The work of one of Athens’ best-known authors is now available in audiobook format, though the voice isn’t his.

Jerry Barksdale’s first book, “Cornbread Chronicles,” was released this week through audible.com, a subsidiary of Amazon. The eight-hour journey though 127 of Barksdale’s short stories costs $19.95.

The print version was released in 2008 and contained a number of columns, stories and recollections, many of which have been reprinted by The News Courier. He was still a practicing attorney when he began writing at a prolific pace in the early 2000s.

“I’d see someone at the grocery store who’d say, ‘I love the little stories,’ though they were columns to me,” he said.

Karen Middleton, a former News Courier reporter, urged Barksdale to take his best work and have them published in book form.

“We were trying to come up with a name and my daughter said to call it ‘Cornbread Chronicles,’ so that’s what we did,” Barksdale said. “The people seemed to like it and we sold a ton of them.”

The deal with audible.com was secured through his friendship with Betty Jones West, a Limestone native who now lives in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He said she was tech-savvy enough to reach out to the company and help facilitate the deal.

“She knows how to do all that (technical) stuff,” said Barksdale, who still writes his work using longhand on blue-lined notebook paper.

Barksdale said audible.com uses a stable of independent voiceover actors to record the books. A copy of “Cornbread Chronicles” was sent to voiceover personality Troy W. Hudson, who expressed an interest in recording it.

Hudson delivers Barksdale’s words with a Southern twang, and there’s even a few instances where bluegrass music can be heard in the background. Barksdale said the banjos don’t bother him a bit.

“This guy doesn’t have the Southern accent I have, and I’ve had people tell me I should have done it myself, but it’s over eight hours,” he said. “I’ve gotten accustomed to (Hudson’s) voice now and I like it fine.”

Barksdale said he’s considering another of his books, “When Duty Calls,” for the audiobook treatment but nothing has been decided yet.

For more information, visit http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Cornbread-Chronicles-Audiobook/B01N14D54U.