In this post, I’ll show you how to sell audiobooks online, step by step.
First, we’ll look at what it takes to produce an audiobook, including tricky topics like obtaining audio rights and sourcing narration.
After that, I’ll explain the best way to sell your audiobooks—through your own website—and share some other popular platforms and marketplaces where you can also list them for sale.
And finally, I’ll share some powerful marketing strategies you can use to promote your audiobooks and get more listeners.
How to produce audiobooks
You’ll need to create an audiobook before you can sell it. Here’s a basic step-by-step guide to walk you through the audiobook production process.
Understand how audio rights work
Unfortunately, you can’t just record yourself narrating any book and sell it as an audiobook—you need to obtain the audio rights to the work.
So, you have three options:
- Write your own book. You automatically own the rights to your own work (assuming you haven’t already handed them over to someone else, like a publisher) so you’re free to turn any book you’re the author of into an audiobook and sell it.
- Negotiate with the author/publisher/rights holder. The simplest way to do this is to sign up for ACX as a narrator. From there, you can negotiate deals with rights holders where you record the narration for their work in exchange for a royalty share or upfront payment. More on ACX in a moment!
- Narrate a book that’s already in the public domain. Copyrights expire when books enter the public domain so anyone can narrate them and sell the audiobook. Most books published before 1923 are now in the public domain.
Note: Keep in mind that I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. Make sure you do your own due diligence and consult a qualified legal professional for information about copyright law.
Choose the right book
If you’re going to invest time and/or money into narrating an audiobook, you need to make sure it’s going to sell well. And that’s why the most important step is choosing the right book.
The first thing to consider is the genre. Certain genres tend to make better audiobooks than others.
Fiction genres like mystery/crime, thrillers/suspense, young adult, sci-fi, etc. are all good choices. Whereas, image-heavy books, cookbooks, and instructional books are a no-go.
If you’re narrating someone else’s book (rather than your own), try to stick to popular books that are already selling well.
If a book has sold thousands of print or ebook copies, then it’s probably going to sell well as an audiobook too.
Whereas, if it’s hardly sold at all in those formats, there’s almost certainly not going to be sufficient demand for the audio version for it to be worth your while.
Have your book narrated (or narrate it yourself)
Once you’ve written or acquired the audio rights to a book, the next step is to record the narration and produce the audiobook version.
There are two ways to go about this. Option one is to record and produce it yourself. Option two is to work with a professional narrator.
Each has its pros and cons, which I’ve summarized in the table below.
| Record it yourself | Hire a professional | |
| Pros | Full creative controlYou don’t have to pay anyone (or split royalties) | Professional-quality productionLess time investment |
| Cons | Requires professional recording equipment (or ideally, a studio)Huge time investmentMight sound ‘amateur’ if you’re not a professional narrator | Less creative control over the narrationHigh cost (upfront payment or revenue split) |
Narrating it yourself
If you’re going to be narrating the audiobook yourself, it’s worth investing in professional audio recording equipment.
You could use your smartphone microphone in a pinch, but it will lead to sub-par results, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2s are a great entry-level recording interface that are relatively affordable. You can get a bundle with a decent condenser mic, audio interface, headphones, and all the other gadgets and gizmos you need for pretty cheap on Amazon.
You’ll also need editing software to remove background noise and tidy things up in post-production. I’d recommend a DAW (digital audio workstation) like Reaper or Audacity. There are other options but these are free and good enough to get you started.
The Punch and Roll method is the industry standard audiobook recording practice.
The idea is that whenever you make a mistake, you go back and record over it. That way, you end up with a long mistake-free sequence, reducing the need for heavy editing in post.
Try to record in a quiet place with good acoustics, and pay careful attention to pacing, articulation, tone, etc.
Make sure to save your audiobook in the correct format for your audiobook distribution platform.
For example, if you plan to sell through ACX/Audible, each chapter will need to be in a separate file (check out their full specifications before you get started).
Hiring a professional
The best way to find a professional narrator is to sign up for ACX as a Rights Holder.
From there, you can audition narrators/producers and, when you find someone to voice your book, work out a contract.
Many authors choose a royalty-split arrangement (e.g. 50/50, 70/30, etc.) where you and the narrator/producer both earn a fair share of future audiobook sales revenue.
The other option is to just pay a flat rate for the project. That’s usually somewhere around $200 – $500 per audio hour, so for a large audiobook with 10 hours of narration, you can probably expect to pay around $2,000 – $5,000.
