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The Audio Publishers Association (@AudioPub) (#JIAM2012) has declared June Audiobook Month.

Author Cathryn Prince (@CathrynPrince) writes on her blog about the magic of audiobooks.

I didn’t think about audio books as something for me until I started commuting about 45 minutes to and from an adjunct teaching job. I’m not teaching at the moment, but as Dr. Frasier Crane said: I’m listening. A lot. I discovered a whole new world in audio books. I imagine audio books to be the distant relative of the serial shows of radio days.

Read this in full.

The above video is Jim Dale (@JimnJules), the voice of all the characters in the Harry Potter audiobook series. As a narrator, he's won a Grammy Award (2000), 5 Grammy nominations, and 7 Audie Awards.

NPR Books (@nprbooks) offers a list of audiobooks “that’ll make the family road trip fly by.”

See the list of winners in The Audies competition, the award that “recognizes distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.”

For a behind-the-scenes description of the making of an audiobook, see Publishers Weekly’s (@PublishersWkly) “How Chef Marcus Samuelsson Records an Audiobook.”

More reporting about audiobooks is available on PW’s audio blog, Listen Up (@PWAudio).

If you’re interested in audiobook reviews, subscribe to AudioFile (@AudioFileMag), the magazine that covers the world of audiobooks.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to create an audiobook for your content.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

According to a new report by the Pew Research Center’s (@pewresearch) Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet), 43% of Americans age 16 and older read long-form digital text such as ebooks and magazines, and many say they’re reading more because books and other long-form material are in a digital format.

One-fifth of American adults (21%) report they’ve read an ebook in the past year; this number increased following a gift-giving season that saw a spike in the ownership of both tablet computers and ebook reading devices such as the original Kindles and Nooks. In mid-December 2011, 17% of American adults had reported they read an ebook in the previous year; by February, 2012, the share increased to 21%.

The average reader of ebooks says she’s read 24 books (the mean number) in the past 12 months, compared with an average of 15 books by a non-ebook consumer. For device owners, those who own ebook readers say they’ve read an average of 24 books in the previous year (vs. 16 books by those who don’t own that device). They report having read a median of 12 books (vs. 7 books by those who do not own the device.

·         30% of those who read e-content say they now spend more time reading, and owners of tablets and ebook readers particularly stand out as reading more now.

·         The prevalence of ebook reading is markedly growing, but pbooks still dominate the world of book readers.

·         People prefer ebooks to pbooks when they want speedy access and portability, but print wins out when people are reading to children and sharing books with others.

·         Ebook reading happens across an array of devices, including smartphones.

·         Those who read ebooks are more likely to be under age 50, have some college education, and live in households earning more than $50,000.

·         11% of all Americans age 16 and older – or 14% of those who have read a book in the past year – consume audiobooks.

·         The majority of book readers prefer to buy rather than borrow.

·         61% of e-reading device owners said they purchased the most recent book they read, compared with 48% of all readers.

·         Owners of e-reading devices are more likely than all Americans 16 and older to get book recommendations from people they knew (81% vs. 64%) and bookstore staff (31% vs. 23%).

·         26% of those who had read a book in the past 12 months said that what they enjoyed most was learning, gaining knowledge, and discovering information.

Read this in full.

Also see Mike Shatzkin's (@MikeShatzkin) analysis in "A feast of data to interpret in new Pew survey of book readers about ebooks."

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you plan your strategy for ebook (as well as pbook) publishing.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

In the literary magazine n+1 (@nplusonemag), Maggie Gram (@maggiegram) writes about the wonder and love of listening to audio books.

Audio books are good for people driving cars because they are good at occupying part but not all of one’s attention. For me this is also true of regular books: I am a profoundly distractible reader, like a raccoon tasked with doing something tedious in a vast field of shiny objects. But while when I’m trying to read a regular book my focus takes a sort of oscillating form—now I’m reading, now I’m distracted, now I’m reading again—with audio books it’s more like sustained equilibrium. Maybe 60 percent of my attention is going to the Audio book; the other 40 percent is absorbed by something else. The exact balance shifts, but most of the time I am actually doing both things.

