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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Syracuse, NY, Aug. 13, 2007) -- Full
Cast Audio is pleased to announce
the release of the publishing industry’s first ever original audiobook, “Melting
Stones,” by New York Times best-selling author Tamora Pierce.
“Melting Stones,” by Pierce will debut on audio in October (produced by Full
Cast Audio and distributed by Harcourt Children’s Books) with the print version,
published by Scholastic, to follow one year later. According to the Audio
Publisher’s Association, it is the first time a manuscript was written to be
heard first and read later.
Full Cast Audio founder Bruce Coville calls the release “revolutionary.”
“While audio is one of the fastest growing segments of publishing, it’s still
relatively small compared to the print side. And generally speaking, it’s the
print version that drives sales of the audiobooks,” Coville says.
The audiobook market continues to soar, reaching $871 million in sales in 2005,
an increase of 4.7 percent from the previous year. Full Cast Audio, a small
company in Syracuse, NY, is riding that wave and will produce four audio
originals by Pierce, whose young–adult fantasy books featuring strong female
characters have a loyal fan following.
Six of Pierce’s books have landed on the New York Times Children’s Chapter Books
Best-Seller’s list, with two, “Trickster’s Queen” and “Lady Knight” reaching No.
1. Her books have also graced best-seller’s lists in USA Today, Publisher’s
Weekly, Amazon.com and most notably, the Wall Street Journal’s Fiction
Best-Seller’s list, which does not track children’s books separately. Her books
have garnered dozens of awards.
“People tend to be amazed that someone of Tammy's stature is willing to have her
newest novel go to audio before the print version,” Coville says. “They also
tend to think it's really exciting. One of the things I love about Tammy is that
she has a preference for the interesting over the safe. This was an interesting
thing to do.”
“Melting Stones” is the eighth book Pierce has recorded with Full Cast Audio, a
company unique in its format of using a full cast of actors for its unabridged
recordings. Pierce, who wrote for radio theater in the 1980s, loves the
full-cast format and pitched the idea for an audio original to Coville in 2003.
“I like creating a tapestry of voices,” says Pierce, who also directed “Melting
Stones.” “It is a pleasure to hear those cascades of emotion, those cascades of
sound, that orchestration of tension and feeling that a good audio company can
give you. The voices, the sound drive what you see and shape it.”
Those same voices also drove how Pierce wrote the novel. Pierce had been
struggling to write “Melting Stones” in 2005, when she lugged her typewriter
with her (she didn’t use a laptop then) on a trip to Syracuse for a recording
session for her novel “Street Magic.” Then, she heard the voice of a young
actress named Grace Kelly playing the role of Evvy in “Street Magic.” Pierce
fell in love with Kelly’s voice, as well as the freshness and sassiness she
brought to Evvy, slated to be the main character in “Melting Stones.” Suddenly,
everything about “Melting Stones” changed.
Pierce re-wrote “Melting Stones” from page one, re-casting the story from third
person to first person, and tailoring Evvy expressly for Kelly’s voice.
“It was like Grace was standing right by me talking into my ear and I just
ripped right on through,” she says. “She just crackles on the microphone. She
owned Evvy.”
Adds Coville: “Grace creates and embodies the character of Evvy. But again, it's
a circular process, since Tammy actually wrote the text with Grace's voice in
mind. She crafted it for Grace and Grace rose to the occasion.”
Pierce constructed every sentence — even down to single words — with the voice
actors in mind, editing and revising the book right through the final recording
session. Any time an actor stumbled over a word, she changed it. The audio and
print versions of the book will differ only in attributions such as “she said”
and “he said” since those are omitted in the audio version. Coville, also a
children’s author, served as Pierce’s editor for the manuscript.
“This is a terrific text, with great characters, a compelling situation and
some of the most incredibly imaginative scenes Tammy has ever created,” Coville
says.
“Melting Stones” runs 8 hours, 30 minutes and retail editions will sell for
$39.95. |
