Cambridge University Press trials audiobook production

Cambridge University Press is to produce audiobooks for some of its tradiest titles, in a pilot programme conducted in partnership with production company Sound Understanding.

Four titles from its recently launched academic trade programme will kick off the venture, and will be unveiled in their audiobook formats at London Book Fair next week: Mike Berners-Lee's There is No Planet B, The Ape that Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams, Stand out of our Light by James Williams and On the Brink by Van Jackson.

Later this year CUP will also produce an audiobook version of David Faber's drug history Crack.

CUP will use a distributor working with all the major providers, including Audible, Amazon, OneDrive, Apple and Barnes and Noble, and including subscription services.  

CUP's m.d. of Academic Publishing Mandy Hill said: "Content usage is evolving and we need to evolve with it. Audio is an increasingly popular and important way for people to enjoy books and we need to explore its potential for making the fantastic work of Press authors available as widely as possible.

"That's why we have picked titles from our new and recently-announced Academic Trade Programme for the trial. All of the titles present cutting-edge ideas of huge relevance to the way we live and understand our world. As a university press dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge, it makes absolute sense to see what audiobooks can offer in ensuring the widest impact for this information."

At the end of the pilot, CUP will consider rolling out a larger selection of audiobooks from across its Academic Publishing portfolio.