“I’ve tried publishing an audiobook. But it just didn’t sell.”
I have a lot of authors that tell me this. Yet, I’ve seen books I’ve narrated sell over a hundred copies. What’s the secret? Marketing! To ensure sales, you need to market your audiobook, just like you marketed your print or eBook. Today, I thought I would share some tips and tricks I’ve used (and I’ve seen authors use) to get their audiobooks sold.
When to get your book narrated
Option 1: Have your audiobook published with your other formats.
This can be tricky, because authors are often revising, tweaking, and editing their books right up to the publication date! (Don’t deny it, we all do it.) But if you are one of the few who stops fiddling with your book a few months before publishing, you can hire a narrator early! This way, your audiobook will come out around the same time as your launch date for your other formats.
The Pro: Publishing simultaneously means you can use all those great marketing ideas you created for your print and eBook to promote your audiobook! No extra effort is needed besides adding “audiobook” to the formats available.
The Con: If you ARE an author who makes tweaks right up to the deadline, your narrator will have to re-narrate every time you change your script. Which will, in turn, push the delivery date back. The length of your book can also cause delays. If you’ve got a giant 200,000-word book (Harry Potter 7 is around 298k, to put that into perspective), that’s a minimum of 22 hours of recording (perhaps more, depending on the narrator). Which could reasonably take anywhere from 11 to 30 days to record if there are no setbacks and no one gets sick. These reasons can make you miss your launch for your other formats.
Tip: When you're promoting your book in all formats, you can have an audio clip from the audiobook playing in the background of your social media posts!
Option 2: Publish your audiobook after your other formats.
This is by far the most common way of publishing your audiobook. And it can be a good thing! Oftentimes, a book is published, the marketing launches, and things are going great! But then the hype for the book dies down, and authors struggle with what to post to 're-ignite interest' in their books. Having a new format is a great way to do just that! And having an audiobook produced can be an excellent way to reach other audiences you may have missed with your original formats!
If you go with the second option, you need to create ways to market your new format. Here are the most common ways I’ve found.
Social Media Marketing
Ah, social media, how we love to hate you. But it can be a good way to sell books and audiobooks! For me personally, I get the best traction on Facebook and Instagram for audiobooks. The great thing about those two sites is you can connect your professional Instagram account (I recommend a creative account) to your Facebook author page and post simultaneously to both!
I use CANVA.com to create social media post. You can type in ‘Instagram post,’ and CANVA will format the post for Instagram and give you ideas. Instagram’s post size works on Facebook too, so no need to change sizes. I like making Instagram posts because you can then add the post to your story.
Tip: Make sure to add a ‘click here’ button on your story so your followers listen to the full post.
You can also use that post and pay to have Facebook or Instagram turn it into an ad. The platform will then show that advertisement to your selected demographics. If you have the money, this can be a great way to market your audiobook. Posts can be as simple as a graphic with your cover, the audio sample provided by your narrator, and a link to purchase your book. You can also add a little microphone or waveform so people know there is audio.
Tip: If you are posting these videos on Instagram or Facebook, make sure to include your narrator in an @-mention or as a collaborator.
YouTube and TikTok Marketing
YouTube and TikTok require videos, whereas the other platforms can just be text or images. Having audio makes figuring out what to post a little easier. You could use the method mentioned above with CANVA and post that as a YouTube short. Or the audio sample provided by your narrator with reviews from other formats of your book. Or aesthetic images for your book with the narration behind it.
Another great way to make video content is to ask your narrator if they do any promotional materials. Most of us narrators love to do this (though some require payment for promotional materials in exchange for our time) and most will post on our social media as well, to extend the reach of the post. Here are some ideas for materials involving your narrator.
A book trailer
A 'behind the scenes look" while the narrator is working.
An interview with a character that the narrator voices.
An interview with the narrator about their process or how they found character voices.
A live reading of a part of your book (perhaps a page for picture books or a chapter for longer books).
Speaking of trailers, You can also use Canva to make a book trailer for your audiobook. I’ve recorded trailers that have the main character reading the blurb for a first person novel, and I’ve recorded multicast trailers where I read a line as each character and the trailer creator turned it into almost a movie trailer! If you are not confident in your trailer-making skills you can hire someone on a freelance website such as Fiverr or Upwork to make one for you. Just tell them you already have the audio if you want your narrator involved.
