Head of Zeus strikes audiobook soundtrack deal with Booktrack

Head of Zeus has announced its second audiobook deal in a week, this time a series of soundtracked titles with Booktrack.

The joint venture will see a curated selection of soundtracked HoZ audiobooks released, starting with the first English translation of Breakout at Stalingrad by Heinrich Gerlach.

It follows last week’s announcement by HoZ of a deal with W.F. Howes for 100 audiobook titles per year.

Mark Cameron, Booktrack c.e.o, said: “We’re super excited to be working with Nicolas and team over at Head of Zeus. Our back list soundtracked titles sold over 60,000 copies last year and we look forward to working with Head of Zeus to further establish soundtracked audiobooks as a feature category within the audiobook market. Full audiobook production is a natural fit for the expertise Booktrack has built over the years. Combined with the cost efficiencies we’re able to bring to the space through our technology, 2019 is lining up to be a very busy year for Booktrack.”

Nicolas Cheetham, HOZ c.e.o. added: "Audio is an integral part of our future business strategy, and we look forward to publishing audiobooks with as much energy and success as we publish print books and e-books. Partnering with the most innovative player in the audio market is going to carry us a long way toward this goal.”

Soundtracked and voice-only editions of Breakout at Stalingrad will be published on 3rd April. Narrated by Paul Holme, Gerlach’s “stark and terrifying portrait of the horrors of war” was written during his imprisonment by the Soviets but confiscated before his release. He underwent hypnosis to remember it, publishing the book as The Forsaken Army in 1957. Fifty-five years later Carsten Gansel, an academic, came across the original manuscript of Gerlach's novel in a Moscow archive.