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Replacing the Best-Selling Audiobook in the World?

I have a really neato update about The Green Ember audiobook for you. (Literally, for you.) But first, a little memorable trip down a lane I like to call, “memory lane.”

I’ve been a big fan of audiobooks for many years. I used to drive a van delivering bearings, sprockets, and motors to coal mines and machine shops around southern West Virginia.
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There was no tape-deck and certainly no CD player in the van, so I bought a crummy tape-player at Magic Mart and got audiobooks on tape from the library to play while I drove the hills and hollows of Appalachia.
Nowadays, my vocation requires more writing than driving, and the tape-player has been replaced with apps. But I still love audiobooks. I agree with Orson Scott Card when he says that in many ways audiobooks are the most definitive versions of our books.
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I was delighted when my first novel, The Green Ember, was turned into an excellent audiobook thanks to the fantastic talents of Joel Clarkson. I was further amazed and grateful when the book was a finalist for Audible’s Kids Book of the Year in its debut year.
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But there was a day ten years ago (almost to the day) when I was really blown away…
The day The Green Ember became the bestselling audiobook of any kind in any category.

My kids were going bananas.

Ten years ago, there was so much hard work involved and a seemingly endless list of urgent things to be done, that it was, admittedly, hard to take time to enjoy any little victories along the way.
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It took major sacrifices from every member of our family to launch this book. But, despite the nightmares in the news, sadness in our community, and troubles seemingly everywhere we looked, we welcomed the joy of this little win.

Looking back now, I’m so glad we took some time to be grateful to God, not just for the moment of success, but for giving us the gift of joy.

“We’re ahead of Harry Potter!” my daughter said to her friends in a text message teeming with excessive exclamation points and exultant emojis. How often do you get to say that?

And I’m grateful to you, among the many friends and allies who have given me a chance and welcomed these stories into your home.

Audiobook Refresh

And now for the update… we’ve updated it! This is a better-edited manuscript (minor things only were changed and have been in the print copies for nearly ten years) and Joel Clarkson is back with an additional ten years of vocal production experience. This time we’ve also included behind-the-scenes and bonus material, just like the newest softcover edition of The Green Ember.

You Won’t Have to Pay Anything for This

Everyone who has downloaded the audiobook from our store should be receiving the updated version in their email. If you don’t get it, simply sign up for the newsletter here to get the new audiobook for free. Audible users: the new files have been submitted, and you should be able to listen to them in the next week or two.

get the audiobook

Joel is once again fantastic in his performance. He has been the voice of these stories for a long time now, and many of you have heard him on road trips, at bedtime, folding laundry, during quiet afternoons, and more.

“Listening to it with my children, I couldn’t help but think of our own lives as we are battle for truth and goodness. I highly recommend it! Every single one of us was enthralled as we listened to book after book. It is so worth listening to over and over again!! Joel Clarkson does a phenomenal job narrating.”

-Camila

I’m just so grateful that so many people are finding the story, loving it, and sharing it with other families and children.

More than anything, I love to hear from families and kids who love the stories. And my kids, for whom the stories were, and always will be, written, still love them. And they love sharing in the story of the story.

All those years ago…
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“So, Daddy,” my (now grown) son asked me when the news broke. “Does this mean that The Green Ember is the best-selling audiobook in the world right now?” I had to think for a second, then I told him that it most likely was.
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He grinned.

I’m on your side,

Sam

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P.S. Last week the new merch reveal was, you guessed it, Lost Tales Card Pack. Now try to guess the next one. Leave your guess in the comments and we’ll pick one winner to send one to when the merch hits our store. *giveaway closed and winner has been notified *

S. D. Smith is the author of The Green Ember Series, a bestselling middle-grade adventure saga. When he’s not writing adventurous tales of #RabbitsWithSwords in his writing shed, dubbed The Forge, Smith loves to speak to audiences about storytelling, imagination, and seeing yourself as a character in the Story. S. D. Smith lives in West Virginia with his wife and four kids.

130 Comments

  10. My boys will flip their lids if it’s a Picket stuffie! Ever since we got Helmer, I’ve been busy forging popsicle stick swords for many other stuffed animal friends in our home.

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  16. Direct Quote from my son … “SQUEAL OF GREAT DELIGHT!!!” and then “A Picket stuffed animal!!!!!”
    Could not be happier : )

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  47. It must be a picket stuffie, those ears could belong to none other than that legend himself. My youngest sister would absolutely adore one of those!

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  51. Looks like a Picket stuffie! If anyone ever watched The Kingdom Chums, I used to think the stuffies they advertised on the VHS were the bee’s knees. Having the whole Green Ember gang as stuffies brings me the same sense of delight!

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  63. A new Green Ember stuffy! I hope it comes out before Christmas. My second daughter loves the Helmet one she has. I know my third daughter will want this one.

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  70. It’s a Picket/Shuffler/Packslayer stuffy!!!!! please make a Heather and/or Emma stuffy in the near future! 😁🗡️🐇

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  108. Picket plushie . thank you S.D. smith for your good books. every time my youth group goes to a youth event ( said place as a bookstore ) I always get a new Green Ember book. last time I got The Lost Key.

    Reply

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