[bookshare-discuss] Waterstone's backs MP3 book trend
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blindbooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 10:10:56 -0400
October 04, 2004
Waterstone's backs MP3 book trend
By Sarah Butler
Times Online (UK)
WATERSTONE'S, the book retailer, is to cash in on the trend for MP3 players
with a series of audio books especially designed
for portable music players.
The company is increasing the number of books available for MP3 players by
25 per cent this year after a successful trial
last Christmas.
A spokeswoman said that only the BBC was providing audio books for MP3s this
year but the retailer was in discussions with a
wide variety of publishers to try to extend the range further in 2005.
The format is still in its infancy but one or two titles are being released
each month and sales are expected to accelerate
rapidly next year.
Last Christmas Waterstone's signed a deal handing it exclusive rights to MP3
versions of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
trilogy as well as classics including Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,
Charles Dickens's Great Expectations and Emily
Bronte's Wuthering Heights. New titles this year will include Bill Bryson's
Notes From a Big Country.
The audio books market grew by 12 per cent between 1999 and 2003 and is one
of the areas Waterstone's is concentrating on for
sales growth.
The format, which began as a service for the visually impaired, now draws in
sales of £71.5 million in the UK and is worth
more than £1 billion in the US.
The embrace of MP3 books is part of a revitalisation of Waterstone's, which
is throwing off its academic image and attempting
to appeal to a wider variety of customers.
The chain is in the process of revamping its children's books areas and is
trying out new ideas such as free samplers, where
enticing extracts are collected together in one book.
Copyright 2004 Times Newspapers Ltd.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9071-1292593,00.html
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