Despite Upcoming titles by big-name authors like Stephen King, Sue Grafton and Dean Koontz, audio retailers contacted by PW were unimpressed by the crop of audiobooks for the fall, calling it solid but unspectacular. Last year, we were still selling Grisham. People usually give audiobooks as Christmas gifts to men or to their grandmothers. But there are no big history books coming out, nothing to compete with Greatest Generation and The Century , and for grandma, no Jan Karon. And there are so many two-tapers.
Nobody wants two-tapers anymore.
I'm also disappointed that nothing is read by Will Patton. My customers still ask for him. There seem to be less 'legal eagle' type titles, and more focus on good literature. The season's offerings do include bestselling authors who can be counted on for strong audio sales. Also notable is the number of titles to be released simultaneously in abridged, unabridged and CD formats.