This is part of the appeal. Since the 1980s there have been more sighted people than blind people listening to audio books, and most of us have done so because we were also doing something else. Audio books are good for long trips. They are also good for housework, although they can be drowned out by a vacuum. I started listening to audio books because I was reading for my first set of graduate-school qualifying exams. My list of books seemed endless, and I thought that listening to some of them on mp3 might solve the problem of having too little time to read. Or rather, too little time to both read and run. With audio books I could do both at the same time.

The possibility of reading while also doing something else produces one of the stranger phenomenological characteristics of audio book reading: you can have a whole set of unrelated and real (if only partially attended) experiences while simultaneously experiencing a book. You live in two worlds at once. My first audio book was Flo Gibson’s recording of The Mill on the Floss, which, by the way, is one of the very great audio books: the sound is scratchy, but Gibson’s voice is confident and almost conspiratorial, warm and intimate and pleased to be recounting a story she knows you will be glad to have heard. I listened to it running by the Charles River with earbuds in my ears, and three years later I still associate certain spots along the Charles with scenes from the novel’s Dorlcote Mill. I also remember exactly where along the Weeks Footbridge Lucy Deane marveled at how beautiful Maggie Tulliver looks in shabby clothes. I think of it whenever I pass that spot, which means I think of it most days.

Read this in full.

We love audiobooks at Somersault (@smrsault). Contact us to help you produce and market your book(s) in audio.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

This month is set aside by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) (@AudioPub) to celebrate the important role audiobooks play in a person’s literary life and to mark the overall growth of audiobooks in the market (last year downloaded audiobooks sales rose by 39% to $82 million vs. $59 million in 2009, while physical audiobooks fell 6%, at $137 million for 2010 vs. $146 million for the previous year).

APA has compiled some facts to honor the occasion:

• 25% of Americans have listened to an audiobook in the last year.
• Audiobook listeners are avid readers who use audiobooks as a way of enjoying an author's work when they’re not able to read. 94% of audiobook listeners have read a book in the past year vs. 70% of non-audiobook listeners.
• Many authors love audiobooks. Scott Turow, Janet Evanovich, Judy Blume, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Tom Wolfe, Lisa Scottoline — all listen to audiobooks.
• Most listeners use audiobooks in the car (whether they’re commuting or on driving vacations), but an increasing number of people also report using audiobooks while they’re exercising, cooking, gardening — and even at work.
• The average audiobook listener spends about 5 hours a week listening.
• Audiobooks are great for family listening on the road this summer — nothing ends the "are we there yet blues!" like a great audiobook. Audiobooks keep everyone in the car entertained while also increasing literacy skills; families can even knock out a few of the titles on a kid's summer reading list on the way to vacation.
• Audiobooks are a great tool for building literacy. Teachers and librarians report that listening to audiobooks helps children build better vocabularies and also helps them to read with better expression.

NPR’s Talk of the Nation (@totn) recently featured an interview about audiobooks. Listen to “Audio Book Sales Climb In Spite Of Competition.”

If you love audiobooks, you should read AudioFile magazine (@AudioFileMag). And for your convenience, here’s a Google search on the word “audiobooks.” Let Somersault help you publish audiobooks.

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, has approved the new Common English Bible (@CommonEngBible & @VersesForToday) as a translation for use in biblical studies courses for its more than 4,000 students, and particularly for all master’s-level instruction in the seminary’s School of Theology, School of Psychology, and School of Intercultural Studies on all eight of its campuses.

“Fuller's mission is to prepare men and women for the manifold ministries of Christ and his church. We work out this calling with an eye toward both academic excellence and service to the church. The Biblical Division's decision to approve the Common English Bible for classroom use reflects these commitments,” says J. R. Daniel Kirk, assistant professor of New Testament at Fuller. “We’ve approved the Common English Bible because it’s an academically excellent translation, because it communicates the underlying Greek and Hebrew texts in a clear and accessible fashion, and because it reflects the reality that the communities for which the Bible was written consist of both women and men.”

Fuller has more than 35,000 alumni in 130 countries, serving as pulpit ministers, mission leaders, academic leaders, mental health professionals, chaplains, translators, and community and marketplace leaders. The Common English Bible joins two other translations officially approved by Fuller: the New Revised Standard Version and Today’s New International Version.

