An English Rose Blooms in the American Desert: B.J. Harrison Produces and Narrates Top-Selling Audiobook Title

SALT LAKE CITY, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- P.G. Wodehouse is arguably the greatest comedic novelist ever. His satirical portraiture of early 20th century Britain is unparalleled, and there's nothing more quintessentially British than the banter between the cheery and dim-witted Bertie Wooster and his laconic and even-tempered man, Jeeves.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150331/195694

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150331/195695

But, the best-selling P.G. Wodehouse title at Audible.com is not voiced by a native Briton. In fact, B.J. Harrison, the narrator of the acclaimed and best-selling P.G. Wodehouse Collection, doesn't come from London's West End or the BBC. He comes from the American west.

B.J. Harrison, producer and narrator of The Classic Tales Podcast, is based in Utah. He created over 40 different character voices from all over the United Kingdom and America for The P.G. Wodehouse Collection, which contains the full novel Right Ho, Jeeves, as well as many short stories.

Last year, Harrison's audiobook version of Shakespeare's Hamlet was Audible's #2 best-selling Shakespeare title for two weeks. His recording of Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a consistent top-selling classic at the iTunes Music Store, and his recording of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart was one of iTunes' best-selling audiobooks in 2008.

What started as a hobby has turned into a profession.

In 2007, with a borrowed computer and microphone, Harrison released the first three episodes of The Classic Tales Podcast. The folks at iTunes sat up and took notice. They featured The Classic Tales Podcast on the front page in the Podcast Section of the iTunes Music Store (no apps or movies back then).

By the time Harrison had released Episode #8 – The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allan Poe, The Classic Tales Podcast was ranked as the #3 overall top podcast in iTunes, ranking just behind This American Life. His podcast has been downloaded over 11 million times.

By the end of Harrison's first year of podcasting, iTunes had named The Classic Tales Podcast one of the Top New Podcasts of 2007. He had been written up in The Wall Street Journal, and Audible.com started releasing his podcast titles as audiobooks.

Harrison created over 90 character voices in his latest release alone: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.

Now, Harrison has recorded around 250 audiobook titles. He has created hundreds of distinct character voices, and garnered over 1,100 five-star ratings and reviews from iTunes, Audible, Amazon and his own website at www.thebestaudiobooks.com.

Audible Studios now hires him frequently. Best-selling authors hire him, as well as new writers seeking to carve their niche in the publishing scene. At his website, www.thebestaudiobooks.com, Harrison is developing a special financing program tailored for new writers who want to hire him to voice their opus, but are not yet in the position to shell out big bucks in one lump sum.

The P.G. Wodehouse Collection is available at Audible.com and at B.J. Harrison's website: www.thebestaudiobooks.com.

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SOURCE B.J. Harrison