For years, Penguin Random House has been using its own in-house developed platform, Ahab, to find and hire voice actors for its audiobooks. At book industry trade events, PRH reps sometimes mentioned the possibility of opening up the platform for other publishers to use. Finally it has done so. Ahab is free for now, but use will be monetized at some point. The site includes 8,500 actors from 67 countries. Take a look.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
