has performed on stages all over the world, winning Best Actor Awards in Los Angeles for his Hamlet as well as his Oedipus. He is also the winner of a prestigious Princess Grace Award, and an OBIE Award for his Off Broadway work.

Speakers:
Erin Bennett - Narrator & APA Vice President, Voice Talent Communications
With 600 books under her belt, Erin hasn't yet begun to tire of being a human being telling stories. Winner of multiple Earphones and Audie nominations, her genres vary widely, ranging from contemporary fiction to mysteries, non-fiction to fantasy. She loves sharing the journey with fellow narrators and industry professionals as the APA's VP of Voice Talent Communications.

Khristine Hvam - Co-Founder, Curated Audio
​With more than 20 years of experience, Khristine is passionate about innovating new ways of creating content to support each storyteller’s vision. Having earned multiple awards and nominations in both TV and audiobook production, as well as performance, she understands storytelling from all sides and uses that experience to create compelling stories that capture the imagination and transport listeners. She is a producer, director, performer, and coach.

Sara Pagluica - Producer, Audible
Sara Pagluica is a producer, director, and audio editor for Audible Studios. She has been working in the audiobook industry for over 16 years. Her projects have received nominations from the Audies and Grammy’s, and she is a two-time SOVAS Best Director nominee.

Ray Porter - Narrator
Ray Porter has won multiple Audie Awards and has over 500 titles narrated. He is currently based in Los Angeles.

1:00 PM-2:00 PM | Art of Storytelling

Moderator:
Mandi Ogle - Executive Producer, HarperCollins Publishers
Mandi Ogle is an award‑winning audiobook producer and director at HarperAudio, known for creating compelling productions across genres. She has collaborated with celebrated authors and celebrities including Blair Underwood, Jennifer Aniston, Pedro Almodóvar, Venus Williams, Jess Walter, Trey Yingst, and Kelsey Grammer. With a specialty in memoir and children’s titles, she brings a keen storytelling instinct to every project. Previously a production coordinator at PRH and an independent narrator and producer, she has deep connections throughout the audiobook community. Mandi is an Audie Award winning director and Audie-finalist producer in addition to RUSA and Kirkus Earphones Awards.

Speakers:
Elise Arsenault - Award-Winning Narrator, Director + Coach, The Global Actor / TreeCave Creative LLC
Elise Arsenault is an award-winning actor, narrator, producer, director and coach. Most recently, her talk The Power of a Human Storyteller in the Age of A.I. was featured at TEDx Anchorage. Host of the SOVAS-nominated The Global Actor™ Podcast, Elise is known for helping actors' "live where they want + work when they want".
Her signature course The Great Audiobook Adventure™, has helped over 1000 actors launch their narration careers - many making a deep impact in the industry and winning prestigious awards (Audies, SOVAS, Earphones and more).
Elise was honored with an AudioFile Earphones Award and SOVAS nomination for her narration of the 41-hr definitive biography of singer, director, philanthropist and disruptor Madonna: A Rebel Life.

Tim Bader - President, Tim Bader Audio
Tim began editing audiobooks in 2007, and has done just about every audiobook job there is along the way to building a production company that offers high-quality, human-driven audiobook work.

Kamala Garrett - Producer, HarperCollins Publishers
Kamala Garrett is an award winning audio producer at HarperCollins Publishers, where she brings books to life through immersive audiobook production. With experience across audiobooks, audio dramas, and original audio projects, she has worked in casting, recording, and creative development. Kamala is passionate about elevating storytelling through sound, collaborating closely with creators, and shaping engaging listening experiences. Outside of audio, she’s a devoted animal lover who believes curiosity, empathy, and care are at the heart of great storytelling.

Daniel Henning - Narrator / Publisher, Starshells of Madness
Daniel Henning is a NY Times Bestselling Narrator, a 3-time SOVAS Voice Arts Award winner (19x nominee), 3x Audie Award Finalist, & 7-time Kirkus Earphones Winner for his 350+ audiobooks including the NY Times #1 Bestselling SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEA, the sequel to his THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA. He founded Starshells of Madness, a small press who’s first release, a lost 1930 Hollywood satire, QUEER PEOPLE: A MADCAP JAZZ AGE SATIRE OF HOLLYWOOD'S SCANDALOUS ECCENTRICS, recently debuted as the #1 new release in “Movie Industry” on Amazon. He was honored by the CA State Legislature as a Pride Honoree.

