Author Archives:

September 6, 2012

September 14, 2012 – 3:51 pm

Audible and Amazon Introduce “Immersion Reading” and “Whispersync for Voice”—
Two Momentous Steps Forward for Reading

“Immersion Reading”—the revolutionary multisensory reading experience that intensifies the power of
great stories and helps readers retain more of what they read—
available exclusively with the all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD family

“Whispersync for Voice”—for the first time ever readers can enjoy their books throughout a busy day—
start reading on your Kindle and pick up where you left off by listening to the professionally narrated
Audible audiobook on your phone while driving or running—
all without losing your place

NEWARK, N.J. — September 6, 2012—(NASDAQ: AMZN) — Audible.com, the world’s leading provider of
digital spoken-word entertainment and a subsidiary of Amazon.com, today announced two momentous
steps forward for reading: “Immersion Reading” and “Whispersync for Voice.” Both new features are
offered only by Amazon and are exclusive to the Kindle ecosystem.

New “Whispersync for Voice”
Amazon’s Whispersync technology already enables customers to automatically and seamlessly switch
between different devices while reading a Kindle book—all without losing their place. Last year with
the introduction of Kindle Fire, Amazon extended Whispersync to video, allowing customers to start
watching a video on their Kindle Fire and pick up where they left off on their big-screen TV. With
Whispersync for Voice, Kindle and Kindle Fire owners can now switch seamlessly between reading a
book and listening to the professionally narrated Audible audiobook on any iOS or Android phone—
all without losing their place. This continuous reading experience means that Kindle owners can keep
enjoying their books while driving to work or picking up the kids from school.

“Most people I know believe that if they only had more time to read, they would be more imaginative,
more interesting, and more successful. Whispersync for Voice directly addresses that need,” said
Donald Katz, Audible Founder and CEO. “The ability to seamlessly switch back and forth between
reading text on any Kindle and listening to the same title in audio on your smartphone—and always
pick up where you left off—means that the story can continue during those times of the day when you
cannot look at a screen. We think that Whispersync for Voice can help us all enjoy more books, which is
good news indeed.”

New “Immersion Reading”
With Immersion Reading, owners of new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD can now synchronize Kindle
text with the corresponding Audible.com audiobook to create a more immersive and engaging
experience, as well as deepen learning and comprehension. As customers read their books on Kindle
Fire, text is highlighted while it is professionally narrated via the Audible audiobook. Academic research
supports the assertion that all readers can benefit from listening while reading. In an influential 2007
study, “Learning through Listening in the Digital World,” neuropsychologist David Rose and professor

Bridget Dalton drew upon cognitive educational research to report that “both learning to listen and
listening to learn are critical to literacy in the 21st century as new technologies rebalance what it
means to be literate and to learn.” Professor David Dockterman commented on Rose’s and Dalton’s
findings, “For struggling readers, narration can provide decoding support, but there’s an added benefit
to well-narrated text that helps even competent readers. Hearing something read with expression
provides additional clues to the meaning beyond the words themselves.”

“At Amazon we are missionaries when it comes to inventing on behalf of authors and readers. We’re
excited today to unveil our latest innovations that will help people read more and retain more of what
they read. Reading and listening together has been shown to increase the motivation to read, and it
can have meaningful impact on reading retention—Immersion Reading on the new Kindle Fire family
sets a new standard for deep reading by engaging the eye and the ear simultaneously with beautifully
narrated audiobooks,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Anyone who wants more time
to read, or never wants to put a great book down because it’s time to drive to work or exercise, will love
Whispersync for Voice—it offers our customers the profound gift of more time to read.”

Starting today, nearly 15,000 Kindle books and 15,000 Audible audiobooks across a wide array
of categories and genres are available for customers to experience using Immersion Reading and
Whispersync for Voice. Customers are invited to try both products for free for a limited time with 20
Kindle and Audible audio titles, including full-length classics like “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,”
narrated by Elijah Wood, and popular children’s books like “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” narrated by
Anne Hathaway. Customers who purchase or already own the Kindle edition of one of the nearly 15,000
Whispersync for Voice- or Immersion Reading-ready titles available at launch can add professional
narration at a special limited time discount off the full audiobook price, with the discounted price
ranging from $4.95 to $12.95.

To use Whispersync for Voice to switch between text and audio using Kindles and their smartphone,
customers can download Audible’s free mobile app for iPhone and Android phones.

