Audiobook Leader Tantor Media Launches Into Print & E-Book Publishing

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tantor Media (www.Tantor.com), one of the nation's largest independent audiobook publishers, is venturing into the realm of printed books. The 12-year-old publisher – after releasing 2,700 audiobooks -- is launching its new print line this fall with a combination of fiction and nonfiction. Tantor will service consumers and authors by publishing in all formats: print, ebook, and audiobook, to all markets -- capitalizing on the emerging marketplace for new content delivery methods.

CEO Kevin Colebank believes that expansion in an industry that is going through many dynamic changes is a good strategic move. "We now will provide a complete selection of content options for today's consumer: audiobooks, ebooks, and print. We are looking to publish books that have been our strength over the last few years in audio—genre fiction like paranormal, romance, horror, and thrillers. We will also publish nonfiction titles, since we originally built our audio reputation on strong, quality nonfiction."

Tantor's first print title, releasing September 18, is the zombie horror story Flu by UK-based author Wayne Simmons. It will be followed by the release of his sequel, Fever, on October 16. TOMY and the Planet of Lies by Erich von Daniken will be released October 30. Von Daniken, a bestselling author known for his nonfiction titles, including Chariots of the Gods, chose Tantor to be the publisher of his first novel to be published in the U.S.

The first Tantor nonfiction book, Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years by Tony Consiglio as told to Franz Douskey will be released November 13. Also in November, Tantor will release print and e-book versions of The Murdoch Archipelago by Bruce Page, a bestseller originally published in the UK.

"The new print line will feature about one book per month and will be released simultaneously as an e-book and an audiobook," says Ron Formica, Tantor's director of Rights and Acquisitions.

Most of the audiobooks produced by Tantor have been unabridged versions of print books published by major publishers, some of which have won the National Book Award, the Man Booker Prize, and the Pulitzer Prize. Tantor's audio narrators are among the industry's best, including Audie winners Simon Vance, Scott Brick, and Cassandra Campbell. Tantor has also released audiobooks of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Little Bee, The God Delusion, and My Horizontal Life.

SOURCE Tantor Media