TIP: Until AI is regulated, it is a very real threat for narrators and writers alike. To help protect your audiobook, I recommend adding music behind your sample (it can be soft) and making sure to only upload MP3 (not WAV) files. A narrator may do this for you. Try to keep the sample less than 5 minutes. Hopefully, AI will get regulated soon, so we won’t have to worry about our voices and your story being stolen and cloned without our permission.
Marketing with Libro.fm – support local bookstores.
Libro.fm is probably the most popular alternative to Audible around. They have a fantastic selection, charge around the same price ($14.99 a month, which includes a free credit toward an audiobook), and have an app so you can read on the go. But the best part about Libro.fm? A portion of each audiobook sale goes to an independent bookshop of the purchaser’s choice. Your buyers can contribute to local stores they may frequent! And those extra proceeds don’t come from your pocket. “But don’t worry—that doesn’t affect your earnings. After we pay your audiobook publisher their portion of the sale, we share the remaining profits with our bookshop partners.” - Libro.fm
TIP: If you tag Libro in your social media posts, they’ll repost your videos. They also recommend creating an author playlist to share your favorite audiobooks with your readers, and you can host an audiobook giveaway. Just to sweeten the deal a little more, they also have an affiliate program through Awin!
You can read more about all of that here: https://libro.fm/authors
Goodreads.
Did you know you can add your Audiobook format to your Goodreads posting so reviewers can specifically review your audiobook? Yep. It’s a thing. I won’t go into detail here about Goodreads. Just know there are groups (such as https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/596-audiobooks) you can join that allow you to post audiobook codes in exchange for reviews.
Let people RENT your audiobook.
A lot of people don’t realize that some libraries have partnered with companies such as Hoopla and Overdrive (Libby app) in order to distribute audiobooks to library members. Make sure your distribution company distributes to both of these places and then let your potential listeners know they can use their favorite library app to listen to your book!
Getting Reviews
Believe it or not, there are blogs, podcasts, websites, and social media accounts (including TikTok and YouTube) dedicated to reviewing Audiobooks! You can send the audio version to these reviewers to have an honest review written. Make sure to ask your publisher if they have review codes so you can send those codes to reviewers! If not, you may try somewhere like bookfunnel.
Tip: You can build an ARC team or street team for your audiobook just like you built one for your other formats!
Questions to ask Reviewers.
Where do they post their review? Goodreads? Audible? Their website and social media?
How often do they post reviews on their website?
Do they have a newsletter?
And most importantly, do they cover your genre of audiobook?
Tip: For audible codes, if the listener does not finish the audiobook, they cannot leave a review.
Some places you can take your review codes:
www.audiobookreviewer.com - The site was mentioned to me by fellow narrators. They post to both their website and audible. They require you to give them the audiobook for free (either through gifting or redemption codes). You can pay for an ‘expedited’ review, and they will mention that they received the book for free from either the author or narrator. Do note which genres they do and do not review.
http://audiobookradio.net - A free internet radio station that talks about audiobooks.
www.audiofilemagazine.com - Arguably the industry standard when it comes to audiobook reviews. They are a magazine dedicated to audiobooks. They are responsible for the Audie Awards.
www.audiogals.net – Volunteer reviewers focused on the romance genre.
https://www.freeaudiobookcodes.com - Subscribers can request to receive a free audiobook in return for an honest review. Reviews are available to those who visit the site and on audible. You do have to pay a small fee each time you list a book and its codes. In my experience, some readers never leave a review, and others leave reviews a year after requesting. So, this is a mixed bag.
https://www.narratorsroadmap.com/reviewers-directory/ This is BY FAR my favorite resource for reviewers of audiobooks. You can search by genre to find review blogs and audiobook tours!
https://theaudiobookblog.com - The audiobook blog is run by a member of the blind community, Author Dina. You have to pay for his time and he writes an honest review of your audiobook. I do not know the rates as I’ve never used this particular service.
Boxed Sets for Audiobooks
Bundles are just as attractive to audiobook listeners as they are to physical readers. You will have to create a new audiobook in most cases by combining more than one audiobook into one 'book,' like a compilation. But that’s a matter of uploading and creating the correct title and cover image. If you are working with a production company they may handle that for you.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, I can’t promise that these tips and tricks will get you audiobook sales. A lot more depends on it. Here’s what I can promise: doing even one of these things is better than doing nothing at all, and will increase your odds of getting your audiobook into more ears.
Leave a comment below, and let me know if any of these have worked for you! Or if you have other methods you’d like to share.
And remember, stay creative.