To see a video demonstration of Whispersync for Voice, visit http://www.audible.com/wsv. To see a
demonstration of Immersion Reading, visit http://www.audible.com/immersion.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc., subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium
digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new way to
enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening as a core tool
for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained. Audible
content, which includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800 content providers
that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper
publishers, and business information providers, is digitally downloaded and played back on over 500
popular devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s
iTunes® Store.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Matthew Thornton
Audible.com
973-820-0402
mthornton@audible.com

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

August 22, 2012

September 14, 2012 – 3:50 pm

AUDIBLE STUDIOS TO HOLD AN OPEN AUDITION FOR THE
AUDIOBOOK OF HELEN GURLEY BROWN’S
SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL

Do you have a sultry delivery? Audible seeks the perfect voice to bring Gurley
Brown’s landmark work to life; invites actors to submit online auditions

NEWARK, N.J. – August 22, 2012 – Audible Studios, the production arm of Audible.com, the
world’s largest seller and producer of digital spoken-word entertainment, seeks the perfect voice to
capture the late Helen Gurley Brown’s shrewd, sophisticated, audacious sensibility in a first-ever audio
production of the iconic 1962 book, Sex and the Single Girl. Audible invites actors to participate in
an online audition for the work by submitting a recording of Sex and the Single Girl’s introduction
at http://www.acx.com/singlegirl. Audible will produce the audiobook immediately upon announcing the
chosen actor.

Among the acclaimed actors who have recently recorded audiobooks for Audible are Alan Cumming,
Anne Hathaway, Colin Firth, Dustin Hoffman, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Winslet, Kenneth
Branagh, Nicole Kidman, Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Sarandon.

“We were all saddened about the legendary Helen Gurley Brown’s recent passing, but we welcome
this opportunity to keep her voice alive and to bring a new audience to her most significant work,”
said Audible EVP and publisher Beth Anderson. “Sex and the Single Girl has sold millions of copies
in print, and its influence continues to reverberate throughout the culture, from “Sex and the City”
to “Mad Men.” Audible is committed to finding the perfect actor for this book, and we look forward to
hearing from many talented actors who want to be part of this exciting audio edition.”

The audition text for Sex and the Single Girl can be found at http://www.acx.com/singlegirl. In order to
upload an audition, actors will be required to create an acx.com account. The Audiobook Creation
Exchange (www.acx.com) is an online audiobook rights marketplace and production platform
launched by Audible in 2011. Actors who visit ACX to submit auditions will find over 1,000
additional titles they can audition for; an average of 50 new titles a week are produced via ACX and
added to the Audible store.

“Sex and the Single Girl is a ball to read,” said renowned sex writer and longtime Audible.com podcast
host Susie Bright, who acquired the audio rights for Audible. “It’s the most radical work Helen Gurley
Brown ever published. The right actor, with the right sass and wit, will make Helen’s voice even more
captivating.”
Bright added, “Helen Gurley Brown had a very sexy voice. No wonder she always got her way on the
phone.”

Acting in her Editor-at-Large role at Audible, Bright negotiated the deal, for world audio rights, with
Carole Stuart at independent publisher Barricade Books, which brought the book back into print in

2003. Audible Studios’ acquisition efforts continue to revitalize backlist gems in audio, from the
acclaimed 2009 production of John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany to forthcoming recordings of
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Audible, which invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, has been at the
forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. In 2011, downloads by Audible
members increased by more than 40% over 2010, with individual members downloading an average
of 19 books over the course of a year. More than half of current Audible members are first-time
audiobook buyers. Audible Studios produces over 150 audiobooks every month, and recently garnered
a record 37 Audie Award nominations for its audiobook productions. This year, Audible launched
Audible’s A-List Collection, which showcases tour-de-force audio performances by Hollywood stars.
With Audible Studios, Audible.com has become the largest producer of audiobooks in the world.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of
premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new
way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening
as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully
entertained. Audible content, which includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800
content providers that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and
newspaper publishers, and business information providers, is digitally downloaded and played back on
over 500 popular devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for
Apple’s iTunes® Store.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Matthew Thornton
Audible.com
973-820-0402
mthornton@audible.com

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

June 20, 2012

July 17, 2012 – 3:07 pm

Audible launches mobile app for Windows Phone, making more than 100,000 titles available for instant download on Windows Phone

