Sam Hancock is the Senior Product Manager at Audible, based in New York. He is an entrepreneurial PM with a passion for creating and enhancing delightful consumer products. Prior to his role at Audible, Sam was Mobile Product Manager at HarperCollins in London for four years.

1. Tell us about what your role of Senior Product Manager at Audible entails. 

We focus on crafting the best possible experience for listeners — ensuring the service is seamless, from the moment they sign up, through discovering the right audiobook, through the actual listening experience itself. My role itself focusses on how we can do this globally—ensuring Audible is set up to serve customers in all the customer groups and countries it serves.

2. Give us a glimpse into what you think the future holds for audiobooks?

I think voice will become even more of a factor in the way people engage with technology — and listeners will increasingly appreciate the role professional narration has in improving this experience.

3. Why do you think audiobook downloads appear to be going from strength to strength? 

I think people are appreciating the ability of audiobooks to entertain, help listeners develop new skills and also ultimately become more productive.

4. What are some of your favorite audiobooks?

I’m enjoying a lot of crime noir at the moment — specifically Phillip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series, and am also revisiting William Boyd.

5. Do you have any advice for people looking to work in digital publishing? 

Try to experience as many of the different roles involved as possible and understand where your passions lie — do you want to shape the way customers interact with the written or spoken word, do you want to help them create and curate it, or shape the way in which it is presented to customers? And then go for it!