Audible Teams Up With Audio in Color to Support Emerging Romance Writers
Audible is excited to announce a new collaboration with nonprofit Audio in Color to fund eight romance authors in producing their first self-published audiobook. The new grant cycle, now open to applicants, will enable underrepresented voices to produce high-quality audiobooks and break into a field they might not otherwise have access to.
This collaboration joins the more than two dozen programs worldwide that Audible runs and supports as part of our broader commitment to helping emerging creators bring their visions to life. These include Audible’s Emerging Playwrights Fund, which has commissioned 50 projects, with more than 30 of them released on Audible, and several performed live at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre; the Indigenous Writers' Circle, which connects emerging First Nations, Inuit, and Métis writers in Canada with mentors and established Indigenous authors to help launch their careers; Off-Mic, developed in partnership with Multitrack in the UK, which helps aspiring creators become working professionals in the audio storytelling industry, including going on to produce content with Audible; and many more.
The eight authors, selected by Audio in Color’s evaluators from a pool of grant applicants, will receive end-to-end production support, including editing, mixing, and voice actors, with duet and full-cast options available. The authors can then independently publish their audiobooks on any audio services they choose.
This will be Audio in Color’s fourth grant cycle, and many of the 25 authors selected in previous cycles have seen exciting success. Jen Trinh’s audiobook, Crushing on You, was narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and James Chen, and went on to become a finalist for an Audie Award in 2023. Katrina Jackson’s Office Hours earned enough to fund her follow-up audiobook, Sabbatical, a 2024 Audie Award nominee. Amy Oliveira credits her audiobook, Keepsake, with leading to publishing contracts. She has also become a board member and ambassador for Audio in Color in the author community. And Bella Jay, whose novel 12:01 was a winner in the most recent grant cycle, says the grant “has truly impacted my growth as an indie author. I am now able to create more audiobooks from the success of 12:01!”
Additionally, Audible and Audio in Color co-organized a panel for April 25 as part of the Black Writers Weekend pop-up event in Newark, New Jersey. The session, “How to Produce Your First Audiobook,” will guide aspiring authors through the audiobook production process, offering practical insights from industry professionals. Panelists include representatives from Audible alongside Audio in Color’s co-founders and co-presidents: Nana Malone, a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author with more than 100 published romance titles and Andi Arndt, an Audible Narrator Hall of Fame inductee and three-time Audie Award winner with more than 750 titles recorded.
We’re proud to support programs like these that give emerging creators the opportunities, skills and resources needed to bring their stories to life in audio. To learn more about Audio in Color, visit audioincolor.org.