Audible.com Launches Mobile App for Windows Phone

Audible’s Latest Mobile App Makes More Than 100,000 Audio Titles Available for Instant Download on Windows Phone

NEWARK, N.J. – June 20, 2012 – Audible, Inc., the leading provider of premium digital audiobooks and entertainment, and an Amazon.com , Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) subsidiary, today announced the release of its mobile application for Windows Phone, available immediately for download from Windows Phone Marketplace. Built specifically for the Windows Phone platform, Audible for Windows Phone allows users to wirelessly browse, sample, and purchase from more than 100,000 audiobooks and more using Windows Phone’s unique design and user interface.

“Our customers love the convenience of having their Audible content accessible on any device they choose,” said Ajay Arora, Vice President of Mobile Applications at Audible, Inc. “Now, with the launch of our new Windows Phone app, the complete Audible experience can be enjoyed by millions of devoted Windows Phone customers, all of whom will now be able to find and listen to their books anytime and anywhere.”

“Windows Phone is backed by a rich developer ecosystem that is creating a variety of quality apps and games, like the Audible app, that take advantage of the phone’s unique features and design,” said Todd Brix, senior director, Windows Phone Marketplace, Microsoft Corp. “With the ability to pin Audible titles to the Start Screen, the Audible app is a great example of the kinds of rich applications available on the Windows Phone Marketplace that enable people to get the most out of their phone,” he continued.

In addition to a robust set of audiobook playback features, Audible for Windows Phone enhances the audiobook listening experience with features including:

  • Wireless transfer from your Audible library to your phone
  • Background audio support enabling listening while using other apps
  • Ability to keep track of personal listening stats and earn badges
  • Share bookmarks and favorite titles with friends via Facebook and Twitter
  • Pin Audible titles to your Start screen using Live Tiles

The Audible for Windows Phone App is available for free download from Windows Phone Marketplace and is compatible with devices running Windows Phone 7.5 and higher. For more information, please visit audible.com/wireless/windowsphone.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained. Audible content includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800 content providers that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes® Store.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Matthew Thornton

Audible.com
973-820-0402
mthornton@audible.com

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

April 16, 2012

July 17, 2012 – 2:57 pm

Audible establishes Audible Author Services, a new program encouraging authors to connect with the fast-growing audience for Audible audiobooks and including a fund to pay $20 million directly to authors.

AUDIBLE.COM ESTABLISHES AUDIBLE AUTHOR SERVICES; PROGRAM INCLUDES A FUND TO PAY $20 MILLION DIRECTLY TO AUTHORS

New program encourages authors to connect with the fast-growing audience for Audible audiobooks

NEWARK, N.J. – April 16, 2012 – Audible.com, the world’s largest seller and producer of digital
spoken-word entertainment, announced yesterday that it has established a $20 million fund for
authors. Authors who sign up to participate in the Audible Author Services program will gain access
to Audible’s marketing and merchandising expertise to help them enhance their audience. For each
audiobook sold at Audible.com, Audible.co.uk or iTunes, enrolled authors will receive one dollar
directly from Audible, over and above the royalty revenue streams Audible’s fast-growing sales are
already generating. Audible will provide each participating author with a suite of quick-start tools,
including audio samples and links, to deploy via social media and for promotion of their work, and will
offer other awareness and audience-escalation services.

“Before I founded Audible.com, I made a living as an author and journalist for 20 years. But the
economics of being a professional writer have profoundly changed. For new authors and for the
majority of experienced authors as well, the days of sustaining the writing life by ‘just writing’ are
over,” said Audible.com founder and CEO Donald Katz, speaking yesterday during a keynote speech
at the London Book Fair’s Digital Minds Conference. “The good news is that in the digital era, authors
have numerous ways to reach audiences and communicate more directly with them. We want to reward
authors who are or want to become personally involved in growing their audience. At Audible.com,
we have had great success working directly with authors to increase awareness of their audiobooks,
and Audible Author Services will help us build on these accomplishments. Audible has achieved
global growth by turning literate listening into a mainstream media format. This means that today, any
book worth writing or reading ought to be available in audio. We hope this new program also helps us
achieve this mission.”

