July 2025 News Roundup
This month celebrate summer, travel, the great outdoors and Pride with the Story Garden project, a collection of works from Croatia, a chronicle of an animals’ crossing of a northern interstate and Gee Smalls’ self-narrated memoir. The listening/reading debate resurfaces in an NPR poll, Greek schools receive audiobook donations, the changing non-fiction market is explored, Woodward wins in court, and audiobook pros will tell you that the customer is always right. Caribbean literary and oral traditions are preserved in audio, Romania expands a platform in Latin America and an author-signed petition favors human narrators. Luminaries in the news this month are Stephen King, Maurice Sendak, Therese Plummer, and Dolly Parton.
General News
Spotify Partners With The Reading Agency to Bring the Summer Reading Challenge to Life Through Audio
The Story Garden theme entices young readers to explore the great outdoors through magical tales of nature, imagination, and adventure. [Source: spotify.com]
NPR asks a panel; does listening to an audiobook count as reading?
The NPR Ipsos poll results are discussed with regard to adult comprehension compared to children who are learning to read. [Source: npr.org]
Australia’s Hellenic Diaspora donates audiobooks to schools in Greece
The audiobook donations cultivate imagination, historical awareness and love for Greek tradition. [Source: neoskosmos.com]
The business of audiobooks
Audiobook Pros Confirm the Customer is Always Right
The audio industry insiders at Parix Audio Day were united in asserting that future success for audiobook publishing hinges on how well the industry listens to the audience. [Source: publishersweekly.com]
The changing shape of the non-fiction market
Over the last five years, audiobooks have nearly doubled their share of non-fiction purchases while e-books have only gained 1% compared to 2020. [Source: nielseniq.com]
Judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Bob Woodward over audiobook
The decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan is a victory for Woodward, his publisher Simon & Schuster, and its former owner Paramount Global. [Source: nbcnews.com]
Regional News
Listen to Croatia: Audiobooks Replace Souvenirs in New Cultural Tourism Campaign
Listen to Croatia is a carefully curated collection of audiobooks by acclaimed Croatian authors, professionally translated and recorded in English. [Source: thedubrovniktimes.com]
Romanian audiobook platform Voxa expands to Latin America
The move brings the company’s technology to a region of over 300 million potential digital content consumers. [Source: romania-insider.com]
New Caribbean audiobook app Odiyo marks milestone for regional literature
Designed to preserve and amplify the region’s literary and oral traditions, Odiyo transforms how Caribbean stories are consumed. [Source: jamaicaobserver.com]
FEED YOUR EARPODS
Audiobook chronicles animals' perilous crossing of I-40 in Pigeon Gorge
Produced by Smokies Life, the audiobook is an adaptation of A Search for Safe Passage, a middle-school aged book about an intrepid group of animals trying to find their way across a dangerous highway. [Source: themountaineer.com]
Black LGBTQ+ Atlanta restaurateur Gee Smalls releases audiobook memoir
Gee Smalls’ (Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen and Bar) self-narrated memoir, Black Enough, Man Enough is a story about finding the freedom to be oneself and is released in time for Pride month and Juneteenth. [Source: roughdraftatlanta.com]
STEPHEN KING TO NARRATE AUDIO EDITION OF HANSEL AND GRETEL, ILLUSTRATED BY MAURICE SENDAK
“In a way, I have been writing about kids like Hansel and Gretel for much of my life,” King says of the audiobook, to be released next month. [Source: people.com]
AI news
‘AI doesn’t know what an orgasm sounds like’
When we think about what makes an audiobook memorable, it’s always the most human moments: a catch in the throat when tears are near, or words spoken through a real smile. [Source: theguardian.com]
Bestselling authors fight back against robot-written books
Over 1,100 authors sign petition demanding human narrators, no machine-written books. [Source: samaa.tv]
Interviews & Podcasts
More Than a Voice: Therese Plummer - The Art and Heart of Audiobook Narration
Her journey into audiobook narration didn’t begin in a studio, it began with a nudge from her mother. [Source: digitaljournal.com]
Something outside the booth
Dolly Parton Wants YOU to Be a Star In Her AUDIOBOOK
A selection of fan submissions will be featured in her audiobook, ‘Star of the Show: My Life on Stage’ to be released in November. [Source: entertainmentnow.com]