Audiobook Distributors Chart - NarratorsRoadmap.com

Audiobook Distributors

Karen Commins’s Audiobook Distributor Comparison Chart

My recommendation:

1. Whenever possible, I would publish to ACX as a DIY project and choose exclusive distribution for at least 90 days to get the promo codes and have my audiobook listed quickly on Audible. ACX promises to post your audiobook on Audible within 10 business days. Other distributors don’t specify a timeframe and, in my experience, often required more days to publish on Audible. See the Important Note below regarding royalty percentages.

This step should not be a problem for contemporary RHs producing their audiobooks as long as they contract with the narrator outside of ACX.
However, it may be more difficult to do when a narrator is self-publishing a public domain book as you first need to claim an Amazon edition. This can happen in 3 ways:
- You create your own edition.
- You obtain permission from an Amazon RH to pair your audiobook with their existing edition.
- You send a request to me to ask my Kindle partner if he will create a Kindle edition for your book.
I’ve had some PD books where I couldn’t get permission for an existing edition and didn’t want to create one, so I used one of the other distributors.

For the last 2 options above, look in the Create Your Own Path video course Publishing Resources for my template email to Amazon RHs and the instructions to request a Kindle edition be made for your book.

Beginning at 1:03:38, the Public Domain Audiobooks and Self-Publishing webinar shows you step-by-step how to claim an Amazon edition and set up your audiobook project on ACX.

2. When I want to go wide — which may be later than 90 days, depending on how the audiobook is selling — I’d contact Audible to change the distribution to non-exclusive.

RHs who have created a RS/RS+ contract with an ACX narrator do not have this option because RS audiobooks must have exclusive distribution. They would need narrator consent to terminate distribution. In addition, they will lose all Audible ratings and reviews when they make this change because Audible will pull the audiobook from its virtual shelves. RHs would be better served to contract with a narrator outside of ACX to avoid 3 costly mistakes.

3. Once that step has completed, I’d upload the book to Findaway and choose all sites for distribution except Audible and Amazon. Findaway receives a much higher royalty from Apple (45%) than Audible (25% for non-exclusive), so I’m happy to let Findaway distribute to Apple even though ACX also distributed to Apple. I’d still be earning 25% from Audible/Amazon and 80% of royalties paid to Findaway for the other sites.

Findaway earns a hefty 50% from Google Play and Spotify! My single copy sales from Google Play and Apple have netted $7-8 in royalties, so you may want to create affiliate links and direct your Buy links to those listings to earn even more.

You must carefully consider whether to go wide. Would your royalties from other sites offset the 15% difference on Audible in going from exclusive to non-exclusive distribution? Audible is still the largest distributor, but those with hotly-selling books — especially in the big 3 genres of Mystery, Romance, and Sci-FI — may make more money with non-exclusive distribution on Audible.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Audible pays its highest royalty rate of 40% of proceeds to those books uploaded through ACX with an exclusive contract. Its second highest royalty rate is 25% paid on books uploaded through ACX with non-exclusive distribution.

Be aware that a distributor who promises 70-80% of the royalties they receive is not getting more than 25% of the total royalties that Audible pays on non-exclusive distribution through its own platform ACX. Sites like Findaway and Author’s Republic are middlemen that get 25% and then take their cut from that. Findaway keeps 20% of that 25%, effectively giving the RH a 20% royalty from Audible. Author’s Republic takes 30%, effectively leaving the RH with 17.5%. Therefore, if you want the largest royalty that Audible pays anyone, you must upload directly to ACX rather than using a different distributor to upload for you.

More resources are listed below my comprehensive chart which compares 6 popular distributors across 22 points of consideration. The sites are linked in the heading.

Criteria

ACX

Audiobooks Unleashed

Author's

Republic

Big Happy Family Audio

Findaway Voices

Spoken Realms

Available to citizens in these Countries	US, Canada, UK, Ireland	World	World	not stated but presumed to be World	World	World "Only audio produced In-House or with approved Storytellers is eligible for any of our distribution options."

Amazon Edition Required?	Yes Note the edition you claim to start the process can be hardback, paperback, or Kindle ebook.	No	No	No	Yes IF you want to publish to Audible and Amazon since Findaway goes through ACX to publish to Audible. See note in ACX column. No IF you don't plan to use Findaway to publish to Audible	No

Ease of Use	RHs can contract with a narrator outside of ACX and then upload a DIY project. RHs may also choose a narrator on ACX and go through their process for PFH, RS, and RS+ projects. RS/RS+ projects effectively create a 3-way contract among Audible, the RH, and the narrator.	They decide whether to distribute your book. They look for 50+ Amazon ratings, quality cover art, well-known author and/or narrator, and reviews and awards. If you don't have those things, they'd also consider marketing plans, past sales, past work, and social media presence.	You can upload everything as a DIY project or post a project for auditions and choose a narrator on the Production Studio page.	They decide whether to distribute your book. You start by contacting them here: https://bhfaudio.com/how-we-work/ You then will need to send a sample of the audiobook with a duration of no longer than 5 minutes before they will create a distribution contract. If you use them and don't see your book appear on Audible in a reasonable timeframe, contact BHFA. I had one book that "fell off the radar" for 27 days and probably still would be off the radar if I hadn't followed up about it.	You can create an audiobook using their marketplace. They charge a $49 fee if you use their casting service (Managed Audiobook Production). You can upload DIY projects for free.	Narrators must use the Sign Up form to request to join their roster. Then follow guidelines to propose project.

