So I originally put all of this into my weekly newsletter (which is the best place to find out what is going on with me, so you should subscribe.)
But then I didn’t want my newsletter to be a giant bummer, because I try to keep things lighter and fun there, so I decided to be a bummer on my blog. YOU’RE WELCOME.
I have had two audiobooks release in the past six months, one for Tin God, and one for Blood Mosaic, and First Light is coming very soon.
And by far, the most common question I’m getting these days in messages, emails, etc is: When will your new audiobooks be coming to retailers? Tin God is available at retailers, but Blood Mosaic is still only available direct.
This answer to this one is complicated, and I hate dumping all the inside-author nonsense on you guys, because you just want to buy books, right? UGH. I hate doing it. But it’s a complicated answer, and I want to be transparent.
The deal with audiobook retailers right now is that most of the deals for indie authors are trash. Just straight up trash. We produce these books for thousands of dollars. First Light and Blood Mosaic were my two most expensive audiobook productions ever, and I don’t mind doing it, because I want to have the format available for you audio fans, but it’s also a TON of upfront investment. Way more than ebooks, because I won’t do AI narration.
And yet, audiobook retailers—from Audible to Apple Books to Spotify to Hoopla to ALL OF THEM basically—pay us peanuts. I mean, Audible pays me less than $4 for each sale and THAT’S the good one. Yeah. That’s a GOOD royalty for an audiobook that you guys pay $15 and up for. Subscription services pay us pennies. Libraries? sigh (But at least it’s a library and I love them.) Spotify is… bad. So bad.
I love that you all have so many listening options out there, but the way the market is going, they are creating an environment that the only people who are going to be able to make money from audiobooks are giant companies who control the market. Which just sucks.
So let’s look at some real numbers so you guys know what I’m dealing with. I have never done this before, and it feels a little like I’m walking around naked, but again, I want to be transparent.
Audiobook production costs for Blood Mosaic: $4428.00
Units sold direct: 65
Current profit from audiobook: $1174.84
Sales needed to break even: $3253.16
Miniumum units to break even DIRECT SALES: 163
Minimum units to break even RETAIL SALES: 814
So yeah. Those are the real numbers. In order to JUST BREAK EVEN, I need to sell 163 more units in my direct store where I keep 95% of the profits.
With retail sales, I will have to sell 814 copies of Blood Mosaic IN THE BEST CASE SCENARIO. Most retail “sales” will not pay me $4/copy. Most of them will be borrows, which give me pennies. And if the book is pirated, cut into that even more.
So what are MY options? Well, I could sign away all my rights and have no ultimate control over my audiobooks. And I have done that! Some of the projects have been great. And some have been… not as great. I’ll leave it at that.
Or I can stick with direct sales from my store ElizabethHunterShop.com and I realize that that costs more than borrowing from the library. I know it’s a sacrifice for you guys. I fully realize that some readers/listeners will not be willing to pay that, and I accept that. BUT until I can decide what I’m going to do and how I’m going to distribute in this market, I’m going to be releasing just in my store for now.
I’m trying to figure out a release strategy that allows me to pay for these productions and still be affordable for you all, but the release of Tin God last year was… not good. So I have to regroup.
For NOW? Buying from my store is the best and only way to listen until I figure out what distribution options I can live with. And if you’ve read this far, you deserve to get in on the early release!
Right now, First Light, narrated by Audie-nominated narrator, Ava Lucas is on special for $14.99 in my direct store!
That’s slightly over a dollar an hour for 14 hours of professionally performed audio. (Or two and a half iced lattes at Starbucks, if you calculate it that way.)
I really hope that when you think about it those terms, $14.99-$19.99 seems like a reasonable price for an audiobook.
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