Aside from ACX, you can also hire narrators through other freelance marketplaces including Voiceovers.com, Upwork, and Bodalgo.
How to sell audiobooks with Sellfy
A lot of people sell audiobooks on marketplaces like Amazon, Audible, iTunes, etc.
But the problem is that those marketplaces take a huge chunk of your profits as their cut. You’ll usually only earn around 40% of the sale price in royalties, which is way less than you deserve.
It’s much better to sell audiobooks through your own website. That cuts out the middleman so you don’t have to split royalties with anyone and you get to keep 100% of your profits.
You can build your website through Sellfy.
The platform is super easy to use and doesn’t charge any hidden fees, which makes it perfect for new sellers.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Sign up and log in
First, go to Sellfy’s website and sign up for one of their affordable monthly subscription plans. I’d recommend the Starter plan (you can always upgrade later if you outgrow it).
There’s also a 14-day free trial available, so you can test it out before you commit to a plan.
Click here to sign up for a free trial.
Once you’ve signed up, log in and work your way through the setup wizard. You’ll be prompted to enter a name/description for your online store and choose a theme color.
Eventually, you’ll be brought to your Sellfy dashboard.
2. Add a product & upload your audiobook
Click Add new product in the sidebar, then select Digital product.
Next, click Browse on your computer to upload your audiobook (or just drag and drop the audio files onto the page).
3. Fill out the product details
Enter a product name and description for your audiobook in the relevant text boxes.
Remember to include any important information for the reader in the description section, such as instructions on how to play the audiobook, copyright information, your return policy, etc.
Further down the page, you can add product preview images.
These aren’t as relevant for audiobooks compared to other types of digital products, but it’s still worth adding eye-catching cover art to grab your customer’s attention.
4. Set a price
Under Price settings, set a price for your audiobook.
It’s up to you how much you want to charge, but generally, I’d recommend somewhere in the range of $10 to $30.
Many sellers and retailers like Audible determine prices based on the length.
For example, for short audiobooks with under an hour of narration, costs can be as little as $5-7.
On the other end of the spectrum, large audiobooks with over 20 hours of narration often cost $25-35.
Sellfy supports multiple currencies so you can sell internationally.
You also have the option to let customers choose how much they want to pay—just click the Pay what you want button next to the price.
If you want to bundle up the audiobook with your ebook and set one price for both, you can do that. Just upload both files in the same digital product.
And if you’re selling a bunch of audiobooks, you could even make a members-only library and create a Subscription product that gives customers access to the entire catalog in exchange for a recurring monthly fee.
Once you’ve set your price, click Save product.
5. Connect a payment gateway
At this point, you should have your own online store complete with a product page and checkout, so you’re nearly ready to start selling.
But first, you need to connect a payment processor to your store. Customers won’t be able to complete the checkout process until you’ve done this.
To do so, click Store settings > Payment settings in the Sellfy sidebar.
Then, connect your Stripe or PayPal account, depending on which payment method you want to offer.
6. Customize your store
Your store should now be fully functional, but it might not look the part just yet.
You can change the way it looks from the store customizer.
Click the shop icon in the top right of the sidebar, then click Customize.
You can use the tools in the sidebar on the left to change global store style settings (e.g. your theme, button colors, font sizes, background colors, etc.)
Plus, click on any page or page element to edit it directly. You can change the text, reorder modules, and make any other visual changes you want to make.
7. Customize your store settings
Lastly, you might want to change your Store settings.
For example, you can add product categories to organize different products into sections and make it easier for your customers to find what they’re looking for.
You can also set up tax amounts so that Sellfy automatically charges the right amount of tax for each customer based on their location. Plus, change what information Sellfy asks the customer for during the checkout process, connect a custom domain, and more.
Other ways to sell audiobooks
You’ll make more money selling audiobooks through your own website as you keep all your profits.
However, listing your audiobooks on other popular online marketplaces too can help you reach more customers. I’m talking about platforms like Audible, Apple Books, Amazon, Kobo, Google, Kobo, etc.
The easiest way to get your audiobooks onto these platforms is to use a distribution service. Here are some of the most popular audiobook distributors…
Audible/ACX
Audible/ACX is the most popular audiobook distribution service.
It makes your audiobooks available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books—the ‘big 3’ marketplaces.
You have two options: Exclusive distribution and non-exclusive distribution.
