Canongate acquires CSA Word: Exclusive Interview

TALKING BOOKS: AUDIOBOOK MONTH ON VULPES LIBRIS

The news that Canongate was acquiring major audiobooks publisher CSA Word was quite a surprise to some, and seen by others to be an exciting indicator for the future. MD of Canongate, Jamie Byng, was quoted by The Bookseller as saying,

‘Audio has been an area of publishing that has always interested us at Canongate and recently we have published key authors such as Barack Obama, Nick Cave and Philip Pullman reading their work. But acquiring CSA, and bringing over its excellent team, provides us with a wonderful opportunity to develop an audio list of even greater substance. And as we move into an increasingly digital world, I believe that audio has more potential than ever.’

We were granted this exclusive interview with Victoria Williams, recently made Managing Director of CSA Word and Publicity and Marketing Officer, Bea Long, about the Canongate acquisition. They talk about the effect of digital and the importance of retailers not jumping too quickly to ditch the CD; about why (unlike in conventional publishing) short stories are booming in audio and why politicians make such good recording artists.

Interview with Victoria Williams and Bea Long

Canongate has made the odd foray into audiobooks itself, including David Eagleman’s Sum (which we are reviewing on VL this month). What are the main reasons behind this acquisition: does Canongate see a growing opportunity in the audiobooks sector?

Yes, with digital downloads as well as ebooks on the increase, it’s ever more important to make content available in a number of formats.  And by bringing CSA WORD into Canongate it means as well as an established backlist of classic and popular titles, there’s also much audiobook industry experience to draw on: including knowledge and links with producers, abridgers, studios, manufacturers, download partners and so on.

Canongate has had considerable success with its non-fiction line – including Obama’s autobiographies (which have also been released as audiobooks) – are CSA Word and Canongate  planning more in this line, and what is the market like for audiobook non-fiction?

The lists will continue to evolve with Canongate producing some big names and titles on audio. Non-fiction is an area which CSA Word also already publishes, always within its usual remit of ‘timeless literature’ which remains relevant. The biggest seller in recent years is Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.* The Prince by Machiavelli has certainly stood the test of time too. Our version is unabridged and read by Ian Richardson, it was described as “a publishing bullseye” by the Scotsman many years ago and continues to attract buyers. First person experience and narrative history work both well on audio. An intimate and personal voice will captivate very quickly. For instance this summer we’ve just released the famous naturalist’s childhood memoir – Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals read by Hugh Bonneville. He has injected such warmth and humour into the reading, and it’s already received some very good reviews. So there’s an example of non-fiction with vivid storytelling power and wide appeal. It’s something of a modern classic and will be familiar to several generations and continues to be read in schools. Another joy of audiobooks, like radio, is that they can be shared easily – whether in the home or the car, so provide great opportunities for fun for all the family.

Audiobooks have tended, traditionally, to be associated with an older demographic of listeners, or children – Canongate has a more trendy young vibe about many of its titles with things like The Mighty Book of Boosh etc. Are there any plans to open out audiobooks more to a more youthful demographic?

The digital marketplace is certainly a place where younger audiences are looking for and listening to audio, and both Canongate and CSA Word titles are available from the major digital players. That said CDs still account for the majority of CSA Word business, and just last week the editor of a national newspaper requested a CD for her son, so we’re penetrating the younger market on that front too.

How might digital developments link in with audio for the future?

The landscape is wide open at the moment with digital offering choice, ease and accessibility to purchase at any time. Publishers can set themselves up to sell directly to customers too, and being able to listen to samples online is good, but the download prices really need to be kept realistic. At the same time people still want audiobooks as CDs, we know that from our mail-order and catalogue business, as well as the high street. The packaging, jacket blurbs, booklets and extra production information you can offer with a CD is so much fuller. All this can help to sell a product and make it stand out.

A current danger is that traditional retailers and booksellers concede the space to digital before the marketplace is really ready for it. That’s happening now to some extent in the USA with booksellers who have previously championed audio taking less physical range for stores, and just displaying online. For a company like CSA Word, that’s predominantly about core range and enduring backlist that’s not altogether healthy and it feels premature (we still get people wanting our cassettes!), but we’re very fortunate with the likes of Waterstone’s who have always offered a good range and choice to customers.

I have noticed a recent tendency to have works read, not by actors, but by celebrities or the authors themselves – Obama, Pullman, Dawkins all come to mind when thinking about both Canongate and CSA Word’s recent titles. Is this interesting and newsworthy marriage of book and reader something that you see happening more in the future and is this something that lends itself to non-fiction only or could we see more fiction read by people well-known in other fields?

