Distributing Audiobooks: An Author's Guide to Reaching a Wider Audience
Audiobooks are gaining popularity, with readers rapidly becoming listeners. According to WordsRated, the Audiobook market share has even passed ebook revenue. For authors, distributing an audiobook can open new revenue streams, and provide a new platform to reach a wider audience for your work.
However, navigating the distribution landscape for your audiobook can be challenging.
At Immergency Media LLC, we take the fuss out of this process. Our team of professionals ensures your audiobook meets the highest quality audio standards, making the distribution process simple.
This article presents a self-guided and seamless experience, ensuring you retain control of your work.
Understanding the Content Requirements for an Audiobook: Consistency & Quality
Your audiobook must maintain consistent audio levels, tone, noise level, spacing, and pronunciation. Consistency ensures a professional production and a pleasant listening experience. Any drastic dip in audio quality can jar listeners and lead to poor reviews.
It’s not reductive to point out that your audiobook must sound good. As an author, if you are to produce an audiobook on your own – you will need to learn the craft of audio engineering to ensure a quality mix that meets the file requirements.
Extraneous Sounds and Mispronunciations
Each uploaded file must be free of extraneous sounds such as “plosives,” microphone pops, mouse clicks, mouth noise i.e. heavy breathing, and outtakes. These sounds can distract listeners and detract from the story, leading to negative feedback on your work. A less favorably reviewed audiobook because of the quality can dissuade potential listeners from wanting to listen to a poor audio experience.
It isn’t uncommon for even professionally produced audiobooks to have mispronunciations, and flubbed lines in them – you will have to review your audiobook word-for-word to ensure the accuracy of the material. This means reading the book as a reference while listening to your audiobook, taking note of imperfections, noting where and how to correct them, and having pick-up sessions to redo any mistakes. At Immergency Media LLC we do this for each of our audiobooks.
It’s not a requirement for distributing your book, but do you want your work represented correctly?
Opening and Closing Credits
Your audiobook must include opening and closing credits that match the title's cover art and metadata. Metadata refers to the essential information about your audiobook, such as the title, author(s), narrator(s), the publishing house and any other relevant details that help identify and categorize the audiobook. Accurate metadata helps with the “searchability” of your audiobook for fans of your work.
At a minimum, the opening credits should mention the audiobook's title, author(s), and narrator(s). Closing credits must state "the end." This cues the listener into when the audiobook has ended (since there’s no physical ending spot for an audiobook). Music can be included within the audio credits, provided it does not obscure the narration.
Chapters and Diagrams
Your audiobook’s narrator should read verbatim the chapter title. For example, if the written chapter of your book is, “Chapter 1: The Great Beginning.” Your narrator should say, “Chapter 1: The Great Beginning.”
If your book is nonfiction, it may have elements like diagrams and graphs to it. It’s best practice to have an online resource (i.e. a book or author’s website) that can be referenced and viewed by the listener. Your narrator should point out where the listener can locate the diagram physically online in the narration. If pertinent to the understanding of your book, tables, and numerical components should still be narrated verbatim of the material to accurately relay the same content of the print version.
Retail Audio Sample
You must include a “retail audio sample” between one and five minutes long. Think of this as your “movie trailer.” But, it’s not cut like a movie trailer. A retail audio sample is a sample. It showcases different aspects of your book. It’s the best section or sample of your book that acts as a hook for the listener, to want to listen to more.
The sample should captivate listeners, highlight the quality of the production, and be the immediate “right in your face” reason why you the listener should purchase the audiobook.
Explicit material is not permitted in the sample as it is public-facing on audiobook platforms.
File Requirements of an Audiobook: File Structure
Your audiobook is not just one large file of everything produced together. Your book is a set of files.
Each file must contain only one chapter or section in the upload.
Both the opening and closing credits must be separate files.
Each file must have no more than 5 seconds of room tone at its beginning and end.
Room tone: the ambient sound of a space.
Files must contain the section header if included in the manuscript (e.g., "Prologue," "Chapter 1").
