For many, it might come as a shock that the aggregator (ACX) makes more money than the author and retailer combined, even though they’re contributing much less to the process.ĪCX also offers different returns based on how each book was sold. And in some cases, it can be even less than that. Only $5.39, or 21.6 percent, goes back to the author. After that, $13.48 goes to ACX, or about 54.3 percent. Right from the top, the retailer gets $6.08, or about 24.37 percent. The Naked Communistbook retails for $24.95. Let’s use Izzard’s book, The Naked Communist, as an example. Chiefly, authors need to understand that this is 40 percent of what’s left after the retailer takes their share. While authors may hear they’ll earn a 40 percent royalty on each book sold, this is misleading for a few reasons. Planning is made even tougher for indie authors by Audible’s lack of clarity over how much money authors can actually expect to see. According to IBIS world, Audible controls over one third of the audiobook market, compared to just 5.1 percent for Penguin Random House and 3.9 percent for HarperCollins. As technology makes it increasingly possible to compete in the audiobook market, they’ll be able to use this leverage to bring change.īut it’s the structure of the current system, dominated by retailer Audible and its production arm ACX, that makes earning back an audiobook investment so challenging and unpredictable. To confidently spend this kind of money on an audiobook, indie authors need not only a higher level of royalties, but more consistency in terms of pricing and what to expect. With such high cost, indie authors often don’t see a return on our audiobook investment for at least a year. With a top-quality narrator, it can cost as much as $600 or more PFH (per finished hour) for narration, editing, and quality checking. The Economics of AudiobooksĪudiobooks, especially when done right, require a significant investment. How much of this is due to audiobook price-fixing by Audible? ALLi Partner Member Tim McConnehey from Izzard Ink, predicts a continued boom in audiobook popularity, and some welcome changes in the way Audible conducts its business. But the current economics of producing an audiobook is an uphill battle, especially for indie authors. The Association of American Publishers called audiobooks the “the fastest growing format” in their 2018 StatShot Report. Readers are increasingly ready for audiobooks.

Audible price