The amount of your remuneration is influenced by several factors - including the length of your audiobook, the type of subscription your listeners have and the sales region. To give you a clear picture, we present the most important informations transparently below so that you can understand exactly how your audiobook revenue is generated.
Which business models can I use to earn money with my audiobook?
There are various ways to generate revenue with an audiobook - from classic direct sales to streaming flat rates to subscription models or library loans. Each model has its own rules, advantages and disadvantages as well as remuneration structures.
Download (direct purchase, e.g. from Audible)
The purchase price of an audiobook serves as the basis for calculating revenue if it is sold at a fixed price in an audiobook store. However, as most listeners use a subscription with one or more providers, comparatively few audiobooks are actually purchased at a fixed price.
Flat subscription (e.g. with Spotify)
You receive a payment from a common pot of revenue. The sum is calculated according to the streams of your audiobook. With Spotify, for example, it is 0.004 euros per stream.
Subscription (e.g. with an Audible subscription)
This model is similar to the flat rate, but either only offers a very limited selection of titles for the monthly fee or only provides a fixed number of audiobooks per month free of charge. Each additional title can be purchased at a reduced price - as with Audible, for example. Your earnings are calculated from the total pot × audiobook price × factor XYZ. The higher the price of your audiobook, the greater your share of the revenue.
Library lending (more specialist and publisher audiobooks)
This model usually plays a subordinate role for small publishers and self-publishers. Sales from the stores are initially recorded as gross revenue. The stores retain their share of this - usually between 50 % and 70 %. The distributors then deduct their share from the remaining amount, the net revenue including VAT. The rest is your final earnings - i.e. the amount that is credited to your FEIYR account.
How do I earn money with Audible?
As the market leader in the audiobook sector, Audible offers two central remuneration models:
1. Revenue share for individual sales
- If you buy your audiobook directly, you usually receive 25-40% of the net sales price
2. Remuneration in the subscription model (Audible Plus/Premium)
- Payment based on the actual listening time
- Billing is per hour listened to
- Important: Only the actual listening time consumed is remunerated - not the total length of the audiobook
With FEIYR, you can place your audiobooks not only on Audible, but also on other audiobook platforms such as Spotify, BookBeat and Thalia.
Strategies & tips for maximizing your audiobook revenue
If you want to increase your revenue, these proven strategies can help you:
1. Platform diversification
- Don't publish your audiobook exclusively on Audible, but use multiple platforms to achieve a wider reach
2. Series production
- Listeners who like one part often buy the whole series
- Multi-part audiobooks promote customer loyalty and increase the lifetime value of your listeners
3. Focus on quality
- Invest in professional narrators and high-quality audio production
- Better ratings increase visibility, trust and sales
4. Metadata optimization
- Optimize the title, description and keywords so that your audiobook is easier to find in search results
5. Marketing and promotion
- Use promo codes and limited-time offers
- Use cross-promotion with other authors or narrators
- Build reach via social media and newsletter marketing
6. Regular publications
- Keep your portfolio up to date by continuously publishing new content
- Algorithms favor active producers and reward them with more visibility
With FEIYR, you have an experienced partner at your side to help you realize the full potential of your audiobooks and successfully earn money with Audible and other platforms in the long term.
Do you have further questions about monetizing your audiobooks? Contact us or create an account today to start distributing your audiobook.
