A recent study by Codex Group LLC, a book-audience research firm, found that 54% of Mr. Gladwell's fans who buy his books listen to audiobooks, higher than the 42% of overall book buyers who say they listen to audiobooks. Pushkin attributes that to Mr. Gladwell's podcast audience, built over the past five years.

Mr. Gladwell said his next book, which will be "about American policing, " will also be an original audiobook -- though that doesn't mean he plans to abandon the print-first model altogether.

"My goal is to do audiobooks first when the story is best told in audio, and print books first when the story lends itself to that format," he said. "The story should fit the form!"

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-23-21 0916ET