If you’re always looking for new options for promoting your audiobook titles – and of course you are – here’s a free venue you should look into.

Big Happy Family publisher Lindsay Fairgrieve of UK-based Rickshaw Productions operates My Word Radio (MWR), an online radio station offering both audiobook and music programming.

Here’s what the site has to say about itself:

My Word Radio is an online radio station offering a mix of Talk and Music titles of different genres which can be listened to at www.mywordradio.com or on iPhones and iPads worldwide.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of having your recorded productions broadcast on our station, please email info@mywordradio.com for further details.

This opportunity is not limited to Big Happy Family publishers.

Please note that My Word Radio is not affiliated with Big Happy Family (beyond the fact that Ms. Fairgrieve is one of our publishers). All communication about broadcasting your title(s) should be directly with MWR.

However, if you are a Big Happy Family publisher, and if we have your MP3 files stored on our server, we’d be happy – for a small fee – to forward the files on your behalf.

If you’re planning to enter any of your titles(s) in the 2012 Audies Competition, now’s the time to do it. The deadline for submitting titles for “Round One” without a penalty surcharge is August 31 – only a week away.

Visit the official Audio Publishers Association (APA) Audies Competition page for all the details.

Be sure to download and read the 2012 Call For Entries to review the guidelines and category descriptions for this year’s Audies. (This is a PDF file.)

Remember, last year one of Big Happy Family’s publishers – Straight to Audio Productions for Jitters – WON the Audie for Best Multi-Voiced Performance.

One of our direct-to-listener audiobook download vendors, UK-based Spoken Network, has shut down its site.

A recent attempt to order a title from the site returned the following message:

“Closing Down

Sadly, it is no longer possible to purchase titles from this store.

If you have made purchases in the past, please ensure these are both downloaded and licensed before 29th July 2011, when this website will be taken offline….

Thank you for your … support over the past years.”

We’re very sorry Spoken Network is closing. We will miss them.

Please visit our list of current audiobook distribution partners.

Jessica and I want to congratulate all of the winners in the 2011 Audies Competition.

But we especially want to congratulate one:

BEST MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE

Jitters – A Quirky Little Audio Book
by Adele Park, produced by Straight to Audio Productions

I posted about Jitters several weeks ago, when it was first announced as a finalist in the competition. I talked about the audiobook titles Adele was competing with – all of which were from long-established publishing companies. I talked about the ongoing evolution in audiobook publishing and how independents were finally able to compete on a more or less level playing field. I congratulated Adele for being nominated.

I really thought that was my last post about Jitters.

I was wrong.

My theorizing wasn’t wrong. Quite the contrary. I was wrong to assume that I wouldn’t be posting about Jitters again, because …

Jitters won!

Adele, congratulations again. This is an awesome achievement. Jessica and I are honored to be part of it.

George

(Visit TheAudies.com for a complete listing of Audie Award nominees and winners.
Also, visit Amazon, Audible, eMusic, iTunes, Learn Out Loud, Simply Audiobooks, or Spoken Network to download Jitters.)

You’ve probably seen the list of Audie Award finalists, released by the Audio Publishers Association on February 24th, 2011.

What you may not have picked up on is that one of the nominees – Jitters – A Quirky Little Audio Book – is the product of Big Happy Family publisher Straight to Audio Productions, founded by Adele Park, who also wrote and produced Jitters.

Congratulations Adele!

Jitters is one of five audiobooks nominated in the Multi-Voiced Performance category, where it’s keeping company with productions from AudioGO (Formerly BBC Audiobooks America), Hachette Audio, L.A Theatre Works, and HarperAudio. In the past that kind of competition would have been daunting.

Now is not the past – at least not in audio publishing.

The continuing, inexorable shift to audiobook download and online promotion means that smart independent publishers are daily getting closer to being on equal footing with major publishing houses – both for potential sales and recognition. Quality material/production may yet become the single most important deciding factor in an audiobook title’s success.

Quality and excellence are what the Audies competition is all about.

To show your support for Adele Park and Jitters visit the Jitters website (traffic is always a nice gift). While you’re there, take a look at what a great job Straight to Audio Productions is doing to promote the title: audio teaser, YouTube video, free sample, beautifully done website with extensive background info – plus multiple, growing purchase opportunities (this latter thanks in part to Big Happy Family Audio).

Congratulations again to Adele Park and Straight to Audio Productions – and Good Luck!

With a tagline like “when radio and polygamy collide” how can you miss?

If you’re always looking for more information and tips on producing, publishing and promoting audiobooks – and you should be – here’s your chance to get all of that directly from Big Happy Family’s founder and owner, Jessica Kaye.

On Wednesday, April 13th, 2011, the Publishers Association of Los Angeles (PALA) will offer a teleseminar entitled “So You Want Your Book to Be Recorded? – The Making (and Selling) of a Good Audiobook.” The speaker will be Jessica Kaye.

In addition to being the founder of Big Happy Family, Jessica is:

• An entertainment attorney specializing in publishing
• The former publisher and founder of The Publishing Mills, an audiobook publishing company
• Former president of the Audio Publishing Association
• A Grammy Award-winning audiobook producer

If you’d like to tap into Jessica’s considerable expertise, visit the Publishers Association of Los Angeles website to register for the teleseminar.

Topics will include:

• Whether to self-publish or license the audio rights
• What to do to ensure the best production quality
• How to get into the marketplace once your audiobook is ready for distribution
• What resources are available to help you publicize your audiobook or network with others in the audiobook business

(You will be able to submit questions in advance, so your input might well change the topics being covered.)

Check out the audiobook Teleseminar info at the PALA site and decide if the potential insights are worth $15 to you (less if you’re a PALA member).

Big Happy Family publishers now have three important new distribution outlets available:

 
Each of these new vendors represents a unique distribution opportunity:

eMusic — a serious, agressive iTunes competitor
LoDingo — the Australia-based “Digital Download Megastore”
Ingram Digital — “the leading independent e-content distributor”

We will post profiles of these sites soon, and will be emailing each of our publishers with details for submitting their titles.

Meanwhile, please visit the links:

• If you’re already a BHFA publisher, learn what these new opportunities could mean for you.
• If you’re not yet a BHFA publisher, learn why you should contact us and join Big Happy Family.

 
We are very happy to profile Simply Audiobooks as one of Big Happy Family’s partner vendors — joining Audible, Kitabe and Spoken Network.

Simply Audiobooks — a privately held company with offices in Toronto, Canada; Buffalo, NY & Las Vegas, NV — started renting audiobooks online in 2003 and in 2005 added audiobook downloads to their audio book library.

Offering a comprehensive range of services — rentals, sales and downloads — Simply Audiobooks gives customers a choice from over 22,000 unique titles, buying, renting or downloading according to their needs.

Visitors to SimplyAudiobooks.com will find…

• A great selection of audiobooks
• Intuitive, thought-out navigation
• Extensive, useful help/FAQ files
• Great subscription and a-la-carte buying options
• An important new outlet for your titles!

This is a great opportunity

If you are already a Big Happy Family publisher, contact us now to learn how easy it is to include Simply Audiobooks in your distribution plans.

If you are not yet one of our publishers, now is the perfect time to take the step.

Please welcome Simply Audiobooks, visit their site, and envision your titles displayed there.