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An audiobook and e-book platform that champions the UK’s small and independent presses has launched.
Spiracle Audiobooks offers readers and listeners a selection of literary fiction and non-fiction titles, curated to showcase titles published by independent presses, and was founded by radio producer Kate Bland and Leigh Wilson, professor of modern literature at the University of Westminster.
The pair were recently awarded an Arts Council grant to develop the platform, which features three main sections: Editions, offering original audiobooks published in partnership with indie publishers; The Collection, a series of audiobooks; and Murmurations, a curated list of articles, interviews and podcasts.
“There is a timely element to Spiracle,” said Bland, who is the platform’s creative director. “With the rise of audio listening and the explosion of podcasts and audiobooks as a consequence – especially during the lockdowns – we are discovering, as a society, that books can be even better company in the audiobook form. So now is a great time to think about what kind of audiobooks we want.
“Spiracle also comes at a time when people are looking for more care and discernment in the digital world. So far digital technology has produced processes that create more isolation through automation and standardisation. The internet runs on transactions, and yet we spend so much time surfing and hoping to find a different experience.”
Monthly and annual subscriptions are available at £12 a month or £120 a year, and members receive the two current Editions as part of their subscription, with access to everything in the Murmurations section. Readers are also able to buy a one-off audiobook.
“Audiobook sales are the fastest growing sector of publishing, increasing by 20% each year, but the independent presses, publishers of books in translation, just don’t make it into the audiobook light given costs of production and marketing,” Bland added. “Spiracle is a platform for independent publishers to expand their business and share in the value of collective marketing. It is also designed for readers who prefer an inspiring recommendation rather than the echo-chamber of algorithms.”
The pair aim to champion independent presses and try to re-create the experience of browsing in an independent bookshop. Wilson, the curator, called it “a safe haven for smaller, independently owned publishers who are releasing some of the best books in the world”.
She said: “The fact that we are choosing some of the best texts to become available as audiobooks alongside modern and contemporary literary gems will freshen and strengthen the marketplace for all publishers and authors.
“The digital audio space has never yet recognised the fact that reading is an emotional activity. It’s not transactional, it’s personal. When we’re in a good independent bookshop, we take our time and enjoy the process because it’s part of the whole experience of spending time in the company of a good book, immersing ourselves in a great story and, in the case of audiobooks, relishing time with a good narrator.”