AudioBook SYNC Blog

This week we are featuring three returning publishers who reliably provide AudiobookSYNC participants with unexpected gems. All four of these contributions to SYNC give listening readers opportunity to experience the importance of tones and accents in creating and maintaining characters as well as supplying mood information that conveys important plot points.  

This is the time of year when we tip our hand about the titles coming in the new AudiobookSYNC season of free teen listening. This week we’re welcoming back a faithfully contributing publisher and a brand new participating publisher, too.

Opening day for AudiobookSYNC’s 2020 edition is still four and a half months away but indications are that it is going to be one fabulous season of listening possibilities! We have set the start date (30 April) and have received agreements with a wide array of publishers. We know that the old OverDrive app will be retired from programming service and instead we’ll be using the Sora app. And yes, there will be a toolkit to help publicize the program and webinars to help everyone get up to speed on how to use the new app access point.

When it comes to discovering authentic voices, nothing beats the well cast audiobook. November calls for us to recognize America's First Peoples and there are many available titles written by tribally enrolled authors AND narrated by tribally enrolled actors as well. Listen up!

Back in January, we shared AudioFile Magazine's 2019 slate of audiobook listening challenges. Now the calendar year is winding on and the school year has got its motor running, we want to recall your attention to a way to engage super readers with the joys of written language--yes, through audiobooks.

Much of what we do at SYNC and at AudioFile Magazine keeps the people who do it and the people who are happy we do in separate spheres on most workdays. We work remotely and yet we are frequently working "with" each other. One of the pleasures of taking SYNC awareness to conferences is getting to meet some of you all face to face and hear your own voices.

We frequently note the importance of improving listening skills as a route to better social and civic engagement. What exactly happens when we listen, in distinction to what hearing means?

There ae some things we can do in a hurry and some that, when we hurry, no longer can be done. While we can eat and drink in a hurry, we need to slow down to savor what we eat or drink. We are generally pretty good at reacting in a hurry and less good at crafting the best response when we hurry to supply one instantly.

For those who are in constant want of new narrative listening, the world of podcasts is rich and deep--and free! This week we remind you of a couple such podcasts that speak specifically of and through teens who are using their voices and their ears to examine teen history.

As the new school year swings into opening days, and you find yourself with a nicely filled shelf of new audiobook listens, we thought we'd call your attention to recent research about the benefits of listening. These benefits include ones of mental and physical health, academic engagement, and pure relaxation and wonder-feeding.