Headline and Imperial War Museum embark on audio partnership

Headline has signed an audio partnership with the Imperial War Museum (IWM), enabling it to publish in audio undiscovered classics and non-fiction titles from the museum's publishing programme.

After the success of six audiobooks they published in partnership at the end of 2019, Headline and IWM have now agreed an ongoing partnership publishing a mix of titles from IWM’s frontlist and backlist in audio for the first time. Hannah Cawse, managing editor for audio, agreed a three-year licensing deal with IWM via Barbara Levy at the Barbara Levy Literacy Agency. 

Headline will publish the first three titles in spring 2020, with Warriors for the Working Day by Peter Elstob, Patrol by Fred Majdalany, and In Their Own Words: Tales from the First World War by Anthony Richards.

Warriors for the Working Day and Patrol are both part of IWM’s ongoing programme of IWM Classics. Warriors for the Working Day follows one tank crew as they proceed from the beaches of Normandy into newly liberated western Europe. It originally published in 1960 but the new edition includes a contextual introduction by an IWM historian. Meanwhile Patrol is a semi-autobiographical novel about the men who fought in the North African campaign.

Cawse said: "I am delighted to be continuing our work with IWM. Both their undiscovered classics and non-fiction offerings resonate with modern readers and shed fascinating insight on what it was like to live through those conflicts. They are a great addition to Headline’s audio publishing and I’m so happy that we have this opportunity to introduce listeners to these remarkable stories."

Madeline James, IWM Publishing & Brand Licensing manager, said: "We’re absolutely thrilled to continue working with Headline on this audio partnership, using their considerable expertise and experience to bring our titles to a new market. It was so exciting to release the first six titles in 2019 and to see our books getting a wider reach – we’re really looking forward to developing the list and working with the wonderful team at Headline to make them a great success."

Sarah Emsley, publishing director for non-fiction at Headline, added: "All of us at Headline are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with the prestigious Imperial War Museum and to be bringing books from both their frontlist and their incredibly rich backlist to the audio market."