[ShawnaReads]

When I went to Audible today, I saw that they've got a new Audible Plus service included in the standard membership. Does anything know anything about this from the author/publisher side?

 

[AlecHutson]

One of the authors I know with connections to Audible asked his rep. The rep said that Audible is packaging poor-selling trad titles and Audible exclusive titles into this unlimited reading program. Seems to me to be a not-smart move on Audible's part, as it's only going to hurt writers and publishers. I don't know about anyone else, but I've seen my daily sales fall from 35 or so a day to 20 almost immediately once the program started, and my sales had been very steady for the past 5 months. They choose what goes in, so you can't just apply. I personally this is a pretty bad thing for us independent creators. I've seen a lot of excited chatter in my reader Facebook groups about the program, listeners sharing lists of what they're going to listen to.

 

[Rick Partlow]

One of the authors I know with connections to Audible asked his rep. The rep said that Audible is packaging poor-selling trad titles and Audible exclusive titles into this unlimited reading program. Seems to me to be a not-smart move on Audible's part, as it's only going to hurt writers and publishers.

On the contrary, it's very smart for Audible. It could conceivably lead to them driving the competition out of business before they are actually any sort of real competition. It would be bad for indie writers and small publishers, but Audible doesn't actually care about them, they only care about their own bottom line.

 

[AlecHutson]

On the contrary, it's very smart for Audible. It could conceivably lead to them driving the competition out of business before they are actually any sort of real competition. It would be bad for indie writers and small publishers, but Audible doesn't actually care about them, they only care about their own bottom line.

Yes, that's true. I also think it's true that alienating / angering the ones that provide you with free content isn't generally in a business's best interest.

 

[blubarry]

I'm not surprised they're doing this. it's the next extension of the subscription model like KU. I think they had to do something as Findaway, Chirp, etc are making a big push (and pricing control).

 

[MMSN]

I wonder what/how they pay the indie Exclusives they invite in.

 

[Lydniz]

One of the authors I know with connections to Audible asked his rep. The rep said that Audible is packaging poor-selling trad titles and Audible exclusive titles into this unlimited reading program. Seems to me to be a not-smart move on Audible's part, as it's only going to hurt writers and publishers. I don't know about anyone else, but I've seen my daily sales fall from 35 or so a day to 20 almost immediately once the program started, and my sales had been very steady for the past 5 months. They choose what goes in, so you can't just apply. I personally this is a pretty bad thing for us independent creators. I've seen a lot of excited chatter in my reader Facebook groups about the program, listeners sharing lists of what they're going to listen to.

Oh, that's interesting, because my Audible sales have dropped significantly in the past couple of months. I wondered why, but this sounds like it could be a reason.

 

[marcus sloss]

Kindle Unlimited - money goes into a pot - gets passed to authors based on KENP length.
Audible Credits - money goes into a pot - gets passed to authors based on audiobook length.

Um... The difference is obviously one is unlimited. Audible already functions off a hidden system of getting paid for your content. Caveat - a sold eBook is guaranteed x while a full purchase audio is If they go to unlimited I doubt that changes much. The pot get gets bigger but the amount of audio does not. As for reduced audio sales. Mine are up but I produce long audio books.

 

[David Wisehart]

Audible Plus is a great deal for customers. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and have already listened to several new ones I found last week in Audible Plus. I'm not surprised that it's impacting other audiobooks on sale at Audible, because you don't need to spend your credits or pay additional money for the new service.

 

[KevinH]

Not saying there's a connection, but about a week before Audible Plus was announced, there was an article about Spotify getting into audiobooks:

https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/2020/08/18/spotifys-move-into-audiobooks-is-a-seismic-shift-in-the-publishing-landscape-but-the-ripples-will-take-time-to-be-felt/?fbclid=IwAR2H1KJlW6Ue_VaiNO1Twr-_y439PHPZTfqSSMqp6NTiQLc5h4Tx3q8lw0Y

 

[GeneDoucette]

Has anyone gotten some kind of invite or notification about their books? How would one know if one's books were included?

I have seen my sales numbers go UP in the past few weeks, but I'm also having a new title roll out next week and it appeared in the Blackstone catalog of upcoming titles a few weeks ago, so that could be why. (All of my other audiobooks are ACX.)

eta: actually, I'm thinking every book that's exclusive to Audible is in this program.