Bahni Turpin - Narrator
Bahni Turpin is a Los Angeles based actress who has narrated over 400 audiobooks . She is the recipient of more than seven Audie Awards , 2 Odyssey Awards , is a Golden Voice and is one of the first inductees into the Audible Hall of Fame.

Tomeka M. Winborne - Audiobook Director / Filmmaker / Author, Lavender Reel Media Group, LLC
Tomeka M. Winborne is an audiobook director, author, and a film writer, director, and producer. She began directing audiobooks in 2021 after being referred to Penguin Random House during the pandemic and has since directed more than 100 titles for Penguin Random House Audio and HarperCollins Audio. Her credits include works by Dana Bash, Bakari Sellers, John Conyers III, Krystal Marquis, Johnny Steinberg, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Drawing on her experience directing two feature documentaries and five narrative short films, Tomeka brings a filmmaker’s approach to performance, guiding narrators to deliver authentic, emotionally grounded storytelling that creates a beautiful listening experience.

2:00 PM-3:00 PM | Networking

Transition from Narrating to Producing Breakout Room
Erin Bennett - Narrator & APA Vice President, Voice Talent Communications

Casting and Auditioning Breakout Room
Rinn Kraus - Producer, Spotify Audiobooks

Marketing and Audiobook Reviews Breakout Room
Darcy Piedmonte - Director, Customer Acquisition & Success, NetGalley

Keeping Skills Up To Date Breakout Room
Emily Pike Stewart - APA Vice President

Colleen Prendergast - Associate Director of Licensing, Spotify

Audiobook Branding Breakout Room
Julie Wilson - Director of Casting, Digital Production Platforms, & Strategic Partnerships, Senior Executive Producer, Penguin Random House Audio

3:00 PM-4:00 PM |“The Audiobook Was Better”

Speakers:
Almeda Beynon - Director of Audio Production, Sourcebooks Audio
Almeda Beynon is an award–winning audiobook producer and Director of Audio Production at Sourcebooks Audio, where she leads in-house production across a wide range of genres. Beyond production, she is active in the audiobook community—advocating for creative excellence and collaboration between authors, narrators, and production teams. Almeda holds a master’s degree in sound design from Carnegie Mellon University and has worked across theatre, live events, and recorded audio. When she’s not making audiobooks, Almeda can be found crafting possum themed Mardi Gras throws, keeping the world whimsical for her toddler, and watching the sunset on the bayou.

Ally Demeter - Producer, Macmillan
Ally Demeter is a specialist in children’s and queer audiobooks, with a focus on the immersive world of multicast and sound-designed audio. Notably, she has lent her expertise to the high-energy, fan-favorite InvestiGators series, exploring how multi-voice production brings graphic novel narratives to life for young listeners.

Abigail Marks - TC

Iris McElroy - Executive Producer, Penguin Random House Audio
Iris McElroy is an audiobook producer and engineer with over a decade of experience in the industry. As an Executive Producer at Penguin Random House Audio, she specializes in casting, creative collaboration, and shaping performances that bring stories vividly to life. She works across genres, with a particular passion for ambitious productions: full-cast recordings, original music integration, archival audio, and audio originals that push the boundaries of the format. Off the clock, she almost always has something in her ears, music, podcasts, or audiobooks; and is on a mission to find at least one hobby that doesn’t require headphones.

3:00 PM-4:00 PM |Casting and Auditions

Moderator: Khai Dattoli - Executive Casting Director, Podium Entertainment
Khai Dattoli has been an audiobook casting director for the past decade. She's cast projects for the major publishing companies, including "the big five" while working with Deyan Audio, the largest audiobook production company on the West Coast. In 2023 she accepted a casting director position with Podium Entertainment, the fastest growing digital-first publisher in North America, where she enjoys working with the leading authors in Genre Fiction and trending Non-Fiction.

Speakers:
Rinn Kraus - Producer, Spotify Audiobooks
Rinn is a Spotify producer and long time audiobook fan, who has been lucky enough to be producing and casting for almost 9 years. They are passionate about the titles they work on as well as elevating and empowering the performers they get the opportunity to work with. Still an avid listener in their spare time, Rinn is also known for making the occasional doodle, playing too many videogames, and having a fondness of sheep.

Jorjeana Marie - Narrator, Superbloom
You may recognize Jorjeana Marie's voice from Disney, Nickelodeon, PBS or performing over four hundred audiobooks. She is a prolific actor and comedian and the recipient of Audie, SOVAS, YALSA and Earphones awards. Publishers Weekly calls her narration "Pitch Perfect". She is the author of the LA Times bestselling book "Improv for Writers" a creative guide for performers and writers that Oscar winner Meg Le Fauve says "If you're looking for a good tool to help you generate ideas -- this is a great book."

