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Randy O' Brien Selected as Judge for Annual Audie Award

By wmot

Murfreesboro, TN – The Audio Publishers Association (APA) announced today 125 finalists for the 9th Annual Audie Awards, which honor excellence in audio publishing. Finalists were awarded in 27 categories that reflect the broad spectrum of creativity and innovation in spoken word entertainment.

The finalists were selected by 100 judges from over 500 entries. All entries were released between Nov. 1, 2002 and Oct. 31, 2003. WMOT's News Director, Randy O'Brien was one of the initial judges asked to be a part of these prestigious awards for the "Production Audio" category. O'Brien stated: "There was some really amazing work and the final choice came down to a gut level response. I was pleasantly surprised to ask to be involved and feel that exposures to such a wide range of excellent production adds to my experience as a book reviewer."

The winners will be honored Friday, June 4 at the Audie Awards, a black-tie gala in the Winter Garden Room at the Harold Washington Public Library Center in Chicago. Several hundred guests, including authors, narrators, APA members, media and friends of the industry, are expected to attend the gala and honor the industry's best.

The finalists for the 2004 Audie Awards highlight the tremendous range of talent in this industry,'' said Mary Beth Roche, President of the Audio Publishers Association. This diverse group of audiobook publishers delivers a wide variety of content and high quality of productions, providing consumers a broader range of choices than ever before.

The Audie Awards are notable as the only completely juried awards covering audiobooks and spoken word entertainment. Judging is a two-step process, in which entrants in each category are narrowed to five and then a winner in each category is selected.

This year, the APA will again sponsor an Audie Awards interactive contest on its website www.audiopub.org. The contest will begin April 1. At that time, the public is invited to review the posted titles and to submit their choices for the best audiobook in each category. Everyone who enters the contest will be automatically entered into a drawing for a Grand Prize.

"Audiobooks are about listening,'' said Robin Whitten, Chair of the Audie Awards and Editor and Founder of AudioFile Magazine. The contest gives listeners a unique chance to hear sound clips of each of the best audios of the year and select their favorites."

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade association whose primary goals are to promote awareness of the audiobook industry, gather and disseminate industry statistics, encourage high production standards, and represent the interests of audiobook publishers. Since 1986, the APA has worked to bring audio publishers together to increase interest in audiobooks.