Audible.com Wins Audiobook of the Year: The Chopin Manuscript Named 2008 Audie Award Winner

Business Wire, June 4, 2008

NEWARK, N.J. -- The leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the groundbreaking, original novel The Chopin Manuscript has been named "Audiobook of the Year" by the Audio Publishers Association. Announced last weekend at The Audies[R] gala in Los Angeles, The Audiobook of the Year award recognizes the audiobook with the greatest impact on the audio publishing industry in the given year. It is the only awards program devoted entirely to honoring spoken word entertainment.

The Audie Award judges heralded the many innovative and collaborative aspects of The Chopin Manuscript, an original work that has continued to win praise from listeners, peers, and the press. The book is described by USA Today's David Lieberman as "the first major work of fiction to be introduced only as an audio download." Chopin is a collaborative creation by the world's top thriller writers and a renowned actor that was originally delivered to tens of thousands of Audible.com's listeners as an automated, serialized audio download.

A first of its kind, this original Audible production was nominated in the Audiobook of the Year category along with Steven Colbert's I Am America; The Bible Experience, a multi-cast recording featuring Denzel Washington, Angela Basset and others; The Invention of Hugo Cabret, narrated by Jim Woodman; and, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, narrated by Jim Dale.

The riveting thriller was created by 15 of the most recognized thriller writers (including New York Times bestselling writers Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, and Lisa Scottoline). The collaborative process began when Jeffery Deaver wrote the opening chapter of the work and handed it off to fellow bestselling writer, David Hewson, who wrote the second chapter. This process continued with each successive chapter being written by 13 different authors. The intense thriller-in-progress finally returned to Jeffery Deaver, who wrote the final two chapters before the work was narrated by noted actor Alfred Molina.

In celebration of this honor, people who join the AudibleListener Gold membership for the first time during the month of June will receive a free copy of the entire Chopin Manuscript. In addition, Audible is lowering the purchase price by $5.00 during the entire month of June, for both existing members and a la cart purchasers of the title.

Chopin is currently available as a digital audio download from audible.com and iTunes. A German recording is available from audible.de; Polish and Dutch-language recordings are currently in production.

"The Chopin Manuscript has 15 authors--all internationally renowned thriller writers--and one brilliant narrator in Alfred Molina," said legendary narrator Scott Brick when introducing the Audiobook of the Year during the ceremonies last weekend. "Released via download, The Chopin Manuscript was launched as a serial, building anticipation as each author stepped onto the stage for a chapter."

"This a great honor and certainly a reflection of our commitment to bringing our listeners groundbreaking listening experiences," observed Donald Katz, chairman and CEO, Audible, Inc. "But Chopin is also a testament to what can come of bringing together the best practitioners of a literary genre, a brilliant audio production team, and technology that has been developed specifically with the listener in mind."

Each member of the team of participating authors is well-known to observers of The New York Times Best Seller lists. Lee Child's Bad Luck and Trouble hit No. 2 on the paper's Paperback Mass Market Fiction List; Joseph Finder's Power Play debuted at No. 7: and Jeffery Deaver's latest book, The Sleeping Doll, hit #15. Lisa Scottoline, David Hewson, and other contributors to The Chopin Manuscript are also well-known for their large and avid followings. All the writers are members of International Thriller Writers, which partnered with Audible on the creation of The Chopin Manuscript.

"I was blown away by the quality of the writing and the imagination of my fellow authors," said Jeffery Deaver.

"It was like a great jazz improv at the Village Vanguard," offered Lee Child. "At worst you have a fun week with your friends; at best you create a classic that lives on for 40 years."

"The distinction of Audiobook of the Year for an original Audible production is tremendous honor for us all," said Beth Anderson, Publisher, Audible, Inc. "We could not be more pleased with the reaction from both the publishing industry and fans of well-crafted thrillers."

More information is available at www.audible.com

PRAISE FOR THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT

"When the world's best thriller writers put their heads together, you can bet the results will be nothing short of masterful. This is a wild and entertaining ride, a tale that's so much fun it's criminal." -- Tess Gerritsen, author of The Bone Garden

About Audible Inc.

Audible (www.audible.com) is the leader in spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet. Content from Audible is downloaded and played back on personal computers, CDs, or AudibleReady computer-based and wireless mobile devices. Audible has over 40,000 audio programs from more than 470 content partners that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple's iTunes Store. Audible, Audible.com, AudibleListener, AudibleReady and AudibleKids are trademarks of Audible, Inc. or its affiliates. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.