Time Warner Tunes In to Audio Book Biz : Marketing: The move will involve both its music and publishing units.

Time Warner Inc. is expected to launch a major push today into the growing audio books business through a unique partnership involving its music and publishing units.

The creation of Time Warner AudioBooks, a venture between the Atlantic Group and Time Warner Trade Publishing, marks a re-entry by the company into the $1-billion-a-year audio books business. The company left the audio business when it sold an operation in the mid-1980s.

Sales of audio books have grown exponentially the last five years, largely due to the popularity of the books with commuters wanting something to listen to while traveling to and from work. Some industry analysts call the so-called spoken-word audio business the fastest-growing area in publishing.

The industry grew in part because of aggressive independents such as Dove Books and Books on Tape. Most major publishers are now in the business, but today’s announcement is believed to be the first time a company has put the resources of both a music and publishing division behind it.

As a result, Time Warner hopes to increasingly push its audio books to a wide audience by aggressively marketing through music, video, mass-merchandise stores and even truck stops, in addition to the most common outlet, bookstores, where about half the industry’s sales take place.

“We wouldn’t be starting any business unless we felt we could build it into a $50-million to $100-million business over the next five years. That’s what we are hoping to do,” said Larry Kirshbaum, president and chief executive of Warner Books.

Heading the new venture is Lori Weintraub, who started in the entertainment business as a lawyer and went on to work as a film production executive with Guber-Peters Entertainment Co., MGM/UA Entertainment and Lorimar. She currently is executive vice president of Atlantic’s video division.

Among the early titles will be “The Diary of Jack the Ripper,” narrated by Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham; Cleveland Amory’s “Best Cat Ever”; a Nelson Mandela book, and a series of exercise and weight-loss cassettes from fitness expert Kathy Smith.

Audio books now tend to be a byproduct of best-selling books. Weintraub said she hopes to create audio programs that are available only on cassette, such as programs on parenting and exercise.

Discussions are also being held with Time Warner’s Fortune magazine about audio programs on personal finance. Still another possibility is creating audio magazines that might be available at supermarket checkout stands, such as one featuring a series of celebrity interviews.

Time Warner executives hope the venture exploits some of the so-called “synergies” the company is striving to create among its divisions. Atlantic Co-Chief Executive Doug Morris said the discussions about forming Time Warner AudioBooks is already paying off because it triggered a separate project to cross-market the works of author and musician Robert James Waller.

Waller wrote the best-selling novel “The Bridges of Madison County,” published by Warner. This month, he is releasing his debut album, “The Ballads of Madison County,” on Atlantic Records.

Talking Books

These are some of the planned releases from Time Warner AudioBooks.

* “The Diary of Jack the Ripper” (narrated by actor F. Murray Abraham)

* Cleveland Amory’s “Best Cat Ever”

* Kathy Smith fitness cassettes on walking and weight loss

* Nelson Mandela book

* “Touched by Angels” by Eileen Elias Freeman

* Parenting books from best-selling authors Richard & Linda Eyre