"Home Fires," Critically Acclaimed Work Of Nonfiction By Audible Founder Donald Katz, Now Available As An Ebook And Digital Audiobook

Enduring classic chronicles fifty years in one American family; print edition to follow in fall 2014

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May 28, 2014, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Donald Katz is best-known today as the visionary behind Audible, the world's largest seller and producer of audiobooks and other spoken-word content. Prior to founding the Amazon subsidiary, which today serves millions and includes more than 150,000 digital audio titles, Katz was an award-winning author and journalist for twenty years. His 1992 book Home Fires, called "mesmerizing, important" by The New York Times, was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Home Fires is now available as an ebook and a digital audiobook; both editions include a new introduction by bestselling author Jonathan Alter, who calls the book "an astonishing record of the last four decades of the 20^th century." Katz produced the audiobook, narrated by award-winning actor Joe Barrett, via Audible's Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). The ebook, made possible via author services company Archer, and the audiobook download will be followed by a wide trade paperback release in fall 2014.

"I may have moved on from the writing life, but I continue to hear from readers who only relate to me as the author of Home Fires, by far my best book, and a labor of love that occupied many years of my life—as has Audible.com. People continue to tell me how much Home Fires has meant to them," said Katz. "When Audible introduced ACX, which enables authors to create audiobooks online using talented narrators who sign up to be part of the system, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give the book a new life and a new audience while experiencing firsthand how user-friendly the ACX platform is for authors. I am also thrilled Home Fires is now available again to a new generation of readers thanks to Archer, Lisa Weinert's innovative new service for professional creators."

"When I heard Joe Barrett's masterful interpretation of John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, I knew he had to narrate Home Fires," added Katz. "His ability to embody characters, and add a profound interpretive intimacy to my prose, transcends the text."

Home Fires is the debut release for Archer, a custom cross-format author services company, founded by Lisa Weinert/LWC, whose marketing approach puts the author back at the center of the process. The ebook is available for purchase on all platforms, and the audiobook is available for download at Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Home Fires is also enabled for Whispersync for Voice, which means that readers and listeners can switch seamlessly between the Kindle ebook and the Audible audiobook without losing their place.

All proceeds from the sale of the ebook and audio editions of Home Fires will go to the Audible Scholars Program, which has provided internships and financial support to Newark students since 1997.

ABOUT HOME FIRES

"This is American social history at its best." –David Halberstam

Firmly entrenched among the standard-bearers of social and cultural history, from William Manchester's The Glory and the Dream to Michael Apted's celebrated documentary, "The Up Series," Home Fires: An Intimate Portrait of One Middle-Class American Family in Postwar America is a saga both panoptic and intimate. Following a real family, the Gordons, from the end of World War II through the 1990s, from New York City to Long Island, through cultural changes sweeping and profound, Home Fires richly evokes the experience of a typical American family, and in doing so captures the essence of the last half of the 20^th century in a riveting novelistic form that transcends any one genre.

"Superb…Donald Katz never lets his material descend to sensationalism. He writes with clarity and poise. His panoramic approach, with background details fleshing out the spirit of the age, brings scene after scene to painful, poignant life." –Dan Cryer, Newsday

"Remarkable…The collective candor of the Gordons offers then rest of us a new lens through which to view the 1960s experience." –Washington Post Book World

"A flat-out marvel of reportage." –Glamour

"Katz's familial lens on recent history belongs on a shelf with classics. There is Balzac here, and Theodore Dreiser, with a touch of John Gunther, John Dos Passos and William Manchester." –Jonathan Alter

ABOUT ARCHER
Archer is a custom author services company targeted to new authors as well as reverted backlist titles and companies, organizations and institutions seeking to create their own imprint. Archer gives more power to the author and brand without discounting the need for publishing professionals throughout the process.

ABOUT THE AUDIOBOOK CREATION EXCHANGE
ACX's audiobook production platform allows authors, their agents and publishers access to the thousands of talented actors and studio professionals who bring books to life in audio. ACX enables online auditions and project management systems, and features programs to help authors learn how to narrate their own books. Rights holders can hire a narrator or producer, or create entrepreneurial partnerships with shared royalty structures that allow audiobooks to be produced without upfront costs. When an audiobook is created, ACX includes instant access to Audible.com's digital distribution platform. ACX also rewards authors and producers with special bounty payments, providing sales acceleration tools to help users maximize profit.

MEDIA CONTACT
Jennifer Musico
[email protected]
917-685-2516

SOURCE Archer