Introduction
The buzz around audiobooks is more than just hype. It’s a revolution in how we enjoy fiction and non-fiction. Today’s on-the-go lifestyle means that audiobooks have become part of many people’s routines. They are perfect for devouring a new chapter during a morning jog or a commute. This shift has opened up a great opportunity for authors to not just reach out to more readers but to also explore a vibrant, growing market.
If you haven’t yet decided to publish audiobooks and need more convincing, you can read my post on 7 reasons why authors need audiobooks.
Turning your written work into an audiobook is making a big move that can seriously boost your income. Authors who get on board by converting their books into this format stand the great chance of gaining access to a much wider audience and, in turn, open up new streams of revenue. Yet, much of an audiobook’s success is on the choice of distribution—a critical decision that can increase or drop its performance in the market.
This post was made to guide you through the best audiobook publishing sites out there, each with its own set of advantages. Getting to know what each platform has to offer can help you can make smart choices that align with your goals.
Findaway Voices
Findaway Voices is one of the best platforms for audiobooks, made for authors who want to share their audiobooks with a wide audience. This platform links your voice with listeners all over the world through its extensive distribution network of 38 retailers and libraries, including popular platforms like Apple Books, Google Play, and Spotify.
What’s really cool about Findaway Voices is that it gives you control over pricing. You get to set your own prices, meaning you can strategize the best way to earn more from your work. You also get to choose which platforms you want your audiobook to be distributed to. The site also offers marketing help with promo codes.
Another great thing about this platform is that it doesn’t require authors to be exclusive, so they can sell their audiobooks on different platforms. This means they can reach a wider audience without being tied down by contracts. It’s a really flexible option for authors who want to get their work out there in as many places as possible.
Royalties
Authors earn an 80% share of the royalties from their audiobook sales (net profits). When Audible retailers sell your audiobook, Findaway Voices receives a 25% non-exclusive royalty, and then passes on 80% of that to you. For non-Audible retailers, the royalty ranges from 40% to 50%, with 80% of that going straight to the author.
Cons
Findaway Voices doesn’t have as many marketing tools built-in, so authors might need to invest in external marketing strategies.
Authors have to find their own narrators elsewhere. There is no marketplace at Findaway Voices to find and work with narrators. To publish an audiobook on their platform, you need to bring your own pre-recorded audiobook files.
Also, while Findaway Voices lets authors choose their own prices, some retailers they work with have their own pricing policies. This means authors may not have full control over pricing in some markets.
How You Get Paid
Payments are flexible and made available via PayPal, direct deposit, cheque, or wire transfer, with a minimum payout of $100.
Authors Republic
As one of the popular audiobook publishing sites, one notable feature of Authors Republic is its very large audiobook distribution network. With over 50 retailers and libraries worldwide, your audiobook will reach a diverse and global audience.
One advantage of Authors Republic is their easy-to-understand platform and user interface. While other audiobook publishing sites might be confusing, their user-friendly interface is designed to make the audiobook publishing process straightforward for authors, even for those new to the platform. It simplifies everything from uploading your audiobook to managing distribution to tracking sales.
Authors Republic also doesn’t impose exclusivity requirements on authors, hence, you can publish your audiobook online on multiple platforms at the same time, without being tied down to a single service. You can also set your own prices, which is great.
If you do not have your audio files ready and you need a narrator, they have their own narrator marketplace where you can hire a narrator. Having everything under one platform makes audiobook publishing simple. There’s no need to roam around for a narrator.
Royalties
Authors earn 70% of net profits. Net profits are as explained under Findaway Voices, after audiobooks have been sold by retailers.
Cons
Just like Findaway Voices, authors can set their own prices for their audiobooks. However, some retailers have their own pricing rules. This means that authors may not have complete control over pricing.
How You Get Paid
Payments are made via PayPal or direct deposit (U.S. only), with a minimum deposit of $10.
Kobo Writing Life
Kobo Writing Life is an easy-to-use platform for publishing audiobooks. As an option for audiobook distribution, they automatically distribute your audiobooks to Kobo.com and many partner sites like Booktopia and Mondadori.
The process of uploading and managing your audiobooks is simple, even if you’re new to it. Authors who choose to publish audiobooks through Kobo Writing Life also have access to tools that help promote their book and reach more listeners. Plus, Kobo provides useful data, so you can easily track how your audiobook is doing.
Kobo Writing Life connects authors to its own platform of audiobooks and ebooks, giving them access to a large audience through Kobo’s online bookstore. One benefit of publishing through Kobo is their subscription service, Kobo Plus, which allows subscribers to access unlimited audiobooks and ebooks. This means that when you publish exclusively with Kobo, you tap into a dedicated listening and reading audience. You also get a big boost in royalties if you decide to follow their exclusivity route.
Royalties
For audiobooks priced above or at $2.99, authors get 45% of the list price of the audiobook. If priced below that, they get 35% royalties. If you enroll your audiobook in Kobo Plus, you can earn 60% of royalties based on listening time.
Cons
Kobo’s audience and reach might be a bit smaller compared to bigger audiobook publishing sites, so if you’re looking for maximum reach, this is something to keep in mind.
How You Get Paid
Authors are paid via electronic fund transfer with a minimum payout of CAD $50.
PublishDrive
PublishDrive stands out among audiobook publishing sites as it connects authors with major platforms like Audible, Google Play, and Apple Books, along with libraries and subscription services.
The audiobook distribution site gives authors control over pricing and helps them get the most out of their earnings. You can set prices that work best for your audience, and you receive detailed stats on how your audiobook is doing across different channels.