“The astonishingly rapid growth of the digital audio segment makes audiobook listeners an
increasingly important audience for all authors,” said acclaimed novelist Margaret Atwood. “I’m
thrilled that 10 of my books are available at Audible.com. I’m delighted to be able to connect more
effectively with my audiobook listeners, and to build this audience through Audible’s exciting, helpful
and creator-friendly new Author Services program. Now, more than ever, I’ll be working to make sure
that the rest of my backlist becomes available in audio as soon as possible.”

Features of the Audible Author Services program include:

  • Open access. Any author who has an audiobook available for sale at Audible.com or Audible.co.uk can enroll.
  • Easy sign-up. Click to sign up in minutes.
  • An array of tools through which authors can promote their work. Every author who participates in Audible Author Services receives a quick-start plan for easy and effective promotion of their work via social media and other channels. Authors will also gain access to free copies of their audiobook, links to their product-detail pages on Audible.com, the ability to address AudibleListener members on Audible.com product-detail pages, and personalized support from Audible’s teams.
  • $1 per sale of the digital audiobook through Audible.com channels. After sign-up, every time Audible sells a digital audiobook through its regular channels, the author receives a dollar as an honorarium. One hundred sales equal $100; one thousand sales equal $1,000. These honorarium payments are made quarterly directly from Audible—in addition to royalties already in place in an author’s audiobook contracts and agreements.

Best-selling author and Hugo and Nebula Award winner Robert J. Sawyer hailed the program: “This
is great! If this progressive program had been in place during the past two years, I would have made
over $20,000 on top of my usual Audible royalties. I love having my books available through Audible,
and I’ve found that audiobook sales also spur print sales. The spouse who listens to a book while
commuting often gives his or her partner the printed book, and people who particularly enjoy an
audiobook often get the print version, too, so that they can easily look up favorite passages. I’ve long
wanted a program that would let me embed samples of my 15 novels at Audible into my website and
blog, and to help me leverage my Facebook and Twitter presence into more listeners. Web 2.0 is all
about multimedia, after all, and Audible Author Services is giving me the tools I need to stand out in
that space.”

Authors with titles available at Audible can learn more about the Audible Author Services program,
and sign up here. Authors whose books are not available at Audible are encouraged to visit Audible
Author Services here to learn more about how they might get their books into audio.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc., subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of
premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new
way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening
as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully
entertained. Audible content, which includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800
content providers that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and
newspaper publishers, and business information providers, is digitally downloaded and played back on
over 500 popular devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for
Apple’s iTunes® Store.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Matthew Thornton
Audible.com
973-820-0402
mthornton@audible.com

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

March 8, 2012

July 17, 2012 – 2:56 pm

Audible launches the A-List collection, a new series featuring Hollywood’s biggest stars, with performances from Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Sarandon.

Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson and Susan Sarandon Take Part in a New Series Including Hollywood’s Biggest Stars Available Now for Download at Audible.com

NEWARK, N.J. – March 8, 2012 – Audible.com, the world’s leading provider of digital spoken-word
entertainment, announced that its highly anticipated audiobook series ‘The A-List Collection’ is now available
for download at www.audible.com/alist.

This collection showcases tour de force audio performances by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. The first
set of books available for download includes Anne Hathaway’s performance of The Wonderful Wizard of
Oz by L. Frank Baum, Kate Winslet’s performance of Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola, Samuel L. Jackson’s
performance of A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes, and Susan Sarandon’s performance of The Member of the
Wedding by Carson McCullers.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring these breathtaking performances of literature to our rapidly expanding
population of listeners,” said Audible.com founder and CEO, Donald Katz. “Audible has consistently sought to
elevate the quality of audiobook narration, and we hope this collection will expose an even broader audience to
the rich palette of performances that makes listening to audiobooks so pleasurable.”

Anne Hathaway said of her experience performing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, “It’s such a wonderful book
and I was so happy to be a part of bringing it to life. There are a lot of great voices in it. The more fun you have
with it, the sillier and the more free you get with it, the better it is because it’s a story that can handle it. It’s
amazing to be able to discover something new about something you feel you know so well.”