You have to look at each project and decide what’s right for the book in question. As ever achieving the right balance is the important thing. It’s no good just securing a big name if they can’t sustain a 5 plus hour reading. The quality of the reading and production have always been of upmost important to CSA Word. Robert Grave’s I Claudius and its sequel Claudius the God, both read by Derek Jacobi are a good example where nobody else could really have done it better, together with his association with the classic BBC series. The ultimate aim is to produce a great listening experience with enduring appeal whether that be fiction or non-fiction. Narration is a different art to stage or film acting, there’s nobody else to play off and it’s definitely more of a marathon than a sprint to record an audiobook. Some actors are better at it than others. Politicians are one profession where the quality of your voice and your public speaking ability can really make a difference . . . Obama is a natural orator; he has an intimacy and unpretentious style which make you feel he’s talking only to you. That’s what you want.

“CSA Word regularly issues imaginative collections of short stories” (The Independent)

I was interested see the CSA Word releases a lot of short stories. Short stories are thought to be notoriously difficult to sell, yet a collection of short stories is one of your top ten bestsellers – do you find that people are more receptive to the form on audio and, if so, why do you think that is?

Short stories work well on audio, all or ours are unabridged, and the collections offer great variety. Some are themed; ghost, murder, women’s etc, and others span many genres. Because you get often get lots of different readers and writers in any one package, they are usually a good starting point to explore the audio medium too, and you can get a complete listening experience in a 10 or 20 or 30 minute sitting which suits many people’s busy lives. If you don’t like one story or reader you’re sure to identify with another, so there’s not quite the same investment that there is with a full length novel. All our collections are unique ‘audio packages’ too – there’s no book equivalent – stories all carefully selected from a variety of sources both for their individual merits and for their ability to translate effectively to the spoken word medium. It’s a big production effort, and one that’s really paid off and given pleasure to a lot of people. Hopefully people remember being read stories aloud to them as children; our collections might resound with the memory of that kind of experience.

What are your most popular titles?

Things that continue to stay at the top of the pile include: Short Stories: The Ultimate Classic Collection, Thoroughly Modern Short Stories, Three Men in A Boat read by Hugh Laurie, and many of the Wodehouse titles read by Martin Jarvis. Simon Callow’s interpretation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm is also doing very well.

What special qualities does Martin Jarvis have that makes him such a popular reader? **

Fluency, focus, comic timing, wonderful characterisation, plus a real love of the books he’s chosen to narrate. He’s probably best known for the hilarious Wodehouse and Just William series but his readings of Charles Dickens and John Galsworthy are also superb.

How has the digital revolution affected issues such as abridgements? Are there exciting possibilities in this area?

Digital download has room for titles and productions of all lengths, from single short stories to full length unabridged productions. CSA Word publish a mix both as CDs and as digital downloads.

In relation to the piece this afternoon – Does the audio book form have the equivalent of notes or annotation in a hard copy book in order to draw the audience’s attention to deletions or changes?

No, as a mainstream audio publisher we publish audiobooks as performances and productions entire and unto themselves. Packaging always state whether abridged or unabridged and contributors are credited.

The DVD market does well out of having “extras”. Is this something that CSA Word/Canongate do/might develop?

We are currently doing lots of ‘extras’ in terms of recorded interviews and introductions, as well as booklets within CDs offering additional context. A couple of recent examples include an interview with Tom Priestley, J.B. Priestley’s son on The Good Companions. And on Billy Liar read by John Simm which publishes in November, Rodney Bewes has recorded an interview as he played the role of Arthur Crabtree in the famous film alongside Tom Courtenay.

It is early days but can you tell us how you see the future developing in the world of audio and what exciting plans you may have?

Watch this space! Whilst digital is certainly opening up interesting publishing and marketing opportunities to a global audience, CDs continue to be the bedrock of our audio publishing in 2010-11. We also sell direct from our website, and have a loyal mail order audience. Titles coming up in 2011 include more George Orwell (Homage to Catalonia, Keep the Aspidistra Flying) and P.G. Wodehouse (Something Fresh, Code of the Woosters.)

Thanks so much for talking to Vulpes Libris and good luck for the future!

————

*Please look out for our piece this afternoon, where we ask producer, Nic Jones, about the controversial issue of abridgement particularly in relation to one of  CSA’s most successful titles, On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin- edited and read by Richard Dawkins.

**Keep an eye out for our interview with the King of Audio, Martin Jarvis, later in Audiobook Month.

CSA Word’s website

Check out our interviews with Naxos Audiobooks and Textbook Stuff

Victoria Williams and Bea Long were interviewed by Rosy Barnes

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