Hachette Audio Enhances Young Adult Audiobooks Through Immersive Music Soundtracks With Booktrack Technology Platform

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hachette Audio, a division of Hachette Book Group, and literary technology pioneer Booktrack (www.booktrack.com) launch a new generation of audiobooks with an industry-first partnership, bringing full soundtracks to young adult novellas. This collaboration offers YA listeners an innovative new way to experience their favorite stories through immersive, synchronized movie-style soundtracks complementing the narration of existing audiobooks; the tempo and rhythm of the score harmonize with action, dialogue and the characters' emotional arcs. Popular novellas by bestselling YA authors—including Laini Taylor, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl at launch—will be made available on Hachette's Booktrack page (https://promo.booktrack.com/audiobooks) beginning October 4, with new releases to come.

"We were thrilled with the reception of Booktrack eBooks from Little, Brown for Young Readers when we launched the titles in the Booktrack format this summer. Hachette Book Group has always been a leader in the publishing industry and is once again ahead of the curve, leveraging Booktrack's technology. Beautifully narrated audiobooks from Hachette Audio now join their eBook counterparts in harnessing Booktrack's creative potential for authors to deliver a new experience to their fans," said Paul Cameron, CEO and co-founder of Booktrack. "The soundtracks add a totally immersive, enhanced experience to the amazing Hachette audiobooks."

"Booktrack is doing exciting things in the digital space, and we're happy to be the first major publisher to expand their technology to a list of audiobooks," said Tina McIntyre, Senior Executive Director, Content Development, at Hachette Book Group. "We love creating new ways for our YA fans in particular to consume content from their favorite authors. We are eager to expand our offerings to established fans and neophytes alike by making these newly imagined editions of original YA audiobook recordings available."

Senior Vice President, Content Development, and Audio Publisher Anthony Goff said, "I'm proud of Hachette Audio's reputation as a forward-thinking publisher. Working with Booktrack, we hope to expand our authors' audiences, giving current audiobook fans the ability to experience some of their favorite stories in a fresh, new way, while attracting those who may be new to audiobook listening with a "cinematic" gateway experience. We look forward to growing our catalog and partnership with Booktrack in the seasons to come."

Booktrack's Hachette Audio Fall launch includes this selection:

By Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES - read by Kevin T Collins, the first title in this bestselling series, which has been translated into 39 languages and was made into a feature film by Warner Brothers in 2013.

BEFORE THE CLAIMING - read by Khristine Hvam, revisits the events that would define Lena's future in the third installment of Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories.

A GATLIN WEDDING - also read by Kevin T. Collins, reveals Gatlin's destiny in this not-to-be missed final installment of Beautiful Creatures: The Untold Stories.

By Laini Taylor

NIGHT OF CAKE & PUPPETS - read by Khristine Hvam & Kevin T. Collins, brings to life a night only hinted at in the DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE trilogy—the magical first date of fan favorites Zuzana and Mik—which will be available on Booktrack on August 8^th. Taylor's series topped the bestseller charts and received accolades from Kirkus Reviews, YALSA, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and the Junior Library Guild.

ABOUT BOOKTRACK
Booktrack (www.booktrack.com) is an industry-leading global technology company that synchronizes movie-style soundtracks and ambient audio to eBooks and audiobooks. Music and ambient audio are automatically paced to an individual's reading speed and synchronized to complement and enhance the story while a person reads. Booktrack is proven to increase comprehension by 17 percent, retention by 30 percent, and reading satisfaction by 35 percent.  More than 3 million readers and writers worldwide enjoy instant access to thousands of stories. Booktrack offers more than 16,000 titles in 40 different languages, across all genres of reading.

Backed by investors including Peter Thiel, Booktrack is a disruptive force in the publishing and audio world, equivalent to how the introduction of sound transformed the experience of film forever. The Booktrack application is available from www.booktrack.com and in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Google Chrome's Web Store. To hear about new titles and special announcements, follow Booktrack on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Hachette Book Group is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the third-largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Audio is a publisher of a variety of popular genres in audio form, which matches HBG material with talented actors, composers, and producers to find its fullest expression. Their audiobooks are primarily based on material published in print and online by Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown & Company, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, JIMMY Patterson, Hachette Books, Black Dog & Leventhal, and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and have been recognized for the highest quality of content and production with numerous GRAMMY, Audie, Listen Up! And Earphone awards. Unabridged and abridged titles are available on CD and as digital downloads.

SOURCE Booktrack

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