How the Lex Publisher Package Works: Done-For-You Audiobook Distribution

Summary

Two setups: zero-effort Concierge publishing or accounts in your own name. Lex takes no royalties. On Audible and Spotify you keep the full author share. On every other store the distribution partner keeps 20% of net.

Publisher combines production with optional done-for-you publishing everywhere listeners buy and borrow books. The price is a custom quote per book, with 10 finished hours included and extra hours at $20/hr (see Publisher pricing). Lex prepares and submits the book, then manages store review across major retail and library channels, including fixes and resubmissions when a platform needs changes. This post explains the account models, payout flow, and the honest store caveats. Lex takes no royalties. On Audible and Spotify there is no partner fee. On wide stores the distribution partner keeps 20% of net, deducted before remittance. The author receives 80% of net.

Two setups, your pick

Concierge (the default). Lex publishes under its own retailer accounts and you never create an account anywhere. Your entire setup is one payment link: bank and tax details via Stripe. It takes about five minutes and works on a phone. Stores pay Lex. Lex takes no royalties. On Audible and Spotify you keep the full author share. On every other store the distribution partner keeps 20% of net, deducted before remittance; we forward the rest every month with a per-store statement. Nothing is exclusive and nothing is a hostage: you can pull the book from any store with 30 days' notice, and the files and rights stay yours either way.

Accounts in your name. Prefer to hold the keys yourself? We set up the other way around:

• You create the store accounts in your name, with your own email and your own tax and bank details. About 15 minutes per store, once.
• You invite us in. Spotify supports a team member, so you invite our publishing address as a collaborator. The remaining stores go out under one wide submission; where a portal has no invite, we do a single screen-share session: we drive the upload, you type your own credentials and payout details.
• Stores pay you directly. No pass-through and no statements to reconcile.

On both paths we do everything else: files, cover, metadata, categories, pricing entry, AI-narration disclosure flags, and submission on every store. Everything is non-exclusive, and the commercial license to the audio is included with production.

Where the book goes

We submit to Spotify directly (Spotify for Authors). The digital-voice flag is set at upload and Spotify adds its own disclosure line to the listing.

We also upload to Audible/Amazon directly, with no partner fee. Everything else goes through the wide publishing path: other major retail and library channels. Lex prepares and submits each title and manages store review, including fixes and resubmissions when a platform needs changes. We do not publish a fixed channel count or claim that every store automatically accepts every title. Each store still applies its own policy and metadata review.

Here is what each store pays.

• Audible / Amazon is a direct Lex upload with no partner fee. It pays 30% of the sale price, Audible's non-exclusive rate since May 2026 (25% before), and Audible sets the price.
• Spotify is a direct upload with no partner fee and pays 50% of the price you set on à la carte sales. Premium-plan listening is paid from Spotify's monthly pool by share of hours listened.
• Google Play Books is a partner channel and pays 52% of list price. It pays on list price even when Google discounts the title.
• Apple Books is a partner channel and pays 45% of list price.
• Kobo is a partner channel and pays 45% of list price at $2.99 and up, 35% below that.
• The Lex Store lets you keep 100% of the reader's price, less card processing and sales tax, with no store share and no partner share.

After the partner's 20% of net, the wide-store estimate is about 42% of list on Google Play and about 36% on Apple Books and Kobo, using the stores' published rates.

The honest caveats

• Audible is included. Publisher titles go to Audible/Amazon as a direct Lex upload under Lex's publisher agreement, same pack, no extra charge, and no partner fee. ACX self-serve still expects human narration and does not accept externally produced AI narration. Audible is a wide, non-exclusive listing, so the exclusive Audible rate does not apply.
• Apple reviews third-party AI audio title by title and may decline. Lex submits and reports either way.
• Disclosure is not optional, and that is good. Every store that accepts AI narration asks for a metadata flag, and we set it correctly everywhere. Hiding AI narration is the only way to actually get in trouble in this market.

What the process looks like end to end

1. Production finishes. It started with a free first-chapter demo, finished within 24 hours, and you have since approved the narrator and the sample, then the final master. You own the files either way.
2. We prepare the retail package. Square cover at 2400x2400 or better, chapterized MP3s, opening and closing credit tracks, a retail sample clip, a store-ready description, categories, and pricing suggestions. You confirm or correct by email.
3. You do the one-time setup. Concierge: click one payment link and add your bank and tax details, about five minutes. Accounts in your name: create the store accounts, add payout details, send the two invites, and book one 30-minute screen-share for the two stores without invites, roughly an hour total, with a plain-English checklist that walks through every click.
4. We upload everywhere within one business day.
5. Stores review on each retailer's timeline, and we send you a live-links summary with every store URL when the listings clear.

Questions authors actually ask

Why not just do this myself? You can, and we published the full DIY playbook. The Publisher package exists because the details are fiddly: disclosure flags, opening and closing credit tracks some stores require, cover dimension rules, category taxonomies, sample-clip specs, and a review process that bounces submissions for small metadata mistakes. We have made every one of those mistakes already so you do not have to.

What do you keep from my royalties? Lex takes no royalties on either path. On Audible and Spotify you keep the full author share. On every other store the distribution partner keeps 20% of net. On Concierge we forward the rest monthly with a per-store statement. On your-name accounts the stores pay you directly.

Which store pays the highest royalties? The Lex Store leaves you 100% of the reader's price, less card processing and sales tax. Spotify (50% of the price you set on à la carte sales) and Audible (30% of the sale price) carry no partner fee. On partner channels the wide-store estimate is about 42% of list on Google Play and 36% on Apple Books and Kobo.

How do I get my audiobook into libraries? Publisher sends the book to the libraries through the wide publishing path, in the same submission as the other wide stores. The listing is non-exclusive, and any store can be pulled on 30 days' notice. We set the AI-narration disclosure wherever a library channel asks for it.

Which stores accept AI-narrated audiobooks? Audible does on the Publisher pack, through Lex's publisher agreement. Spotify accepts it with the digital-voice flag set at upload. Apple reviews third-party AI audio title by title and may decline. ACX self-serve still expects human narration and does not accept externally produced AI narration. Our store-by-store AI narration guide covers the rest.

What if I already have some store accounts? Even better. Invite us in (or book the session) and we use what you have.

Do I have to list on the Lex Premium catalog? No. It is an opt-in bonus listing in our subscriber catalog, non-exclusive, removable on 30 days' notice, and it costs nothing either way.

What happens if we part ways later? Your book is safe on both paths. On your-name accounts the listings are already yours, nothing to unwind. On Concierge everything is non-exclusive with a 30-day pull right, and we will take listings down or help you republish under your own accounts on request; the files and rights are yours from day one.