The A-List Collection features an unparalleled roster of the world’s most celebrated actors narrating
distinguished works of literature that each star helped select. Additional audio performances in the series will
include such talents as:

Annette Bening (Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf)
Colin Firth (The End of the Affair by Graham Greene)
Dustin Hoffman (Being There by Jerzy Kosinski)
Hilary Swank (Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp)
Jennifer Connelly (The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles)
Kim Basinger (The Awakening by Kate Chopin)
Meg Ryan (The Human Comedy by William Saroyan)
Naomi Watts (Summer by Edith Wharton)
Nicole Kidman (To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf)

Images, samples, and video from the stars’ recording sessions available at: www.epk.tv/AudibleAList

The books are available for download on a wide variety of popular and mobile devices, including iPhone and
Android. New Audible members can choose one of the books for free with a 30-day free trial membership
available at http://www.audible.com/alist. Existing Audible members can download the first 30 minutes of each book
in the collection for free.

Audible, which invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, has been at the forefront of
the explosively growing audiobook download segment. In 2011, downloads by Audible members increased by
more than 40% from the year before, with individual members downloading an average of more than 18 books
over the course of a year. More than half of current Audible members are first-time digital audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital
spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new way to enhance and
enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening as a core tool for anyone seeking
to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained. Audible content, which includes more
than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800 content providers that include leading audiobook publishers,
broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers, is digitally
downloaded and played back on over 500 popular devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-
word audio products for Apple’s iTunes® Store.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Anna Miller
42West
212-277-7555
Anna.Miller@42west.net

Brittany Geldmacher
42West
310-477-4442
Brittany.Geldmacher@42west.net

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

February 28, 2012

July 17, 2012 – 2:56 pm

Audible Studios, the production arm of Audible.com, secures a record 36 nominations for the 2012 Audie Awards.
AUDIBLE STUDIOS NOMINATED FOR 36 AUDIE AWARDS®

Samuel L. Jackson, Kenneth Branagh, Elijah Wood, and the Audible.com original
production METAtropolis: Cascadia all among annual industry prize nominees

NEWARK, N.J. – February 28, 2012 – Audible Studios, the production arm of Audible.com, the
world’s leading provider of digital spoken-word entertainment, secured a record 36 nominations for
the 2012 Audie Awards, which honor outstanding audiobooks and other spoken-word performances.
Winners will be announced by the Audio Publishers Association at the Audies Gala on June 5, 2012, at
the New York Historical Society in New York City.

“The captivating audiobook performances recognized this year represent the enormous investment
we’ve made in cultivating the art of performing literature,” said Audible.com founder and CEO Donald
Katz. “The impressive number of nominations speaks for itself, and the broad diversity of nominated
titles highlights the increasing breadth of artistic output that is popularizing the Audible listening
experience.”

The 36 nominations represent a diverse array of audio entertainment:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, performed by Elijah Wood, and Heart of Darkness,
performed by Kenneth Branagh, highlight Audible’s embrace of the culture’s most gifted actors
and its repositioning of long-form digital audio programming as a mainstream entertainment
format.
Macbeth: A Novel and METAtropolis: Cascadia are based on original works commissioned
by Audible exclusively for audio performance; three of six finalists in the “Original Work”
category were Audible Studios productions.
The Land of Laughs, produced by Neil Gaiman for the Neil Gaiman Presents label at
Audible.com, is an example of the exciting content generated by the company’s ACX
(Audiobook Creation Exchange) initiative, which empowers audio rights holders to collaborate
with performers and audio studios to bring more audio titles to listeners.
Go the F**k to Sleep, performed by Samuel L. Jackson, is a short comedic piece that turned
into a massive overnight viral phenomenon.
The Darkest Surrender and Notorious are part of Audible’s longstanding production
partnership with Harlequin, which has produced nearly 650 audio titles.
Four of six audiobooks in the “Business/Educational” category were Audible Studios
productions, underscoring Audible’s genre focus and commitment to building strong categories
in audio.

With Audible Studios, Audible.com has become the largest producer of audiobooks in the world.

Audible, which invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, has been at the
forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. In 2011, downloads by Audible
members increased by more than 40% over 2010, with individual members downloading an average

of more than 18 books over the course of a year. More than half of current Audible members are first-
time audiobook buyers.

To learn more about Audible’s forthcoming line of audiobooks featuring Hollywood’s biggest stars,
see here.

To learn more about ACX, see here.

