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QUILLS & QUEUES Quills & Queues: A conversation with Blackstone Audio's Josh Stanton Comment By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Aug. 18, 2016 at 7:56 PM Updated Aug 18, 2016 at 7:58 PM By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Aug. 18, 2016 at 7:56 PM Updated Aug 18, 2016 at 7:58 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Quills & Queues: Father's life, funeral and writings fuel son's memoir... • Quills & Queues: Schneider Museum of Art Director Malbaurn no longer 'interim' direc... • Quills & Queues: Peia Luzzi is an international musician with a local heart... • Quills & Queues: Ashland's visual arts tradition in decline... » Social News Blackstone Audio celebrates the company's 30th year in Ashland in 2017. After recent major moves by the audiobook behemoth — which have included a major entry into print media publishing following the re-acquisition of the company from the now defunct AudioGO in 2013 — I sat down with CEO Josh Stanton to talk about the future of the company. JG: Blackstone will celebrate 30 years as an Oregon company next year. Can you talk a little about the company's contribution to Ashland, and its record as an employer here? JS: We are very proud to be approaching our 30th year — it's been a wild ride, with consistent rapid growth, and watching the industry evolve over the past 30 years has been fascinating to say the least. Audio continues to play a significant role in the industry, holding as the fastest-growing sector in publishing. For us to stand today as an industry leader in this rapidly changing climate, truly speaks volumes of our amazing staff. A key player in our outstanding make up of staff is location — Ashland has supplied us with a priceless selection of employees, an impressive pool of talent who are drawn to live in this creative and unique town we call home. From OSF actors, to SOU students and grads, we owe our success to the family we have created here in Ashland, and are grateful for the reciprocal relationship with our community. While we remain rooted and headquartered in Ashland, due to continued growth and success, we are excited to have recently expanded with the opening of our Pearl District office in Portland. JG: Tell us about the decision to expand into print from audio, since many observers may consider print media to be a declining technology? JS: Our recent expansion was not merely into print, but print and eBooks and, more specifically, it was a decision to expand our overall set of rights in our acquisitions process. By expanding into print and eBooks, we have allowed ourselves the ability to go after all standard publishing rights, opening up opportunities to go after bigger authors. We are seeing more properties further in advance, rather than waiting through the print auction for our turn at audio rights. Also, by securing all book rights, we are typically now controlling foreign rights as well, which now gives us the added ability to negotiate deals with foreign partners. In addition, we are very keen to offer a "hybrid book" in the near future — this hybrid combines the ever-popular purchases of eBooks and audiobooks into one version using dynamic epub files, eliminating the need for two separate purchases. We believe this is going to become a rapidly popular option, and a hugely successful endeavor for Blackstone. JG: What is your vision for the company in the coming years, and what steps do you feel you have taken to maintain your position as one of the largest and best-known independent audiobook publishers in the country? JS: Our vision is to continue to acquire great content, at a higher volume year-over-year. Our core business is being a publisher and owning content, and we will continue to expand in the future by acquiring film and TV rights. We are also expanding our brand here in the states by growing our direct-to-consumer business at Downpour.com , our e-commerce site that offers a selection of over 12,000 audiobooks, in physical, digital download, and audiobook rental formats. This expansion is taking place through a combination of traditional customer acquisitions, as well as company acquisitions in the near future. We are also looking to take our brand worldwide — Australia, London, and Germany are all places we are hoping to expand soon. As the largest independent audiobook publisher in the country, we will continue to do everything in our power to maintain our key partnerships. We understand that when it comes to our success, first and foremost we must continue to make smart acquisitions and maintain our key alliances for manufacturing and distribution (Hachette, HarperCollins, Disney, etc.). Hopefully we'll be expanding with other large partnerships soon as well. JG: Thanks for your time, Josh! Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist, arts reviewer and freelance writer. Email him at gillespie.jeffrey @gmail.com. By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Aug. 18, 2016 at 7:56 PM Updated Aug 18, 2016 at 7:58 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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