Where to sell an audiobook and how to price it

Selling the audiobook means three things: get it listed, set a price listeners will pay, and show up where they already browse. Production is done. This chapter is what happens after.

Coming from publishing? The prior chapter is How to publish. For store-by-store mechanics, see Distribution.

Your first decision is reach vs. focus. Wide puts the title on every store that accepts AI-narrated audio. Amazon-only keeps you on Audible but skips everyone else.

DIY wide. Upload through an aggregator (or each store yourself). You own the logins, hit every metadata field, set AI disclosure, and fix review bounces. More control, more hours.

Spotify. Often needs its own author account even when you go wide elsewhere. Plan for a separate upload path.

Apple caveat. Apple Books may decline an AI title title-by-title. Submit and plan for either outcome.

• Wide: Audible/Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Kobo, Spotify, library networks, and others via aggregators or a publisher path
• Amazon-only: simpler admin, smaller reach
• ACX direct usually expects human narration; external AI often needs a publisher or Virtual Voice path instead

The listing is the pitch. Most listeners will never read your ebook blurb; they read the audiobook page and hit play on the retail sample.

Description. Lead with genre and hook in the first two lines. Name the narrator style if it matters (single voice, full cast). Don't bury the premise.

Keywords and categories. Pick the narrowest accurate categories first, then broader ones. Keywords should match how readers search (series name, tropes, comp titles where allowed). Repeat the series name if this is book 2+.

AI disclosure. Stores require honest digital-voice labeling. Say it plainly in metadata where the form asks. Don't hide it in fine print; reviewers notice, and some stores reject unclear listings.

Retail sample. This clip does the selling. It should land mid-scene with energy, not the copyright page.

• Title and subtitle: match the ebook unless the audio edition differs
• Cover: square audiobook art, readable at thumbnail size
• Sample: under store time limits, loud enough to hear on phone speakers

Price affects browse placement and listener expectations. On Audible and some other stores, retail bands often follow runtime. A 6-hour book and a 10-hour book sit in different default tiers. Don't pad the audio to chase a higher price band; stores notice, and listeners feel cheated.

Pick the band that fits the finished length. If a store lets you override, nudge within the band, not across it.

Know your royalty split before you pick a path: exclusive vs non-exclusive rates, aggregator cuts, and whether anyone else takes a share of net. Read each store's current terms; they change.

After submit, expect store review in about 2 to 5 days. Nothing is broken if day three still shows pending. Wide submissions hit channels on slightly different clocks.

When links go live, check these:

• Product page loads on each store you care about
• Retail sample plays from start to finish on mobile
• Cover art is not cropped or blurry
• Categories and series link look right
• AI / digital-voice flag shows where required

Save the share URLs each retailer gives you. You'll need them for email and social. If Apple declined the title, the rest of wide can still be live.

Early signal is sample plays and page clicks, not royalty statements. Those lag by a month or more on some stores.

Your existing readers are the first audience. They bought the ebook; many will try the audio if you tell them it exists.

• Sample clip. Post 30 to 60 seconds from the retail sample, not a random chapter file. Link to the store page.
• Email list. One short note: audio is out, where to buy, link to the sample. No countdown timers.
• Retailer share links. Use each store's native share URL so clicks count on-platform.
• Series continuity. Mention the audio on the next ebook back matter. If book 2 is coming, say book 1 is on audio now.

Social can be the same message without a hard sell: "Audio edition is live" plus the sample link. Don't spam review requests. Most stores restrict them, and readers tune out.

Reviews show up unevenly. Audible gets the most; smaller stores may get none for months. Read them for patterns, not as a score to defend.

What to look for:

• Confusion about genre or content (fix the blurb)
• Sample did not represent the book (recut if the store allows)
• Production issues you can fix on the next title (pacing, music level, pronunciation)

If a store lets you respond, thank briefly and stay neutral. "Glad you found it" or "Sorry this wasn't a fit" is enough. Don't argue with a one-star about taste. Don't post long rebuttals.

Useful production feedback belongs in your notes for the next book, not in a public thread.

Launch week is not the finish line. Audio discovery is slow and cumulative.

• Next in series. Listeners who finish book 1 look for book 2 on audio. Keep the gap reasonable.
• Refresh metadata. If reviews mention a trope you underplayed, add a keyword. Update the blurb when you win a quote worth using.
• Backlist. Older titles still sell when the audio exists. One email per backlist title is fine; don't blast the whole catalog in a week.

If you haven't started the next audio yet, a free first chapter is still the fastest way to hear a new title before you commit. Distribution details stay on Distribution.