The Audio Publishers Association’s release, along with a complete list of nominees, can be found here.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of
premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet, offering customers a new
way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s mission is to establish literate listening
as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully
entertained. Audible content, which includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800
content providers that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and
newspaper publishers, and business information providers, is digitally downloaded and played back on
over 500 popular devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for
Apple’s iTunes® Store.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Matthew Thornton
Audible.com
973-820-0402
mthornton@audible.com

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

November 4, 2011

July 17, 2012 – 2:55 pm

Audible distributes historic 500th episode of renowned sex writer Susie Bright’s weekly show, “In Bed with Susie Bright”.
AUDIBLE TO DISTRIBUTE HISTORIC 500TH EPISODE OF “IN BED WITH SUSIE BRIGHT”

The longest-running sex discussion in history continues to draw a fiercely loyal fan base

NEWARK, NJ – November 4, 2011 – Audible, Inc., today announced the release of
renowned sex writer Susie Bright’s 500th episode of her weekly show, “In Bed with Susie
Bright.” Called “the widest-read, reviled and revered sex expert in America,” Bright has
drawn thousands of subscribers to Audible, which has distributed Bright’s original shows
for over ten years and sold close to half a million downloads of them.

“It’s thanks to my smarty-pants, endlessly erotic and perceptive listeners that I’ve lasted
so long,” said Bright.

“The loyalty of Susie’s subscribers is remarkable, and Susie continues to cultivate new
listeners with her show’s addictive mix of intimacy and anonymity,” said Audible EVP and
Publisher Beth Anderson. “It’s a testament to Susie’s gift that her weekly shows continue
to be fresh, relevant and interesting.” The first episode of “In Bed with Susie Bright” aired
in 2000.

To celebrate the milestone, for a limited time Audible is giving Bright’s 500th episode
away free (www.audible.com/InBed). The episode features highlights from some of
Bright’s favorite or most popular interviews. Bright’s legions of fans have been invited to
call in with messages, sharing their opinions on favorite guests, episodes, topics, and
subjects they’d like to see addressed in the future; these messages will be included in the
show. Fans were also invited by Bright to record congratulatory messages to mark the
occasion of her 500th episode; several of these are extracted below.

“You’ve opened the world to me.”
“Thank you for being generous, for being funny, for making me laugh out loud so often.”
“You always come down squarely on the side of pleasure. I’m proud of you for taking that stand.”
“Oh Susie Bright, your name so right, you cast an absolutely brilliant light…so use those muscles you are
meant to flex, and tell those prudes it all leads to sex.”
“You are a voice of sanity in an insane world.”
“IBWSB changed my life. Now, whenever I go out, I seem to be able to get the entire place talking about
sex, and that’s all thanks to you.”
“Through your teaching and explaining, I’ve dared to do where I didn’t dare to go before, and I am
incredibly grateful to you for that.”
“It just makes me feel like crying to know there are wonderful people in the world like you.”

“In Bed with Susie Bright” past guests include cyberpunk novelist Richard Kadrey,
legendary feminist Katha Pollitt, film director Candida Royalle, Fear of Flying author Erica
Jong, Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani and Shakespearean porn actor Jamie Gillis. The
show’s candid, insightful discussion about sex ranges across topics including porn, the
difference between non-monogamy and polyamory, sex machines, erotic tourism, sex
and the film business, psychedelic sex, aging fearlessly and sex addiction.

Bright is available for press interviews, in which she promises to share greater insight into
the secret of her endurance and why people keep tuning in, as well as how her material,
and the preoccupations of her audience, have changed over the years.

For further information, please Matthew Thornton at mthornton@audible.com or (973)
820-0402.

http://www.audible.com/

About Audible.com

Audible (www.audible.com) is the leading provider of premium digital 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 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800
content providers 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 and AudibleReady are trademarks of Audible, Inc. or its
affiliates. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of
their respective owners.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection.
Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers
can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer
its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions
of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music
& Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids
& Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and
Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers
with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business.
The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features
the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in
bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use
touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes
– still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display.  Kindle Touch 3G
is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle
Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G.  Kindle Fire is the Kindle for
movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the
content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new

revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful
dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including http://www.amazon.com,
http://www.amazon.co.uk, http://www.amazon.de, http://www.amazon.co.jp, http://www.amazon.fr,
http://www.amazon.ca, http://www.amazon.cn, http://www.amazon.it, and http://www.amazon.es. As used
herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its
subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among
others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services
and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion,
outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality,
commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange
rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments
and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s
financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
filings.

