Simply Audiobooks Inc.

Simply Audiobooks got front page coverage in today’s business section of the Toronto Star newspaper. Business columnist Ellen Roseman met with the team comprising of Sean Neville, Sanjay Singhal, Vitaly Petritchkovitch and Sharron Jones to discuss the company’s rapid rise to fame.

Sadly though, we fear this ‘intense media exposure’ has gone to their heads as they’ve been caught sending out emails to people they haven’t seen since Grade 2 and talking too loudly into their cell phones about it all day long today. To be wowed by their insight and enlightened by their pearls of wisdom click here. In the meantime, we’re off to buy about 100 copies for posterity!

One of my favorite audiobooks is The Secret Life Of Harry Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. It has one of the best openings to a book I’ve ever heard. As Houdini is describing a rehearsal for one of his buried alive stunts each mention of a shovelful of dirt being tossed on to his face is more powerful than the last. It’s just an incredible (and true) story of a life. The amount of research that has gone into this thing is amazing. In my lifetime I have owned over 600 books on the subject of Magic, Illusion, Theater and Escapology so I’m a pretty tough critic. This is easily in my top 5.

In the book, they explain that Houdini died as the result of several blows to the stomach which in turn caused an internal rupture (sorry folks, he didn’t die in the Chinese Water Torture Cell). They also present however, several interesting additions that they have apparently discovered in their research including an attack on Houdini after the initial incident. I don’t want to give away too much here as you really should listen to the book (which by the way is BETTER abridged as it focuses on the story of his life, more than dates and times).

In April of this year, it was announced that scientists and historians were planning to remove Houdini’s body from the ground in order to determine the official cause of death. This has of course, caused quite the dispute between those who wish to find the truth, and those who prefer the mystery.

I personally think he should stay where he is. I don’t say that for religious, spiritual or even moral reasons (although all 3 are perfectly fine reasons). I say that mainly because I like the mystery. Stories, even true ones, are often an exaggeration of the truth…and I’m perfectly happy with that. I like the incredible life story that I have read time and time again. He spent his entire life trying to find new and exciting ways to amaze people all over the world. It was his mission in life to create wonder and mystery. I personally, have no desire to ruin that mystery.

Employee education is a crucial part of running any good business. So why are there not more companies doing it? I do not mean regular on the job training. I mean extra training on top of their regular job duties.

A large part of what we do at the SAB retail store is work with local businesses to help them build their own audiobook libraries. Employees seem to absolutely love it. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t something I came up with myself. It’s been happening for years. It makes me wonder then why more companies aren’t aware of how easy audiobooks can make employee education.

From the moment I leave my doorstep to the moment I walk into the store my commute is roughly an hour each way. That puts me at 10 hours a week just getting to and from work. That’s two books a week right there that I wouldn’t have normally had the time to read. On top of what I already read on paper, I am happy to add 8 extra books a month on audio, especially if it means that I am learning something. Now imagine if that were an employee getting free books from the company they work for.

Over the next few weeks I will be experimenting in the store with new and fun ways to educate customers about the many amazing uses of audiobooks. Perhaps I will discover that audiobooks have the potential of becoming the newest big thing in employee education. My guess is that most of them will never have even thought of using audiobooks to motivate and educate. I guess that means I’ve got my work cut out for me. I always did love a challenge!

Let me know what you think. If your employer had an audiobook library, would you use it?

I am happy to say that the Grand Re-Opening of our Toronto Store was a fantastic success! Author Robert Sawyer was here to promote his newest book “Rollback” and give a dramatic reading from its pages. As soon as he began to read, it was obvious that the audio version is going to be an absolute hit. Robert is a fantastic speaker and is scheduled to record Rollback in our studios this year. You can bet that we’ll make grand notice of it in store and online.

Light soon turned to dark and that meant only one thing. It was time to break out the wine. CHUM FM’s The Wine Ladies came out to host a wine tasting event to celebrate their upcoming audiobook “One Sip At A Time” which will also be published by Simply Audiobooks. We managed to pack the entire store wall to wall with audiobook lovers, great food and great wine.

A big thank you to Robert Sawyer, the Wine Ladies and all who attended. We look forward to having more events like this one!

This month’s WIRED magazine included a supplement titled “Geekipedia” – 149 People, Places, Ideas and Trends you need to know NOW. Under the letter ‘D’ it had this to say about DRM.

“Digital rights management is the catchall term for technologies that keep you from ripping a DVD you’ve bought, listening to a Windows Media file on your iPod, and playing certain audio discs on your home computer without installing malware. That is, unless you’ve downloaded a freeware app or bought a $3 cable from RadioShack. Therein lies the fundamental problem with DRM: It doesn’t work. It makes the harmless use of digital media a hassle, and it doesn’t deter the kinds of infringement that damage a media company’s bottom line. Consumers have rights to manage, too.”

Simply Audiobooks recently announced that we support DRM-free audio book content and we plan to eventually become altogether DRM-free. We are doing this because we feel that it will greatly enhance the audio book experience for consumers who want to be able to load files onto whichever playing devices they may own. It’s nice to see that the folks at WIRED magazine agree.