The biggest audiobook subscription service outside the US, Storytel has seen its sales grow by 35 percent over last year due to the company’s acquisition of US-based Audiobooks.com. However, Storytel’s founder and CEO left earlier this year, and the company has laid off about 100 people due to a “strategic shift to focus on more mature markets.” Publishers Lunch notes (subscription required) that Storytel’s stock price has been declining and the company could become an acquisition target.
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.