Distribution Channels	Audible, Amazon, Apple only	"AU distributes to over 50 retailers and libraries."	50+ sites shown on this page	They use Findaway to distribute.	40+ partners including libraries They are constantly updating the partner list.	Global distribution makes audiobooks "Available on All Audiobook Platforms". You can also opt for Global + Streaming.

Price Control	no	yes on Audible	yes but sites may change it	yes but sites may change it	yes including different pricing for libraries Has options for promotional pricing	no

Payment Frequency	Monthly	Monthly Note: Audible pays them quarterly, so you also only receive Audible payments quarterly. Due to the timing of an Audible-exclusive release, I didn't receive my first payment for 4 months.	Monthly on a net 45 basis "Our distribution partners all have unique schedules for sending royalties to us. Some will pay us within 30 days of the previous month's end; some will pay us 30 days after the previous quarter. Regardless, every month, we'll send you any royalties we've collected in your name."	Quarterly	Monthly	Quarterly

Payment Threshold	$10 for direct deposit $50 for check	$50 You can also expect a Wise transfer fee to be subtracted from your payment.	$10.00	$10	none if ACH $10 plus fees (transaction fee: 2% of the amount, maximum USD 1.00. FX fee: 1.9% to 2.5%) if PayPal PLUS you may still have PayPal fees on your side $25 if check with no transaction fees. 1.9% to 2.5% FX fee may apply $250 if wire transfer with transaction fee USD 15.00	none

Payment Processor	ACH	Wise but switching to ACH per 9/1/22 email	PayPal "Direct deposit is also available to US-based authors with 10 or more titles."	PayPal	ACH	PayPal

Royalty %	40% exclusive 25% non-exclusive If you want the largest royalty that Audible pays anyone, you must upload directly to ACX instead of using a different distributor to upload for you. The 25% non-exclusive rate is still greater than what any other distributor can offer from Audible. Note that RS contracts must be exclusive, meaning the RH and narrator each get 20% of available royalties.	"For wide distribution, Rights Holders receive 80% of net royalties earned from Audible and Amazon. Audiobooks Unleashed's commission is 15%."	"You’ll receive 70% of royalties earned by your audiobook across over 50 channels."	You receive 70% of all royalties they receive.	"Rights Holder receives 80% of all royalty receipts. Findaway receives a distribution fee equal to 20% of royalty receipts."	Not publicly published

Sales Updates	Daily in dashboard Note: The Dashboard is at least 2 days behind and may have times when it isn't updated, so don't stress on this point.	Quarterly Royalty reports will be sent in March, June, September, and December	Statements sent monthly on a net 45 basis. It's not clear whether you get daily updates in your dashboard.	Quarterly reports	Daily in dashboard Royalty statements sent monthly	Quarterly

Pre-orders available	Yes but not guaranteed. See this page.	The site says you "may be eligible for pre-order campaigns" but offers no instructions about it.	no	not officially I put a date on the contract, and I was surprised to see the title was posted to Audible 2-3 weeks ahead of that date as a pre-order.	no	no

Promotional Support	Exclusive projects get 25 Audible promo codes. No codes are provided to non-exclusive projects.	The distribution agreement states "Audiobooks Unleashed may provide promotional codes to Rights Holder." Don't count on receiving codes.	none	none	100 redemption codes on Spotify. They give you all the links where your audiobooks are currently for sale.	Projects with Global distribution get 50 promotional codes redeemable for audiobook rentals on Downpour.

Publisher Name	yours	yours if you buy the ISBN, otherwise Audiobooks Unleashed. Note that AU will charge a fee of $6.50 if you use one of their ISBNs.	yours if you enter your name in the Publisher field. Otherwise, it will show as Author's Republic. AR will supply 2 ISBNs for free.	yours	yours They provide 1 complimentary ISBN.	Spoken Realms

Straight RS Projects	yes	yes	coming soon	no	no	yes

Union RS Projects	yes	yes	no	no	no	While union narrators are on their roster, I found nothing to indicate that Spoken Realms makes contributions to the union for any project.

RS + PFH Projects	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes

Royalty Deferred Projects	no	yes "The Rights Holder does not pay the Producer anything upfront. Instead, they decide on a deferred amount to be paid to the Producer in royalties. The Producer is paid ALL of the royalties until the agreed amount is hit. The royalties then either go back to the RH or to a Royalty Split, whichever the team decides."	no	no	no	no

RS Projects With Multiple Narrators and/or RHs	no	yes They also offer custom percentages on the royalty split.	no	no	no	yes They also offer custom percentages on the royalty split.

CD Production Available	no	yes	no	no	no	yes

Public Domain Allowed?	yes but only if DIY no auditions for public domain books allowed	yes	yes	yes	yes but they will not assist with casting or production support	yes

Distribution Term	7 years with yearly auto-renewal unless terminated Can terminate after 90 days Both parties must agree to termination of RS.	Must be distributed for at least 6 months and will continue until either side terminates. Both parties must agree to termination of RS.	7 years with yearly auto-renewal unless terminated	5 years with autorenew	None except: Audible/Amazon, which are published through ACX and have a 7-year term Voices Share projects have a 10-year, exclusive distribution term.	Not specified. A contract for a past project shows I could terminate at will.

Corporate Ownership	Audible, which is owned by Amazon	none owned by narrator Sarah Sampino	RBMedia	none owned by Grammy-winning director and IP attorney Jessica Kaye	Spotify	none owned by narrator Steven Jay Cohen

Audiobook Distributors

Other resources on this topic: