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HarperCollins’ audio director Jo Forshaw is leaving next week after eight years with the company.
She joined the company from Audiobooks Online in 2008 and has headed up its audio publishing since then. She will continue to work with the team as a consultant.
Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive publisher and leader of the digital division, said: “Jo has a huge passion for audiobook publishing and has been instrumental in transforming our audio business at HarperCollins. Under Jo’s leadership HarperCollins Audio has blazed a trail within the industry; innovating with its Total Audio programme and its partnership with the RNIB to make HarperCollins’ entire audio catalogue available for free to users of the Talking Books Library. We are very grateful for her contribution and are delighted that she will continue to work with the team on a consultancy basis as we step up to the next stage of growth.”
Forshaw said: “I am very sorry to be leaving HarperCollins and my amazing team. The audio team at HarperCollins is one of the best in the industry and will, I know, continue to go from strength to strength. I am very proud of all that has been achieved in my eight years at the company and am looking forward to new opportunities and a new phase in my career.”
Her final day at the publisher will be 17th March. HarperCollins is currently seeking her replacement.
Audio sales have been booming in recent years. The Bookseller introduced its first audio downloads chart two years ago and the market is believed to be worth more than £91m. Laurence Howell, senior director at Audible UK, told the FutureBook Conference in December that demand was outstripping supply and there was still a "long way to go" to fulfill the market's potential.