 

[Lydniz]

Has anyone gotten some kind of invite or notification about their books? How would one know if one's books were included?

eta: actually, I'm thinking every book that's exclusive to Audible is in this program.

You'd think they'd let you know, because surely there must be some sort of different payscale like with KU?

 

[GeneDoucette]

You'd think they'd let you know, because surely there must be some sort of different payscale like with KU?

I could be wrong. I went in anonymously and searched for books in the plus catalog. It looks like the titles in it are tagged 'FREE WITH PLUS TRIAL'. When I look at my own titles, they say 'FREE WITH 30-DAY TRIAL'.

 

[ShawnaReads]

When I look around, I don't see a whole lot of books included, and a lot of the ones that are come from dead authors. Not even all Audible Originals are included. It'll be interesting to see over time how this affects people's sales. As a listener, I switched to Plus as an alternative to cancelling entirely, since I have one credit and there's an upcoming book I'm waiting for, and last I checked, Audible doesn't let you keep credits you've already paid for if you cancel without using them. All/most of the books in Plus that I've marked to listen to are ones I didn't have enough interest in to listen to otherwise, and I still likely won't get to them. I'm hoping Plus will end up begin something that has more people coming up to it from "never buys audiobooks" than people coming down to it from "buys all their audiobooks". If you get what I mean.

 

[markpauloleksiw]

Here is the problem for authors...once you get into a subscription type service...you will suffer from dilution. What difference is a "novel" from a podcast or a song? In other words, slowly the royalty rates will diminish and given the cost to make an audiobook, it will beg a lot of questions as to what is the point.

Mark

 

[M T McGuire]

Here is the problem for authors...once you get into a subscription type service...you will suffer from dilution. What difference is a "novel" from a podcast or a song? In other words, slowly the royalty rates will diminish and given the cost to make an audiobook, it will beg a lot of questions as to what is the point.

Mark

This is why, if ever Spotify do go into audiobooks and I have to get involved I will upload my books as separate instalments or chapters. 7c a chapter OK, 7c for a 13 hour audiobook? I don't think so.

That said, the fact is, in the next 30 or so years, AI will be able to do something close to what we do in a few minutes. As authors and creatives, our only real hope is finding ways to add value to our product, something that sets our content aside from the robot generated other ...

 

[DmGuay]

When I look around, I don't see a whole lot of books included, and a lot of the ones that are come from dead authors. Not even all Audible Originals are included. It'll be interesting to see over time how this affects people's sales. As a listener, I switched to Plus as an alternative to cancelling entirely, since I have one credit and there's an upcoming book I'm waiting for, and last I checked, Audible doesn't let you keep credits you've already paid for if you cancel without using them. All/most of the books in Plus that I've marked to listen to are ones I didn't have enough interest in to listen to otherwise, and I still likely won't get to them. I'm hoping Plus will end up begin something that has more people coming up to it from "never buys audiobooks" than people coming down to it from "buys all their audiobooks". If you get what I mean.

This is an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing.

 

[KevinH]

It looks like Audible Escape (formerly the Audible Romance Package) is being scrapped - not surprising when one considers that Audible Plus will also include romance. That said, does anyone know if authors participating in Audible Escape are being automatically shifted into the new subscription service?  Or are they being released back into the wild, so to speak?

 

[Lorri Moulton [Lavender Lass Books]]

It looks like Audible Escape (formerly the Audible Romance Package) is being scrapped - not surprising when one considers that Audible Plus will also include romance. That said, does anyone know if authors participating in Audible Escape are being automatically shifted into the new subscription service? Or are they being released back into the wild, so to speak?

(From ACX page)
I opted my book into Audible Escape. Does that mean I'm eligible for Audible Plus?

Audible Plus is a separate offering from Audible Escape. We will contact you if there are any opportunities to include your titles in Audible Plus.

 

[ShawnaReads]

I wonder how many indies (including that their audiobooks are indie) will be included? Any? I'd love to hear if anyone does have their books in Plus. And what kind of payment plan there is. As it stands, I wonder if indies (who use ACX) will actually be in Plus at all, or if it will be a good thing if they are.

Would be really interesting to read a wrap-up of the Romance Package from someone who had their books there, if it ended up being worth it or not.