New “Smashwords for audiobooks” service allows authors to sell their audiobook through over a dozen distributors and retailers
It’s no secret that audiobooks are becoming ever more popular with their “reading” audience (especially for those stuck in ever-increasing traffic!) Also no surprise: Audiobooks can be another revenue stream for most any author. Now, one “new kid on the block” is offering expanded audiobook distribution to over a dozen book-selling outlets.
Audiobooks.com has announced a new audiobook distribution service, Author’s Republic, an aggregate audio publisher helping to bring independently published audiobooks onto more platforms than ever before.
Coming off of the 2014 release of Recordio, a mobile and web app designed to make audiobook narration more accessible, Author’s Republic is the company’s next step in supporting the growing industry of independently published audiobooks and making those titles available to consumers.
“With the explosion in self-publishing and the simultaneous growth in the audiobook industry, getting the right tools in place will help both industries grow together,” says Sanjay Singhal, Audiobooks.com CEO.
Most notable about the new service is the extensive retail and distributor network made available to authors who use it. Author’s Republic will submit titles to over a dozen merchants including Audiobooks.com, Audible, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, Downpour, and tunein, as well as library providers like Findaway and Overdrive.
“There are a lot of places to sell audiobooks, but until now, there was no easy way for authors to access them,” says Singhal. “Services like Smashwords and Draft2Digital have done great things for eBook distribution. Now, Author’s Republic is doing the same thing for audiobooks.”
The service also offers competitive royalty rates. On most platforms, authors will receive an average of 35% of what their titles are sold for.
Author’s Republic Features
- Earn 25% of what your book is sold for on Audible, iTunes and Amazon, and up to 35% of what it’s sold for on all other channels.
- Forget about managing over a dozen different accounts and trying to remember 12 variations of “Password123”. Your sales are displayed on a handy dashboard, with one monthly paycheck.
- They give every audiobook a shiny, new ISBN at no charge to the author. That’s $125 you can spend on something else.
- Get your book listed on major retailers, library providers and distributors you may have never heard of, but sell a whole lot of books.
- Already selling your books through ACX? No problem! You can keep your current ACX account, and they’ll handle selling them everywhere else.
Learn more about how it works here and tell us what you think of the new platform!
The other problem is with exclusivity. If you chose “exclusive distribution,” then you agreed to make your audiobook only available on Audible’s channels (Audible, Amazon and iTunes.) Most people do this; that way they receive a royalty of 40% rather than the 25% of non-exclusivity. If you do choose the exclusive option, “You are not permitted to distribute or sell your audiobook in any other format on any site or store outside of Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.”
Using this service would violate that condition, as well.
The last line of the article is problematic. It says, “Already selling your books through ACX? No problem! You can keep your current ACX account, and they’ll handle selling them everywhere else.”
It depends on your contract on ACX. If you have a Royalty Share agreement, the contract says, “Rights Holder will neither produce or sell, nor grant any third party the right to produce or sell, an audio version of the Book in the Language(s) for distribution in the Territory.” The Territory in the contract is “the World,” so if you use this service, you’re going to be in violation of your ACX contract with your producer. I’m no lawyer, but that’s what it looks like to me.
Hi Chris!
You’re absolutely right: if you’re exclusive with ACX, you can’t distribute your book elsewhere, and this holds true with Author’s Republic. We can allow authors who wish to independently run their own ACX account to do so, so long as their book is distributed through the non-exclusive option!
If you sell on ACX, you might have the option to switch your book from exclusive to non- exclusive if you paid for production up front. If you did a royalty share, the option to switch is unavailable.
If you have any other questions, feel free to check out our FAQ page ( https://authorsrepublic.com/faqs ), or email us at info@authorsrepublic.com
Has anyone used the Recordio app mentioned as part of audiobooks.com? The entire app forum appears to be unmoderated and filled with spam. It looks like it’s abandoned by the owner.
Hmmm… Don’t know. (This would be what we hate about forums). Will reach out to our contacts there for insight – stay tuned.
Wow Shari, another great find. Thanks.
Thank you, Flora!
I’m all over this, Shari. Thank you. Not quite ready for it now, but this info is going in my file. I will do an audio book for ONE GOOD MAMA BONE, for sure.
Wonderful, Bren – I’m loving the idea of more great audiobooks out there for listeners 🙂
Great info, Shari, and perfect timing. Look forward to checking it out.
Thanks, Pattie – another revenue stream or two never hurts!