Combining scholarly accuracy with vivid language, the Common English Bible is the work of more than 200 biblical scholars and church leaders, including members of more than 20 denominations, who translated the Bible into English directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. More than 500 readers in 77 groups field-tested the translation. Every verse was read aloud in the reading groups, where potentially confusing passages were identified. The translators considered the groups' responses and, where necessary, reworked those passages to clarify in English their meaning from the original languages.

The digital revolution is accelerating changes in language and its everyday usage. The new Common English Bible is written in contemporary idiom at the same reading level as the newspaper USA TODAY—using language that’s comfortable and accessible for today’s English readers. With the complete Bible arriving in stores in August, this new translation strives to make Bible reading more clear and compelling for individuals, groups, and corporate worship services.

“The Common English Bible is a brand-new, bold translation designed to meet the needs of people in all stages of their spiritual journey,” says Paul Franklyn, associate publisher for the Common English Bible. “For students—whether at colleges and seminaries or outside a formal institution—it combines and balances highly respected ecumenical biblical scholarship necessary for serious study with responsiveness to 21st century clear communication requirements for comprehensive clarity. The Common English Bible can help students experience the insight and knowledge that comes from a fresh reading of the Bible.”

The Common English Bible is an inclusive translation, using male and female pronouns where appropriate to indicate the meaning of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text when referring to general human beings. Pronouns for God, Lord, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit are translated as he, his, or him.

Another unique feature of the Common English Bible is the inclusion of exclusive, detailed color maps from National Geographic, well known for its vibrant and accurate map making.

Visit CommonEnglishBible.com to see comparison translations, learn about the translators, get free downloads, and more.

The Common English Bible is a denomination-neutral Bible sponsored by the Common English Bible Committee, an alliance of five publishers that serve the general market, as well as the Disciples of Christ (Chalice Press), Presbyterian Church (Westminster John Knox Press), Episcopal Church (Church Publishing Inc.), United Church of Christ (Pilgrim Press), and United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press).

(To schedule an interview with Paul Franklyn, contact Brandi Lewis at 615-749-6211).

Start getting the Common English Bible verses on your Facebook page.

Listen to audio samples from the Common English Bible audioBible (like you’ve never heard before).

Previous post: “The Common English Bible Translation is Complete.”

On the Common English Bible blog, associate publisher Paul Franklyn announces that the new Common English Bible (@CommonEngBible) translation is now complete after 3 years of arduous work over hundreds of thousands of hours by more than 200 scholars, church leaders, and reading group participants. The first typesetting of the Bible is in production at the printers with copies scheduled to be shipped in August.

Read the blog post in full.

Start getting Common English Bible verses on your Facebook page.

Follow the Lenten Blog Tour to get rich daily reflections on passages from the Common English Bible.

Listen to audio samples from the Common English Bible audioBible (like you've never heard before).

The percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a smartphone has more than doubled in the past year, from 14% to 31% of the population according to the new national survey from Arbitron Inc. (@ArbitronInc) and Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2011: Navigating Digital Platforms. Among the many other findings:

• Facebook is now being used by a majority of all Americans age 12 and over (51%); this number was only 8% in 2008.
• A majority of American households now have two or more computers (51%); as compared to 24% of households in 2002.
• Usage of online radio is up significantly, with weekly usage of all forms of online radio having doubled in the last 5 years; self-reported weekly time spent with online radio is now nearly 10 hours (9 hours 47 minutes).
• Daily time spent with TV, Radio, and the Internet combined has increased by 20% in the last 10 years, with self-reported daily usage now at 8 hours 11 minutes compared to 6 hours 50 minutes in 2001.
• Just under 1/3 of all Americans (31%) have plugged an MP3 player such as an Apple iPod into their car stereo systems.
• One in 10 Americans report listening to Pandora Internet Radio in the week before they were surveyed.
• Among the 81% of American households with Internet access, 2/3 now have a Wi-Fi network installed.
• More than 1/10 of all cellphone owners have listened to online radio streamed in their cars by connecting their phones to their car stereo system.

Read the research findings in full.

Also see Warc coverage of the research in the article "Digital change hits US."

What are the implications of this research for digital audiobook publishing and how should your brand take advantage of it?