Audiobook Boom Provides Big Opportunities for Publishers
Don't dive in without educating yourself first. Regardless of whether your audio plan involves the significant financial outlay of building your own studio, or simply outsourcing the entire process (see sidebars), gaining an education of the audio side of the industry should almost always be your first move. “There’s definitely some risk involved, and you have to be a pro,” says Goff, on the matter of investing in top-flight studio equipment and the talent necessary to operate it. “You have to know how the industry works.” Even the seemingly lower-risk option of outsourcing to a turnkey service provider should begin with an educational element, says Robin Whitten, the founding editor of AudioFile. “I think it’s a matter of understanding enough about audiobooks,” says Whitten. “The more you know about audiobooks as a format, the better the experience [of working with a partner] is.”
Dan Eldridge is a journalist and guidebook author based in Philadelphia's historic Old City district, where he and his partner own and operate Kaya Aerial Yoga, the city's only aerial yoga studio. A longtime cultural reporter, Eldridge also writes about small business and entrepreneurship, travel, and the publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter at @YoungPioneers.