PublishDrive makes promoting your audiobook easier with its built-in marketing tools. You can get featured in newsletters that reach more potential listeners, and the platform offers Amazon ads directly through their system to boost your visibility on one of the biggest marketplaces. You can also set up sales promotions, like offering discounts or special deals, to attract more buyers. These tools are all within one platform, making marketing much more manageable for authors.
While it’s not free to publish audiobooks on PublishDrive, their subscription plans allow authors to keep 100% of net profits. Their free plan only allows you to publish ebooks (actually, one ebook).
Royalties
Authors receive 100% net profits as part of their subscription benefits,
Cons
Publishing with PublishDrive means upfront costs. Out of the audiobook publishing sites mentioned, it is more appropriate for well-established authors with a large audience. PublishDrive may not be a good choice for writers just starting out or for authors with a small audience.
How You Get Paid
Authors are paid through payoneer, paypal, local bank transfer, check, intercash or wire transfer. Minimum payment threshold is $5
StreetLib
StreetLib may not be as popular when it comes to audiobook distribution, but it is one of the best platforms for audiobooks. It is a flexible platform designed to make the process as smooth as possible for authors. It offers global distribution, reaching listeners all over the world through about 14 platforms including Audible, Google Play, and Apple Books. One of the best things about StreetLib is that it offers a free plan with no upfront fees like PublishDrive. Authors only pay a small percentage when their audiobook sells. There are, however, subscription plans that offer more benefits with a bigger percentage of royalties.
Royalties
Authors receive 70% of net profits on free plan and 80% of net profits on paid subscription plans.
Cons
Compared to other platforms, the marketing and promotional features may be less extensive.
How You Get Paid
Payment is made through bank transfer, payoneer and paypal. The payout minimum for bank transfer is $30, and $10 for both payoneer and paypal.
Audible (ACX)
I kept Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) as a last option on the list because, though it stands out as a choice for authors among audiobook publishing sites, it’s got a lot of cons that cannot be ignored.
Most people recommend ACX first as its audiobook distribution network includes the big giants: Audible, Amazon, and Apple. Actually, these three are the only platforms they distribute to, but this fact isn’t discouraging at all as the platforms mentioned have very large user bases. This means your work will actually get to be in front of the biggest and widest audience. However, the cons can be discouraging, and I’ll address them later.
One good feature of ACX is its narrator marketplace. It has the largest, giving you as many options as possible to choose from. You even get narrators that are specifically skilled in your genre. There is also the royalty share agreement with narrators. This setup especially helps authors who might not have the budget to pay for narration upfront. Instead, you can agree to share a portion of your royalties with your narrator, making the audiobook production both accessible and easier on your wallet.
ACX also helps you with some marketing tools to boost your visibility. These resources, from promo codes to targeted ads, can really help with marketing and increase your audiobook’s chances of being discovered by more listeners. However, note that these marketing tools are more limited compared to those offered by other platforms.
As an author, you have the option to commit exclusively to Audible (ACX), where you get higher royalty rates but can’t publish your audiobook anywhere else, or to choose non-exclusivity.
If you hire a narrator on ACX, you have two options in terms of paying the narrator. The first is to pay the narrator upfront, meaning you receive all the rights to the audiobook recorded. For the second option, however, you won’t pay upfront but you’ll need to share royalties with the narrator this way: 50% to narrator and 50% to you.
In this case, you will not have the rights to the audiobook, and it is a 7 year deal of exclusivity automatically. After the 7 years, you can buy the rights to the audiobook from the narrator but that will involve delisting the audiobook from all marketplaces first and then republishing it. You definitely have to consider this when comparing options.
Royalties
If you go the exclusive route with ACX, you can earn up to 40% in royalties. However, if you want to keep your options open and choose non-exclusive distribution, that figure drops to 25%.
If you hired a narrator on ACX and did not pay the narrator upfront, you would have to share your royalties with the narrator on a 50%-50% royalty share basis out of the 40% given.
Cons
One big con is that, unlike other audiobook publishing sites, ACX is only available to authors in US, Canada, UK and Ireland. So if you are outside these regions, ACX is definitely not an option.
ACX also has the lowest royalties with non-exclusive audiobook distribution, and even with exclusivity, it still gives a low 40%.
Another con to consider with ACX is the lengthy commitment. When you sign up for their exclusive distribution, you’re locked in for seven years. That’s a long time! This long-term commitment might be scary if you like to keep your options open and adjust to market changes.
You also can’t publish an audiobook without having the ebook or print book version already available on amazon. It’s not like other audiobook publishing sites where you can upload just the audiobook version. Hence, on the ACX platform you have to claim the title of a book you’ve already published on Amazon. That means anyone can claim your book title and this can be a big problem.
Promo codes given for marketing are only available in the US and UK.
One last con is, you don’t get to set your prices. Unlike audiobook publishing sites like Findaway Voices, the price of the audiobook is determined for you based on the length of the audiobook.
How You Get Paid
Payment is through direct deposit or cheque in the US, and only direct deposit in UK, Canada, or Ireland. Minimum $10.
Conclusion
Audiobook publishing is an amazing way for authors to reach a larger audience and tap into a booming market. Each platform we’ve discussed has its own unique benefits that cater to different needs and preferences.
Each of these audiobook publishing sites offers specific benefits that cater for different author needs, such as global reach, pricing flexibility, and easy-to-use services. As the audiobook market continues to grow, adding audiobooks to your publishing plan can help you reach more people and increase your earnings. It’s worth exploring these platforms to find the one that aligns with your goals and will help you succeed in the audiobook space.
