On Monday 27th November, Nosy Crow attended the inaugural British Audio Awards, otherwise known as ‘The Speakies’, at the Royal Opera House in London.
What are the Speakies?
The British Audio Awards – a.k.a ‘The Speakies’ – is a prestigious new awards dedicated to celebrating excellence in audiobooks and audio drama, created by The Bookseller and The Stage. It is the first such dedicated awards for audiobooks and drama in the UK, and a tribute to the format’s rise and listeners’ enthusiasm for the art.
Our Choose Your Own Evolution audiobook was shortlisted in the category Best Audiobook: Children’s. This was the only children’s category, and we were up against fierce competition, including Bunny vs Monkey by Jamie Smart; Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Making Enemies by Louie Stowell; and the winner, Miffy Story Time Collection by Dick Bruna and produced by Yoto. Although we didn’t win the award, we were absolutely delighted to be highly commended in our category!
The team, from left to right: Alex Brown (Strathmore); Viola Ugolini and Kate Wilson (Nosy Crow); Jules Howard (author); Elizabeth Jenner (Nosy Crow). Photo credits: David Monteith-Hodge.
The judges said: “Narrated by voice actor, Glen McCready and produced in-house by Meg Meloy, this audiobook took an innovative approach to text adaptation with features like tracking and auto-play to put children in charge of their listening.
Nosy Crow has always been ahead of the game in audio and with this they’ve tried to do something new and exciting. It’s refreshing – a different kind of audio experience.”
This is quite an honour! It is the first time that one of our audiobooks has been shortlisted for an award, and Choose Your Own Evolution is Nosy Crow’s first foray into the production of non-fiction audiobooks.
Transforming Choose Your Own Evolution into an Audiobook
Choose Your Own Evolution is a pick-your-own-path adventure through the story of life on Earth. Your journey starts as a tiny blob creature, millions and millions of years ago, and it’s up to you to make the decisions that will lead to your next evolutionary step – but will it end in survival or extinction? The print book features funny and accessible science from zoologist, Jules Howard and stunning illustrations by Gordy Wright.
The Audio team was faced with the challenge of turning a non-fiction book into an engaging audiobook that could do justice to the text and illustration – but that could also work on its own. We decided to implement an immersive soundscape throughout the audiobook, and to rearrange the tracks so that the auto-play feature could generate a cohesive path for listeners who only want to engage minimally. Each choice was adjusted to be a maximum of 20 tracks to facilitate smoother engagement.
The final audiobook includes bespoke theme music, ‘survival’ and ‘go extinct’ fanfares composed by Aaron Lampert. Glen McCready narrated expertly and with aplomb. The immersive soundscape is by Alex Brown, with additional music by Luke Summers.
The audiobook was recorded at Strathmore Studios, Nosy Crow’s esteemed and treasured partner in audiobook publishing. To prepare, the Audio team created a ‘mind-map’ (with yarn!) in the office to make sure that all the tracks would lead in the right direction.
Choose Your Own Evolution has been an exciting new experiment for Nosy Crow, and it is the product of real and dedicated teamwork across the company and beyond. We are so proud and happy to see it receive this industry recognition.
Find out more about Choose Your Own Evolution here.
Available online at our list of retailers or in bookshops.
