New York, NY, May 4, 2021: Yen Press has announced a new partnership with Hachette Audio to produce, sell, and distribute digital audiobook editions of select titles. Heading up the program under the Yen Audio label is Publisher and Managing Director Kurt Hassler, who is teaming up with Hachette Audio’s longtime Publisher and SVP Anthony Goff, who negotiated the world rights deal for Hachette Book Group.
Yen Audio will launch four debut titles in Summer and Fall 2021. The first volume of SOLO LEVELING, a South Korean novel by Chugong originally published online in serial releases and the basis of the bestselling webtoon of the same name, will be the first audiobook in the collaboration, slated for publication July 2021. The second release will take place in August, when the initial volume of the acclaimed light novel series SWORD ART ONLINE by author Reki Kawahara is published as a digital audiobook. Voice casting for these titles, as well as for narrators of Fall titles OVERLORD by Kugane Maruyama and THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL by Carlo Zen, will be announced soon separately. After these initial releases, it is expected that the Yen/Hachette Audio partnership will release regular seasonal adaptations.
Hassler said of the partnership, “Yen has been aware of the interest in audiobook adaptations of its novels for some time, and we’re incredibly excited not only to finally be taking this step but to be doing so with the GRAMMY® Award-winning talent at Hachette Audio. We could not be more excited to be launching both this program and partnership.”
“This partnership is an amazing opportunity, and one we’ve cultivated for many years, since Yen was a part of Hachette Book Group,” concurred Goff. “I couldn’t be more pleased to work with Kurt, and the fantastic team at Yen, as we look forward to introducing more audio interpretations of their popular series to listeners around the world.”
These audiobooks based on Yen Press content will be available wherever downloadable audiobooks are sold, across platforms including Apple Books, Audible, Audiobooks.com, Downpour, Google Books, Libro.fm, Kobo, and more.
| TITLE | AUTHOR | ISBN | US/CAN DLP | EST. RUN | RELEASE |
| SOLO LEVELING, VOL. 1 | Chugong | 9781975325886 | $25.98/$32.98 | 9.5 hours | July 2021 |
| SWORD ART ONLINE 1: AINCRAD | Reki Kawahara | 9781975337186 | $25.98/$32.98 | 7.5 hours | Aug 2021 |
| OVERLORD, VOL. 1 | Kugane Maruyama, so-bin | 9781975337490 | $25.98/$32.98 | 7.5 hours | Sep 2021 |
| SOLO LEVELING VOL. 2 | Chugong | 9781975325893 | $25.98/$32.98 | 10 hours | Oct 2021 |
| SWORD ART ONLINE 2: AINCRAD | Reki Kawahara | 9781975337209 | $25.98/$32.98 | 7.5 hours | Oct 2021 |
| THE MIRACLES OF THE NAMIYA GENERAL STORE | Keigo Higashino | 9781975338350 | $25.98/$32.98 | 9.5 hours | Nov 2021 |
| THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL, VOL. 1 | Carlo Zen, Shinobu Shinotsuki | 9781975337452 | $25.98/$32.98 | 10 hours | Nov 2021 |
| OVERLORD, VOL. 2 | Kugane Maruyama, so-bin | 9781975338336 | $25.98/$32.98 | 7.5 hours | Dec 2021 |
| SWORD ART ONLINE 3: FAIRY DANCE | Reki Kawahara | 9781975337216 | $25.98/$32.98 | 7.5 hours | Dec 2021 |
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Yen Press, LLC ÂÂis a joint venture between Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. Founded in 2006, Yen Press has quickly risen to become one of the largest and most prolific publishers of manga and original graphic novels in the North American marketplace and a driving force in the introduction of light novels and Japanese literature to new readers through its Yen On imprint. For more information, visit www.yenpress.com.
Hachette Audio is a publisher of a variety of popular genres in audio form, which matches Hachette Book Group material with talented actors, composers, and producers to find its fullest expression. Their audiobooks are primarily based on material published in print and online by Grand Central Publishing; Little, Brown and Company; Hachette Nashville; Orbit; JIMMY Patterson; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; and Perseus Books, and have been recognized for the highest quality of content and production with numerous GRAMMY, Audie, Listen Up! and Earphone awards. Unabridged and abridged titles are available on CD and as digital downloads.
I feel bad for whoever has to read SAO out loud.
I’m really looking forward to the Youjo Senki–The Saga of Tanya The Evil, and Overlord audiobook adaptations.
Have been buying official print copies of the books, and eagerly listening to various fan adaptations to audiobook form as they come out, since nothing else has been available to date in the audiobook medium.
These stories really do deserve an official studio quality audiobook release, and there is definitely a broad fan base that will pay well for them, myself included. :)