18 Comments

😲😲😲😲😲😲 not done but that’s my reaction so far. I didn’t even know about alternatives to audible

Expand full comment

Thanks for sharing some alternatives! Will investigate

Expand full comment

Both maybe? I think he's right, but he will also likely gain cred for it. I'm skeptical of his 'making an enemy of Amazon' bit. That seems a little theatrical.

Expand full comment

Wow, this is great info! I wasn't aware there were so many options out there. I've been annoyed by Audible on more than one occasion, so it's good to know they're not the only show in town. I also use Chirp, which is kind of like BookBub for audio. They send me daily discounted audiobooks in genres I've selected. They might be available elsewhere as loaners, but I'm funny about buying content. But I'll definitely be checking some of these others out!

I wonder how one goes about commissioning (is that the right word) an audiobook?

Expand full comment

Awesome writeup, Winston! I'm thinking about audio for The Stars Will Fall, but I am focused on getting an ebook out first and seeing how Vella might work. Once that's done I'll shift to the audio. Thanks for the info!

Expand full comment

Super helpful article, Winston. You’ve given me a roadmap for audio. Especially since I’ve recently had some real problems with the AI readers on Substack. 🫣

Expand full comment

I use some of these alternatives you mentioned as distribution channels for my novels. I have only produced one audiobook so far (limited funds preventing me from doing others at the moment) but I've distributed all my novels to Scribd and Libby (through Overdrive). I love having the freedom and flexibility of reaching the widest possible audience.

Brandon Sanderson challenging Audible is a good thing in my opinion. Audible (like parent company Amazon) needs to be challenged. For the longest time, they had a return policy that let readers return audiobooks over a period of several months after purchase and would take royalties away from the author for each return. You had a sizeable portion of audiobook readers returning books after listening to them and both indie and traditional authors were losing a massive amount of royalties. Audible has since reformed its return policy, but it has a track record of various shady dealings with authors.

Expand full comment