Audiobooks For Independent Authors Are Here!

November 17, 2022

By Steven Spatz -

Self-published authors can’t afford to stay on the audiobook sidelines, and BookBaby’s newest author service puts independent authors in the audiobook game!

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Everyone is entitled to change their mind.

That’s exactly what’s happened to me and my view on audiobooks for independent authors. It’s not just a flight of fancy or a whim — there’s big change in the industry. Now that BookBaby has pioneered an easy and affordable way to create premium AI-voiced audiobooks, I have a whole new perspective on the format.

Table of Contents:
• The old math for indies and audiobooks
• Audiobooks are popular
• Audiobooks for independent authors
• New AI voice technology has arrived
• A BookBaby exclusive

The old math for indies and audiobooks

Not long ago, I was a fierce skeptic of self-published authors wasting time, money, and effort bringing audiobooks to market. It wasn’t about the format; the old numbers just didn’t add up. It was nearly impossible for authors to sell enough units to cover the high production costs involved in traditional audiobook recording.

Here’s an example of how the numbers used to go:

The average 12-hour audiobook, recorded for $400/hour, cost an estimated $6,000 to produce.
Most audiobooks at this length are priced at $25.
Amazon’s Audible pays a 20 percent net royalty to authors: $5 each in this example.

That means you would need to sell 1,200 audiobooks just to make your money back. Not likely, unless your last name is Patterson or Grisham.

Audiobooks are popular

Despite those daunting numbers, it’s impossible to ignore the explosive growth of the audiobook marketplace:

A record number of 74,000 audiobooks were published in the US last year. That number is expected to triple this year.
Over 46 percent of Americans ages 18 and older say they’ve listened to an audiobook. The explosive growth in podcasts is said to be a contributing factor.
The US audiobook market has grown to over 2 billion dollars, a 40 percent jump in reported sales.
According to the American Publishers Association, audiobook revenue could surpass eBooks in 2023.

Audiobooks for independent authors

Indie authors need to be in the audiobook marketplace. So BookBaby went to work to create a program that has changed the equation for self-published authors. Here’s the new math:

BookBaby audiobooks are just $599 — which includes production, distribution, and a free sales platform.
Authors can price each audiobook at $20, a bargain compared to other authors.
BookBaby pays a 75 percent net royalty on every audiobook sale through Bookshop.

Using the figures above, BookBaby authors need to sell just 30 Audiobooks to make back their initial investment. Now the math adds up! And it’s a big reason I’ve changed my mind about audiobooks for independent authors. New technology is another.

New AI voice technology has arrived

Thanks to the advent of new high-quality AI (artificial intelligence) voice technology, indie authors have a unique opportunity to create quality audiobooks. The AI-enabled narration of audiobooks was born from the same technology that taught Siri to speak. The challenge has been to create software that allows “text to speech” (TTS) voices to be indistinguishable from a human voice.

Well, that software has arrived, and now, with just a few clicks, you can upload your digital manuscript and select a voice to narrate your audiobook – BookBaby currently offers more than 60 voice and accent options and 75 languages for your audiobook. You’ll receive audio files to review and approve within a few days of your order and, of course, you retain creative control through every step of the process.

Visit our website and see for yourself how audiobooks can be part of your self-publishing game plan.

A BookBaby exclusive

This breakthrough in audiobooks for independent authors is a BookBaby exclusive and is just another way we help self-published authors compete in the publishing marketplace.

With technological advances and BookBaby’s partnership, there’s a better way for you to produce your book in this popular format. Audiobooks have gone from being a dream for indie authors into a must-have product for their readers, and with BookBaby, you’ve got the means to produce them.