If you sign up for exclusive distribution, you’ll earn a 40% royalty on sales on these channels but you won’t be able to sell your audiobook through any other channels (including your website).
If you choose the non-exclusive option, you’ll earn a smaller 25% royalty rate but you can sell your audiobook through any other channels you choose.
I’d always recommend non-exclusive distribution if you go down this route. That way, you can still sell through your own site (and other marketplaces) where you’ll earn more money per sale.
Findaway Voices
Findaway Voices is Spotify’s audiobook distribution service. It’s the second most popular option after ACX.
Unlike ACX, it’s entirely non-exclusive, so you’re not locked into a handful of channels. You can sell wherever you want.
It also distributes your audiobooks to more outlets, covering dozens of retailers including Spotify, Amazon, Apple Books, Rakuten Kobo, Scribd, Bibliotheca, Google Books, Audiobooks.com, Walmart, and many more.
You keep 100% of your royalties for sales on Spotify, and 80% of the royalties you earn on all other channels (which vary depending on the retailer)
Author’s Republic
Author’s Republic also offers a very wide distribution network, covering 50+ retail partners including Audible, Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Libby, and Hoopla.
Like Findaway, it doesn’t require exclusivity so you’re not locked into anything, and it offers generous terms that protect the rights of authors. It also comes with its own narrator marketplace where you can get help creating your audiobook if you haven’t produced it yet.
Author Republic pays royalties of 70% of what your audiobooks earn from retailers.
Lantern Audio
Lantern Audio is another non-exclusive distribution platform.
It pays 75% royalties on revenue earned and places your audiobook on all the leading digital retail and library platforms including Audible, Apple, Walmart, Kobo, Storytel, Odilo, Google Play, Nook Audio, and more.
Audiobook marketing tactics
Audiobooks don’t sell themselves. Here are some powerful marketing tactics you can use to promote them and drive sales.
Run paid ads
Arguably the best way to generate audiobook sales is to run targeted online advertising campaigns, e.g. through Google Ads, Meta Ads, etc.
The key is to target people who are ‘likely buyers’ of your genre. For example, if your audiobook is an epic fantasy series, you could set your Facebook ads to target people interested in ‘fantasy ebooks’, ‘fantasy movies’, etc.
Play around with it and try different iterations of targeting options until you find one that converts well and provides a positive ROI (return on investment).
Note: If you plan to run Meta Ads, be sure to avoid the Audience Network placements and Advantage+ audiences and you should get better results.
Reach out to reviewers
Once you launch your audiobook, run an outreach campaign and share free copies with reviewers to gain some exposure and earn your first batch of positive reviews.
Well-known influencers and publishers in your space will have the biggest impact. But you can also share it with amateur reviewers on audiobook-focused communities. For example, a lot of authors/producers share giveaway codes on subreddits like r/audible and r/audiobooks.
Upload free chapters to YouTube
YouTube is a great place to build an audience.
Sign up for an account and upload videos to share the first few chapters of your audiobook for free, making sure to use a keyword-rich description and tags to help with discovery.
Remember to place a link to your product page in the description and add a CTA (call-to-action) on-screen inviting listeners who want to hear more to click the link and buy the full version.
Post excerpts on TikTok
Grab a few exciting excerpts from your audiobook that are sure to hook listeners in.
Then, share those clips on TikTok along with some atmospheric music and visuals. Make sure you add a link to the full version in the description and invite users to click it at the end of the video.
Hopefully, your TikTok videos will reach a ton of listeners in your target audience. Even if only a small fraction of them convert to paying customers, it’s worth it.
Promote it in your ebook
If you already sell an ebook, or printed copies of your book, leverage them to promote the audiobook version.
An easy way to do this is to simply include a page at the end or start of your ebook to let readers know the book is available in audio format, with a link to buy it.
Final thoughts
That concludes our comprehensive guide to selling audiobooks online.
To recap, the best way to sell audiobooks is through your own online audiobook store, which you can build with Sellfy. You can set everything up in under an hour and you’ll keep 100% of your own profits.
To reach more audiobook listeners, you can also list them for sale on online platforms like Audible, Apple Books, and Google Books.
The easiest way to do this is by using a distribution service, but make sure to always choose the non-exclusive option so you can continue to sell your ebook on your website and other channels.
While you’re here, you might want to check out our roundup of the best platforms to sell ebooks this year.
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