***Cassette Rentals Discontinued***

Many of you have asked if Recorded Books Direct will continue to provide audiobooks in cassette format. In short, yes, if you prefer cassettes you will still be able to purchase cassettes through Recorded Books.

However, effective August 1, 2011 there will be no more cassette rentals.

The materials necessary to produce this product are becoming less and less available, thus hampering our ability to service our cassette customers. If we continue to provide every title in cassette format, we will quickly run out of the materials and will have to end this product format in its entirety.

For those of you on the Recorded Books Unlimited rental program, we will be re-setting your wish list format from cassette to CD for you so that your shipments can continue without interruption.

If you have any questions, please call customer service at 1-800-636-3399.

Loss of a Publishing Legend

Lilian Jackson Braun (Bettinger), beloved author of the “Cat Who” series passed away at hospice in Landrum, S.C. She had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We will miss her wit and the joy she has brought to millions of readers across the globe.

Ms. Bettinger wrote her first three novels while working at the Detroit Free Press. In an attempt to broaden her audience her publisher wanted her to add sex and violence to her work. Declining to do so, Ms. Bettinger quit writing the series for 20 years. When she resumed writing her fans welcomed her back with open arms.

Qwilleran and Koko, you will be sorely missed. Thank you Ms. Lilian for many years of reading and listening pleasure.

View her obituary here.

Looking for an award-winner?

The Orange Prize for Fiction is the United Kingdom’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman. Celebrating its sixteenth anniversary in 2011, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. Two of the six finalists—GREAT HOUSE by Nicole Krauss and ANNABEL by Kathleen Winter—are Recorded Books exclusives.

NETHERLAND by Joseph O’Neill heads a an eight-strong shortlist for the world’s richest literary award, the €100,000 (£88,000) Impac prize. Selected from a longlist of 156 titles nominated by public libraries around the world, he is joined by American Marilynne Robinson and the British writers Robert Edric, Ross Raisin and Zoë Heller. After the traditional cull of esteemed names, with writers such as Philp Roth, Salman Rushdie and José Saramago falling at the longlist stage, the rest of the shortlist is made up of novels in translation.

Congrats to Our Jan/Feb Winners!

We’ve selected the winners of our catalog and blog contests. Winners were hand drawn (the old fashioned way) from a hat.

The following folks have won an iPod Nano:
Betsy Sandford (word search)
Linda Benson (blog)

The following folks have won a free copy of a book of their choice:
Margaret Larkin
Ann Johnson

We will be sending you instructions on your next step.

Thanks for participating! Keep watching for another contest.

Recorded Books Nominated for an Audie

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) has announced its nominations for the 2011 Audies (the Grammys of the audiobook publishing world). Recorded Books was once again well represented. Our nominees:

Audio Drama – Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy, Narrated by Austin Pendleton, Ezra Knight, Tom Stechschulte

Children’s Titles for 8-12 – One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, Narrated by Sisi Aisha Johnson

Children’s Titles for Up to 8 – Epossumondas Plays Possum by Coleen Salley, Narrated by Cynthia Darlow

Fiction – The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, Narrated by David Aaron Baker

Faith-Based Fiction – Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent, Narrated by Kate Forbes

Literary Fiction – Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, Narrated by Jonathan Aris and Paula Wilcox

Narration by the Author – Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Romance – The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James, Narrated by Bianca Amato

Short Story Collections – A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris, Narrated by Johanna Parker

Solo Narration (male) – George Guidall, narrator of Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

We thank all of those who contributed to these and our many other award-winning performances.

February Contest!

Thank you for being a Recorded Books reader. To pay tribute to our loyal customers we are offering a web only contest to win an iPod nano. All you have to do is comment to this post telling us why you are a Recorded Books reader. At the end of the month we will select one lucky listener to win.

Employees of Recorded Books, LLC or Haights Cross Communications are not eligible to win (of course).

National Book Award Winners Announced!

Last night, the National Book Award winners were announced at the 61st National Book Awards Ceremony in New York City, and Recorded Books is happy to announce that two of the winners have audiobooks published exclusively by us!

The 2010 National Book Award winner is Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon – it’s the story of Tommy Hansel, a two-bit horse trainer with a scheme to get rich and get out of town – of course, nothing goes according to plan. We at Recorded Books are publishing the audiobook exclusively, and it’s on its way. Be sure to check back for it soon!

The winner for Young Literature is Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine – another Recorded Books exclusive, the novel focuses on a young girl with Asperger’s Syndrome who has just lost her older brother to a senseless tragedy. The story follows her life as she tries to cope with her condition and the loss of the brother who helped her make sense of the world.

Be sure to check out Mockingbird – and watch for Lord of Misrule, which will be coming soon on audiobook – only here at Recorded Books!

George Guidall Interview on NPR

Yesterday morning, NPR conducted a great interview with George Guidall, one of the hardest working narrators in the business (he’s narrated over 600 audiobooks).

Mr. Guidall is a fan favorite and is praised for his excellent interpretations of some of the best literature on audio. He’s won two Audies and has also made numerous appearances on TV and the stage.

Click here to listen to the interview with RB’s resident narrator:

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/11/131248703/art-of-storytelling-alive-and-well-in-audio-books

To check out the great variety of books George has lent his voice to, click HERE

Drop by and let us know what you think after listening!

November is National Novel Writing Month!

Ever wanted to write a novel?

November 1^st kicks off National Novel Writing Month, an event that challenges all of us who have ever wanted to write a novel, but could never find the time, to take charge and produce 50,000 words of prose in one month.

Of course, those of us who don’t get paid to write for a living may be wondering if we can actually find the time to do so – after all, that’s an average of 1,667 words per day. But that’s the beauty of the challenge – the focus is on quantity, not quality.

Directly from their website:

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

You can sign up on their website to start by November 1^st, and if you start to get frustrated, just remember – thousands of people are sweating it out with you (2009 had 165,000 participants, 30,000 of whom crossed the minimum word count by November 30^th).

National Book Award Nominees Announced!

On Wednesday, October 13^th, in Savannah, GA,  author Pat Conroy announced the nominees for the 2010 National Book Award. Recorded Books is pleased to announce that we have the exclusive audio for four of the five nominees!

For Fiction, Nicole Krauss is a nominee for her novel Great House, which follows the owners of a single writing desk and how the desk shapes their lives. (This title will be released October 15th).

For the Young Adult category, we have three nominees exclusively on audio:

Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine, the story of a 10-year-old girl with Asberger’s who must overcome both social challenges and the death of her brother.

Lockdown, by Walter Dean Meyers, the tale of a 14-year-old’s struggle to survive while incarcerated.

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia, which follows a trio of daughters as they are reunited with an initially indifferent mother.

The winners will be announced in New York on November 17^th. Good luck to the authors!