A little more than a year into her role as president of Penguin Random House Audio Global, Amanda D’Acierno is still eyeing untapped markets where half the population has never listened to an audiobook—and she’s not just talking about developing countries.
“In the United States, just over 50% of people listened to an audiobook in the past year, according to the latest [Audio Publishers Association] report. That leaves massive room for growth,” she said.
D’Acierno, who officially took the global role in August 2024 after working closely with international colleagues for years,
sees the digital nature of audiobooks as fundamentally different from print publishing’s logistical challenges. “All I’ve got to create is a brilliant, compelling, well-read book—a great performance,” she said. “Once I have that digital file, I can distribute that in an instant everywhere that I have the rights and platforms exist.”
Worldwide network
The global strategy hinges on leveraging what D’Acierno calls a worldwide network of talent and studios. For example, PRH Audio now records Spanish-language titles across studios in Barcelona, Madrid, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, plus freelance facilities in Miami and Los Angeles. The company has been publishing in Spanish for a decade and is preparing to significantly expand that business. “At present, about 40% of Spanish audiobook sales are in the U.S., maybe 40% in Latin America, 20% in Spain,” D’Acierno said.
The same global approach applies to casting, where accent and regional authenticity matter. “If it’s set in England, you would want an English accent. If it’s set in the U.S., you’d want an American accent,” she explained, noting that major cities like New York, Los Angeles, London, and Toronto provide access to actors who speak virtually any language.
This global talent approach extends to emerging markets through the company’s Ahab casting platform, which now hosts more than 15,000 actor profiles worldwide. “There are actors from everywhere, including nearly 100 actors fluent in Arabic,” D’Acierno noted, adding that PRH Audio is looking for opportunities everywhere, including in Middle Eastern markets. “Digital publishing, digital tools, digital platforms that are all global. I can very easily get a director who speaks Arabic and an actor who speaks Arabic, put them in a studio,” D’Acierno said.
The global talent development strategy extends beyond established professionals through PRH Audio’s mentorship program, launched in 2021. Nearly 100 actors have participated, with 82% going on to narrate more than 300 books for PRH Audio and other publishers. The program, which received a Special Industry Award from the Audio Publishers Association in 2023, drew nearly 1,500 applications for just over 20 spots in the 2026 session, which is set to begin in January.
Audio innovation
While D’Acierno’s team embraces artificial intelligence across business operations—”my entire department is using AI for business applications,” she said—the company takes a measured approach to AI in creative applications. For example, PRH Audio has experimented with artificial voice in specific instances, such as entrepreneur Ely Callaway’s posthumous memoir The Unconquerable Game. Working with the publisher’s son Nicholas Callaway, PRH Audio used Respeecher AI to create an authorized voice replica combining archival audio of Ely Callaway with narration by actor Vincent Marcus. “The publisher and the family wanted it, and I think it made a lot of sense,” D’Acierno said. “When you use things responsibly, it can be a very good experience. I don’t think that means every book, every day.”
The company doesn’t participate in models that might allow platforms to alter their recordings with AI voice-switching technology, such as that offered by Storytel, as they prefer to maintain control over the audio product.
Different platforms
When it comes to platforms, D’Acierno says there is room for many different models and draws distinctions between major audiobook platforms, comparing Audible to “going into a cozy bookstore” where “they know what I like to listen to” versus Spotify as “a listening store” where “you’re there to listen to podcasts and music and books.”
She reserves particular praise for OverDrive. “We often neglect talking about the absolutely transformative power of OverDrive and what that has done for readers and listeners,” she said, noting that library patronage through apps like Libby can support struggling library systems.
That said, each platform has its own distinct consumption patterns, with Apple, for example, attracting listeners who are “probably not listening to a book a week” but responding to cultural moments and celebrity titles like Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights, which “does exceptionally well” on the platform.
Testing international content
Looking beyond traditional English-language markets, D’Acierno sees audio as uniquely positioned to test international content without the financial commitments of print publishing. “You kind of have this audio first model where you can test, and if something really takes off, then you can put it in print, but you don’t need to start with print,” she said.
This approach could open “more discovery from different parts of the globe that maybe haven’t been accessible to English markets before,” while also expanding access for English-language authors in international markets through translation.
The model reflects broader trends in digital media, where automated captioning on platforms like YouTube has expanded audiences for content creators across language barriers. “That’s the way to do that with books,” D’Acierno said.
Despite these technological advances and platform proliferation, D’Acierno returns to fundamental human behavior as the basis for continued growth. “People love listening to a story. Wherever you’re from in the world, you grew up hearing stories, and I think that’s just such a human thing,” she said.
‘Additive’ relationship with print books
The format’s continued growth also stems from what D’Acierno calls an additive rather than substitutional relationship with print books. “People who listen to audio are often book lovers who are listening when they can’t hold a book for whatever reason,” she said, dismissing concerns about cannibalization that has affected other formats.
The numbers support this view, with both book and audiobook sales growing rather than one format displacing another. “This is a format that we’re really fortunate consumers enjoy,” D’Acierno said.
The format’s sophisticated productions can be elaborate. Jason Reynolds’ latest work Soundtrack features a full cast of 21 voices, cityscape sound effects, and original music by Grammy-winning composer Justin Ellington. The production even enlisted PRH staff members for crowd scenes. “Our Star Wars programs are enhanced dramatized audio versions with full cast and sound effects, and special music is composed for those,” D’Acierno said, noting that such productions are “both expensive and laborious. So you really pick wisely what you’re going to do in that format.”
With PRH Audio now publishing approximately 2,000 titles annually—up from 500 when D’Acierno started in the business in 2008—the format’s trajectory continues upward. The question isn’t whether international audiobook markets will expand, but how quickly publishers can build the infrastructure to serve them.
“We still have a huge global population of people who have never listened to an audiobook,” D’Acierno said. “Even in the U.S., which is a super mature audio market,” significant growth potential remains.