Elishia Merricks - Producer, Macmillan
Based in NYC, but UK grown, Elishia Merricks is an award-winning Producer with Macmillan Audio. She runs the Macmillan New Narrator's Events with the goal of finding new and exciting talent and has over ten years of production experience. She has had the pleasure of producing audiobooks for S.A. Cosby, Keira D'Amato, Alice Feeney, Xochitl Gonzalez, Casey McQuiston, Questlove, Veronica Roth, Alyson Stoner, and Stacy Willingham.

Robin Miles - CEO, Voxpertise, Inc
Robin Miles is a producer/director/actor with over 25 years of experience in theater and audio performance. She has garnered the industry’s top honors, including Audie Awards for Best Solo Performance and multiple genres, PW and Audiofile Voice of the Year awards, Audiofile’s Golden Voice, Grammy finalist, Audible Hall of Fame, and Earphone Awards. Her work spans Broadway, TV, audiobooks, documentary film, museum installations, ADR, and commercials.

She attended Yale University (BA), the Yale School of Drama (MFA), and the British American Drama Academie at Oxford. She teaches acting at Pace University, and owns Voxpertise®, a NYC production & training studio.

Jonathan Pennock - Producer, Brilliance Publishing
Jonathan Pennock is an award-winning Audiobook Producer and Director for Brilliance Publishing with over 10 years of experience across all levels of production. Starting out as an engineer recording some of the top voices in the industry, Jonathan grew to love the process and was determined to get more involved with directing, casting, and production. He has worked with a wide range of talent from novice to celebrity, and has experience coaching and directing authors for narration. He has a strong passion for collaborating with authors and performers to help tell the best possible story in audio.

3:00 PM-4:00 PM |The Business of Audiobooks

Moderator: Khristine Hvam - Co-Founder, Curated Audio
​With more than 20 years of experience, Khristine is passionate about innovating new ways of creating content to support each storyteller’s vision. Having earned multiple awards and nominations in both TV and audiobook production, as well as performance, she understands storytelling from all sides and uses that experience to create compelling stories that capture the imagination and transport listeners. She is a producer, director, performer, and coach.

Speakers:
Jennifer Jill Araya - Narrator

Karen DiMattia - Vice President, Audio Production, Penguin Random House Audio
Karen DiMattia has been working in the audiobook industry since 2000 and has loved every minute of it.

Chris Ciulla - CEO, Producer, Director, Narrator, Leonardo Audio
An on-camera actor, video game and commercial voice actor, Chris Ciulla has narrated 600
audiobook titles and produced and/or directed another 100.
Just this month, he received an Audie for Best Ensemble for THE CORRESPONDENT and an Earphones Award from AudioFile/Kirkus for his performance of Elliot Ackerman’s SHEEPDOGS.
In 2023, he received two Audie nominations for Best Thriller (Snowstorm in August,
Blackstone Audio) and Best Multi-Cast (Star Trek: No Man’s Land, Simon and Schuster
Audio), and a SOVAS nomination for Best Fantasy (They Split the Party, CamCat).
Chris is also a TV and Film actor with credits from Castle, Gotham and an upcoming show for Apple TV. He’s also a interactive voice actor with over 30 characters in the Fallout game series, companion Mickey Caviar in Starfield, and can be heard voicing the Ultimate History Quiz on your nearest Alexa device for The History Channel.

Jessica Kaye - Co-Owner, Curated Audio
Publishing and entertainment lawyer Jessica Kaye (www.kayemills.com) has produced/directed multiple Grammy Award-winning audiobooks. She has served on the boards of Audio Publishers Association, Mystery Writers of America and is on the board of Screamfest Film Festival. Jessica co-owns audiobook production company Curated Audio LLC (www.curatedaudio.net) and owns audiobook distribution company Big Happy Family (www.bighappyfamilyaudio.com). She authored THE GUIDE TO PUBLISHING AUDIOBOOKS (Writers Digest Books, 2019), created MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER (anthology, BloomsburyUSA, 2005) and contributed to CULPRITS (Datura, 2024) and OCCUPIED EARTH (Polis Books, 2015). CULPRITS is a limited series for DISNEY+, streaming on Hulu in the US.