File Technical Specifications
Files must measure between -23dB and -18dB RMS.
Peak values should be no higher than -3dB.
Peak: is the highest output level of a signal at any moment.
The noise floor must be no higher than -60dB RMS.
Noise Floor: This is the level of unwanted background noise in a system that limits the signal that can be detected and used.
Files must be 192 kbps or higher, 44.1kHz MP3, and Constant Bit Rate (CBR).
You must record and output your files in one of these output codecs.
Codec: A codec is a hardware-or-software-based process that compresses and decompresses large amounts of data.
All files must be in the same channel format (all mono or all stereo).
Mono: contains only one audio channel.
Stereo: contains two channels mapped left-to-right.
Files must be no longer than 120 minutes.
If a section exceeds this length, split it into two files and include a secondary section header.
Cover Art
When you go to upload your audiobook, you must include cover art for distribution. Cover art for audiobooks has different requirements than ebook uploads.
Cover Art Requirements
File formats: JPG, PNG, or TIF.
Minimum dimensions: 2400 x 2400 pixels.
Minimum resolution: 72 dpi.
24-bit (True Color) minimum.
RGB color (not CMYK).
The file size of the cover art cannot exceed 8 MB.
Cover art must be squared and fill the entire 1:1 square ratio.
Cover Art Content Requirements
Must contain the title and be legible.
The title must match the opening/closing credits and metadata exactly.
No pixelated or blurry text.
No Audible™ branding, logos, badges, or overlays.
No scans of jewel cases, promotional stickers, or cellophane.
No pornographic or offensive materials.
No watermarks or third-party copyright images.
No references to physical media or audio formats (e.g., CD, DVD, Blu-ray).
No references to competing marketplaces, personal information, or external URLs.
No references to running time or pricing.
Artwork designed as physical packaging is not accepted.
The word “Audiobook” must be included if necessary, to avoid confusion between other distributed versions of your book.
Only from Audible Graphic
Audible may add an "Only from Audible" graphic to the lower right corner of your cover art. Avoid placing important production credits in this area to prevent disruption.
This badge is added at Audible’s discretion for titles with exclusive distribution rights.
Uploading your Audiobook for Distribution
Findaway Voices
Spotify paid $123 million for this distribution company to increase the audio giant’s supply of audiobooks on its platform. Because of this, the platform provides a very good deal for self-published authors – free*.
Findaway distributes your book to the top three audiobook platforms: Apple, Spotify, and Amazon (for a full list of platforms, check here).
Everywhere other than Spotify, 20% of the sales for your book goes to Findaway Voices. If you are just getting into self-publishing audiobooks, this can offer a great start.
Cost: Free*
Royalties: 20% off the top everywhere other than Spotify
Publish Drive
You may not want to sign over any of the royalties for the audiobook. Publish Drive is a great option for retaining your royalties across all audiobook platforms. With more than 240k digital libraries they distribute to, Publish Drive is a comprehensive service for self-published authors to control their destiny and their reach for their audiobook experience.
The cheapest package for the self-published author is their “Standard” plan – billed as a lump sum for a year’s worth of distribution access to the top audiobook platforms. Before any taxes or fees, it works out to $188.88 for the right to distribute up to 6 books.
Publish Drive is an excellent option for the self-published author who has several books under their belt already or one who needs to distribute their one book in multiple formats i.e. needs to distribute their book as both an audiobook experience and as an ebook.
With a user-friendly interface, comprehensive analytics, and a snapshot report of your royalties across all platforms – Publish Drive has everything you need to step up the distribution of your book.
Cost: $188.88 USD Yearly*
Royalties: no royalties
Conclusion
As a self-published audiobook author, your primary responsibility is to write and create captivating worlds. If you are interested in learning the stagecraft of audio engineering, producing a production plan, or directing audio voice-over talent – then you should consider following these steps and producing your own audiobook experience.
If you would like a guaranteed high-quality audiobook experience that captivates listeners and transports them into your world, then you should consider our services today.