Thank god for Jim Dale....
I've had something in the back of my mind that's been bothering me ever since a date was released for HP 7. WHAT ABOUT THE AUDIOBOOK? They announced the UK audiobook but not the US version.
My fear was that we'd get stuck with the Stephen Fry edition (no offense Stephen!) and there would be no Jim Dale version.
Earlier this week I even e-mailed the Random House Audio Publicity and Marketing Dept. for answers. Very surprisingly, they replied.. in less than an hour!
Hi Craig--
An announcement for the Harry Potter 7 audio book has not yet gone out.
Please stay tuned for more information to come soon.
Thanks,
Nicole Adamidis
Random House Audio
Publicity and Marketing
Didn't answer a single question I asked... but I was surprised I got the reply.
Those that know me, know I'm a huge, Huge, HUGE fan of the HP Audiobooks performed by one of the gods of audiobook narration... Jim Dale.
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/features/harrypotter/
Press Release here.
Harry Potter audiobook coming out
By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National WriterMon Mar 26, 3:34 PM ET
The U.S. audiobook of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be released July 21, the same time as the bound text, with the Grammy-winning Jim Dale again handling all the voices.
The British editions have been narrated by actor Stephen Fry.
The Listening Library, the children's imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group, announced Monday that the audio for the 784-page book will run 21 hours, and retail for $79.95.
No first printing was announced, but Amanda D'Acierno, director of marketing and publicity for Random House Audio, told The Associated Press that the number would "definitely" be higher than the 635,000 announced for Potter 6, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
J.K. Rowling's fantasy series has sold more than 4 million audio copies in North America, and Dale has become a celebrity, winning a Grammy Award in 2000 for best spoken word album for children. The audio for "Half-Blood Prince" sold more than 165,000 copies the first weekend, more than most audiobooks sell all year.
Random House confirmed that the audio for "Deathly Hallows" will be available in cassette and CD, but did not announce a downloadable version. Only in 2005 did Rowling, known for her resistance to digital technology, allow the audiobooks to be downloaded, releasing them exclusively through Apple Inc.'s iTunes.
"We have digital rights for the new book, but there are so many scenarios in the digital world that we're not ready to discuss the downloadable version at this point," D'Acierno said.
None of the Potter stories are available as e-books, a status not expected to change with "Deathly Hallows."
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is the seventh and final Harry Potter book.
As Jim Dale is completely responsible for pulling me into the world of Harry Potter, you have no idea how happy I am at this news.