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

October 25, 2011

July 17, 2012 – 2:54 pm

Audible launches Neil Gaiman Presents, a line of audiobooks personally selected by the internationally bestselling author and produced on the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX).

AUDIBLE LAUNCHES “NEIL GAIMAN PRESENTS” ON THE AUDIOBOOK CREATION EXCHANGE

Gaiman uses ACX to curate and produce an exclusive group of handpicked titles never
before available in unabridged audio

NEWARK, NJ – October 25, 2011 – Audible, Inc., today announced the launch of Neil
Gaiman Presents, a bespoke line of audiobooks personally selected by the internationally
best-selling author and screenwriter, and then produced on the Audiobook Creation
Exchange (ACX.com). Gaiman, an avid reader as well as an award-winning audiobook
narrator and connoisseur of spoken-word performance, has chosen some of his favorite
works of fiction and nonfiction with their specific attributes for audio in mind, and then
personally supervised the casting for each book so that each author’s work is performed
by that book’s ideal narrator.

Gaiman explained, “I’ve picked books I loved and wanted more people to find, and
worked as closely as I could with each author to find just the right narrator for each
audiobook.” Gaiman has written and recorded an introduction to each audiobook
produced under his label.

ACX, an online audiobook rights marketplace and audiobook production platform that
matches book rights holders with narrators and producers, has facilitated the audiobook
production of the books Gaiman has chosen for Neil Gaiman Presents.

The first of these new productions are scheduled for release today. The initial list of
Neil Gaiman Presents audiobooks highlights an eclectic group of literary masters
whose works ought to have been in audio but for the time in which they were published,
including New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Carroll’s The Land of Laughs; Robert
Sheckley’s influential Dimension of Miracles, narrated by John Hodgman; Keith Roberts’s
landmark work of alternate history, Pavane; Ellen Kushner’s classic Swordspoint, the
production of which features multicast dramatizations interspersed with the author’s
narration; and The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy, collecting for the first time in any format
all of the Dr. Eszterhazy stories by the Hugo- and Edgar Award-winning Avram Davidson.
“The books in the Neil Gaiman Presents line aren’t any one thing,” said Gaiman. “They
wander from genre to genre. I don’t like just one kind of book, after all.”

Many of Gaiman’s picks already in the pipeline are planned for production via ACX and
will be released under the Neil Gaiman Presents aegis throughout 2012 and beyond. The
full list of titles comprising the Neil Gaiman Presents label at launch is:

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill

The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll

You Must Go and Win by Alina Simone

Light by M. John Harrison

Pavane by Keith Roberts

Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell

The High Place by James Branch Cabell

Jurgen by James Branch Cabell

White Apples by Jonathan Carroll

The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy by Avram Davidson

Viriconium by M. John Harrison

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Anita by Keith Roberts

Was by Geoff Ryman

Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley

Green Phoenix by Thomas Burnett Swann

“Neil’s passions align perfectly with the goals of ACX, which is why we are so thrilled
he’s launching Neil Gaiman Presents through the ACX service,” said Donald Katz,
founder and CEO of Audible.com, which has developed the ACX.com marketplace
website and underlying technologies. “Neil is a longtime advocate for audio, and his
profound respect for the enduring literary tradition of storytelling, and his appreciation for
the pleasures of being read to, inspire all of us at Audible.”

“I love audiobooks,” added Gaiman. “I don’t remember a time I didn’t love listening to
stories. I think that listening to a book performed well is its own special thing, a unique
experience, combining the joy of a dramatic performance with the special relationship
a reader has with a book. Sharing books I love, and helping to make them available in
audio, is great fun and an enormous privilege.”

ACX, which launched this past May, currently has over 400 audiobooks in production,
with almost 100 audiobooks already available for purchase at Audible.com. Offering
rights holders unparalleled access to top-flight narrators and producers, and helping
empower actors to seek out and audition for exciting projects, ACX is giving an
increasing number of books and authors a new life in audio, while introducing these
previously unavailable titles to a fervent and ever-growing audiobook audience.

