Audio book publisher Audible.com (now a subsidiary of Amazon.com) is launching a science fiction/fantasy imprint they’re calling Audible Frontiers. Audible has been publishing genre titles from the beginning, but setting them up as a separate imprint signals the company’s recognition of their importance. To launch and grow the new imprint, the company has signed exclusive production agreements with many authors (some of the bigger names include Jack Campbell, Simon R. Green, Joe Haldeman, Mike Resnick, Robert J. Sawyer, Allen Steele, Harry Turtledove, Sean Williams, and Connie Willis).
One of Audible Frontiers’s features will be a monthly recommendation program with Orson Scott Card: he’ll provide exclusive audio critiques of each selection. “It’s easy for great novels and novellas to get lost in the bookstore—not everything can get front-of-store display,” Card said. “That’s what I’ll be doing with ‘OSC Selects’—moving new and classic sci-fi and fantasy right to the front, so fans will have a better chance of noticing terrific stories performed by first-rate readers.” Card’s first selection is the April title Star Born by Andre Norton.
Frontiers will also have guest editors: “Each month, a different prominent genre author will write an exclusive guest column” highlighting titles in the Audible catalog. For April, author and editor Ben Bova is the inaugural Guest Editor. “Audiobooks have opened a new dimension to the enjoyment of good fiction, and I’m happy to be part of the Audible team that brings the best in science fiction (and other genres) to this new and growing audience,” Bova said.
In addition to new titles, they’re “making a concerted effort to bring all-time classics to the listening audience. The Hugo-winning The Big Time by Fritz Leiber is already in the store. Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light and This Immortal are currently in production. So, too, is Leiber’s entire Lankhmar series, featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.”
The Frontiers main page is at this link.