The Lost Symbol audio outlined

14.06.09 Benedict Page

Orion audiobooks and unabridged audio publisher W F Howes will both be supplying audio editions of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol to coincide with Transworld's print edition in September.

Orion has abridged audio rights and will publish the book on CD (£16.99), MP3 CD (£14.99) and as an audio download (£11 to £12). W F Howes has the unabridged version and will publish in CD and download with a retail price for each expected to be in the region of £25. It will also produce a cassette for the library market.

Orion audio manager Pandora White said The Da Vinci Code was one of the industry's bestselling audio-books, selling more than 200,000 copies to date. She hoped to bring Dan Brown's work to an even wider audience this time around with the advent of the digital format. White said: "The CD is still the predominant format definitely, but it will be interesting to see what a title like this does on download."

White added that when she bought the abridged audio rights to Brown's next book in 2003, unabridged audiobooks were intended almost entirely for libraries. She said: "If I'd known five years ago that downloads would change the market, I'd have swept up the unabridged rights as well."

W F Howes publishing manager, Dominic White, said: "The unabridged market has grown massively, and download has played a big part in that," he said. "We will release our audiobook to all markets, retail and libraries, and give it a big push."