For further information, please contact Matthew Thornton at mthornton@audible.com or
973-820-0402.

http://www.audible.com/

http://www.acx.com/

http://www.audible.com/mt/Neil_Gaiman_Presents

About Audible.com

Audible (www.audible.com) is the leading provider of premium digital 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 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800
content providers 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 and AudibleReady are trademarks of Audible, Inc. or its
affiliates. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of
their respective owners.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection.
Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers
can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer
its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions
of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music
& Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids
& Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and
Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers
with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business.
The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features
the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in
bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use
touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes
– still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display.  Kindle Touch 3G
is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle
Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G.  Kindle Fire is the Kindle for
movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the
content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new
revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful
dual-core processor.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including http://www.amazon.com,
http://www.amazon.co.uk, http://www.amazon.de, http://www.amazon.co.jp, http://www.amazon.fr,
http://www.amazon.ca, http://www.amazon.cn, http://www.amazon.it, and http://www.amazon.es. As used

herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its
subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among
others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services
and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion,
outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality,
commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange
rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments
and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s
financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
filings.

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

September 29, 2011

July 17, 2012 – 2:54 pm

Audible elevates the audiobook experience with Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Audible.com Elevates the Audiobook Experience with Hollywood’s Biggest Stars

Audible to produce an electrifying new audiobook series featuring tour de force performances by acclaimed actors

Stellar roster includes 7 Academy Award® winners

NEWARK, N.J. – September 29, 2011 – Audible.com, the world’s leading provider
of digital spoken-word entertainment, is once again redefining the audiobook as popular
entertainment by introducing an exclusive line of tour de force audio performances by
some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Underscoring Audible’s global mission to establish
the audiobook as a mainstream form of interpretive art on a par with theater or film,
the new line will feature an unparalleled roster of the world’s most celebrated actors
narrating distinguished works of literature that each star has helped select.

The first of these new productions is scheduled to be released by Audible.com early in
2012. Actors slated to perform include:

Kim Basinger (The Awakening by Kate Chopin)
Annette Bening (Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf)
Jennifer Connelly (The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles)
Colin Firth (The End of the Affair by Graham Greene)
Anne Hathaway (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum)
Dustin Hoffman (Being There by Jerzy Kosinski)
Samuel L. Jackson (A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes)
Nicole Kidman (To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf)
Meg Ryan (The Human Comedy by William Saroyan)
Susan Sarandon (The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers)
Naomi Watts (Summer by Edith Wharton)
Kate Winslet (Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola)

Audible plans to confirm additional productions through the remainder of 2011, and to
announce and release more titles and star performers for distribution throughout 2012.

“As millions of Audible.com listeners already know, the performance of great books can
be a captivating and deeply involving entertainment experience that often transcends
print books or film,” said Audible.com founder and CEO, Donald Katz. “The audio
interpretations by these profoundly talented stars will not only delight our current
audience, but will also draw huge new audiences to this powerful art form.”

The actors starring in Audible’s new series actively participate in the process of choosing
the books they record, embracing the chance to inhabit a character that has always
fascinated them, show a different side of themselves from what audiences have seen on
camera, or tell a personally beloved story.

“You use a different part of your brain and it keeps your creative juices flowing,” said
Academy Award®-winning actress Kate Winslet, whose performance of Thérèse Raquin
was the first audiobook in the new series to be recorded. “It is challenging, and it’s a
heck of a lot of fun as well. As a listener, being able to tune out and be taken into another
world, an atmosphere, an environment that is being created entirely for you by somebody
else’s voice is really a wonderful, magical thing.”

Audible, which invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, has
been at the forefront of the sustained explosion in downloadable audiobooks that has
transformed the industry as mobile devices have become increasingly popular. This year,
downloads by Audible members are up more than 40% year-over-year, with individual
members downloading an average of more than 18 books over the course of a year. More
than half of current Audible members are first-time audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading
provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment on the Internet,
offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible’s
mission is to establish literate listening as a core tool for anyone seeking to be more
productive, better informed, or more thoughtfully entertained. Audible content, which
includes more than 100,000 audio programs from more than 1,800 content providers
that include leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and
newspaper publishers, and business information providers, is downloaded and played
back on personal computers, CDs, or AudibleReady® computer-based and wireless
mobile devices. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products
for Apple’s iTunes® Store.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among

others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services
and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion,
outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality,
commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange
rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments
and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s
financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
filings.

###

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)

May 12, 2011

July 17, 2012 – 2:52 pm

Audible launches the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), a groundbreaking innovation that allows any book to become a professionally produced audiobook.

Posted in Press Releases | Comments (0)