4:10 PM-5:10 PM |Self Publishing & Distribution

Moderator: Natalie Ponte - Business Development, Libro.fm
Natalie Ponte leads business partnerships at Libro.fm, an audiobook platform that shares profits with indie bookstores. Prior to her time at Libro.fm, she worked in a variety of sales, marketing, and partnerships roles at companies like Meta and Google. She graduated from Boston University, and holds an MFA in Fiction from the NYU Low-Residency Writers Workshop in Paris.

Speakers:
Savannah Breckenridge - Senior Marketing Manager, Simon & Schuster
Savannah joined Simon Maverick in September 2024. She previously worked at Saga Press as a marketing manager, where she marketed genre fiction titles such as The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones; A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan, and For Whom The Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn. Savannah began her career working in Children’s book marketing at both Simon & Schuster and ABRAMS books.

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet - CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association
Andrea began her tenure as CEO of the Independent Book Publishers Association in November 2022. Prior to that she was the founding vice-president and publisher of HarperCollins’ lifestyle imprint, Harper Horizon. Andrea spent fifteen years in sales, digital media, and business operations at Workman Publishing and was Director of Content Acquisition at Ingram Content Group. She also formerly served on the board of the Book Industry Study Group.

Victoria Gerken - Publisher, Podium Entertainment
Victoria Gerken has welcomed independent authors into the Podium family for a decade. She previously worked with authors in traditional publishing roles - at Random House and Alfred A. Knopf - where she was a publicist and sold subsidiary rights. She got her first taste of entrepreneurship in publishing as the founder of the Random House Speakers Bureau.

4:10 PM-5:10 PM |Veteran Voices, New Landscapes: Adapting Your Audiobook Career to Industry Change

Speaker:
Robin Miles - CEO, Voxpertise, Inc
Robin Miles is a producer/director/actor with over 25 years of experience in theater and audio performance. She has garnered the industry’s top honors, including Audie Awards for Best Solo Performance and multiple genres, PW and Audiofile Voice of the Year awards, Audiofile’s Golden Voice, Grammy finalist, Audible Hall of Fame, and Earphone Awards. Her work spans Broadway, TV, audiobooks, documentary film, museum installations, ADR, and commercials.

She attended Yale University (BA), the Yale School of Drama (MFA), and the British American Drama Academie at Oxford. She teaches acting at Pace University, and owns Voxpertise®, a NYC production & training studio.

4:10 PM-5:10 PM |Narration Roulette

Speakers:
Julie Wilson - Director of Casting, Digital Production Platforms, & Strategic Partnerships, Senior Executive Producer, Penguin Random House Audio
Julie Wilson is an industry leader in audio storytelling and an award-winning Senior Executive Producer who has produced nearly 2,000 audiobooks throughout her two-decade career. As Director of Casting and Strategic Partnerships at Penguin Random House Audio, she leads the expansion of the global talent pool and forges partnerships that elevate creativity and innovation across the voiceover industry. Recent production credits include collaborations with Adam Grant, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile, Seth Rogen, and Keanu Reeves. She is also the creator of Ahab Talent, a global casting platform that expands diverse voiceover opportunities for creators worldwide.

As Founder & CEO of The Articulate Coach, Julie helps mission-driven thought leaders, authors, and audiobook narrators amplify their voice, align their vision, and build values-driven platforms and knowledge-based businesses.

A native New Yorker and lifelong storyteller, Julie is a writer, urban gardener, and rock climber. She holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Colby College.

Dan Zitt - Senior Vice President, Content Production, Penguin Random House Audio
Dan Zitt has spent the past 30 years of his audiobook career in the audiobook industry. He is the creative catalyst for over 2000 audiobooks, collaborating with artists, thinkers, politicians, musicians and writers such as Barack and Michele Obama, Bill Clinton, the Beastie Boys, Dolly Parton, Rick Rubin, and other notable award winning actors, celebrities and public figures. 13 of his audiobooks have been nominated for Grammys with 4 winning the award. He is also the founder of Ahabtalent.com, a casting website designed to create opportunity for actors around the world.

5:10 PM-6:10 PM |Networking Social #2

Transition from Narrating to Producing Breakout Room
Erin Bennett - Narrator & APA Vice President, Voice Talent Communications

Casting Breakout Room
Khai Dattoli - Executive Casting Director, Podium Entertainment

What Producers Expect Breakout Room
Jessica Kaye - Co-Owner, Curated Audio

Keeping Skills Up To Date Breakout Room
Emily Pike Stewart - APA Vice President