Q. How did you start listening to audiobooks?
A. I listened to "children's records" and storybook cassettes as a child-- loved'em, and then forgot about them. I was one of those kids who had to have a story (or two or three) every night, whether it was listening to my mom, or my records, or under the blankets with a flashlight and my favorite paperback.
As an adult, even though I voraciously listened to the radio, and worked in publishing for decades, I never considered audiobooks... I thought they were a "poor cousin" to the print edition. I imagined they were "for the blind," LOL! — or people who had punishing commutes every day. (These days I know a lot about blind listeners, who were indeed ahead of the curve on audiobooks and know all best backlist!)
Q. How did you start working with Audible?
A. When Audible approached me in 2000 to host a weekly original audio show for them, I didn't have the nerve to tell them I'd never listened to any of their offerings. Even after I recorded my first shows, i was so scared to listen to myself I had to hide behind the shower curtain, with the water running, while I played one of my programs in the background. (See? I do have my shy side).
Q. What was the first audiobook that got you hooked?
A. I think for a lot of audio fans, there's "one book" that turns the key. For me, it was Charles Portis' True Grit, narrated by Donna Tartt. I wouldn't be surprised if I've listened to this title more than 100 times.
I ended up downloading all of Portis' work (epic) and everything Donna Tartt ever wrote or said. By that point, I realized audiobooks were my delicious escape and comfort. Going to sleep with "someone reading me a story"... it's like being nurtured all over again. Hand me a pacifier and I'm done! ;-)
Q. Do you always listen to audiobooks by yourself?
A. No, not at all. Sometimes our whole family sits in the living room and sews, knits, or plays cards while we listen to "Volume Fuckall" of Game of Thrones-- I know it sounds like some Norman Rockwell scene, but it's true! I'm a devout movie fan and I still (obviously) read books every day, but when something is captivating... it just is. A great actor reading a great story— you can't beat it.
Interestingly-- and maybe it's just because we're a bunch of hams— the whole process has made my partner and I read out loud to each other more. My daughter too. It's just fun to do, and we get inspired by our favorite actor/readers, sometimes in perverse ways. (My partner has taken to reading the surf report in Roy Dotrice's brogue).
Q. What are you interested in, content-wise? What kind of books are you acquiring?
A. I'm probably best known in the publishing sphere for my work in sex, feminism, and politics. But that is only one slice of my reading and editorial interest. As you'll see in my blog, I've got fascinations that travel all over the map. If there's one thing that motivates me, it's to promote authors who for one reason or another, have been under the radar, and I think they're geeeeeniuses. Just as a random example, here's what I published my first month, August 2012:
8/11 Why Are You Atheists So Angry? Greta Christina
8/11 Red Diaper Baby, Josh Kornbluth
8/11 Naked At Our Age, Joan Price
8/21 - Music From the True Vine, Bill C. Malone
8/21 - The Armchair Birder, John Yow
8/21 - Border War, Stanley Harrold
8/21 - Game, Set, Match, Susan Ware
9/4 - Evolution's Rainbow, Joan Roughgarden
Last night I was reading a memoir of a Polish holocaust survivor. —Something I thought I knew a lot about— but no, there's more. Then I turned to the diary of a Hollywood insider writing at the height of its "closetted gay star" era. I ended my evening with the story of a prestigious professor, full of hubris, who accepts a conceited new position across the Atlantic only to find that a mysterious illness is sapping his mind like a sieve. I hope I get to produce all three in audio! Face it, I can't resist a compelling story.
Q. I'd like to pitch an audiobook idea to you-- how do I do that?
A. Glad to hear it! All the details are here.
