10 Best Audiobook Services and Publishing Companies

Audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing. With one in five people in the U.S. listening to audio content, it’s time to think about tapping into this space. As an authorpreneur, you want to reach a wider audience by distributing in different book formats.

Plus, the soaring demand for audiobooks and other formats is unprecedented. By the end of 2022, some indies made up to 200% more book sales on the online self-publishing platform PublishDrive. The most successful authors and publishers sell not just print-on-demand and ebooks, but audiobooks as well.

With your completed manuscript, it’s rather simple to prepare an audiobook for publishing. When you have your audio and related files handy, it’s important to distribute them in the most promising stores. With so many channels out there, from subscription to library platforms, things can feel overwhelming.

To help, we put together a list of the best audiobook publishers to consider whenever you are ready to publish an audiobook.

We go over the following audiobook publishing companies and platforms:

• Audible
• Kobo
• OverDrive
• Gardners
• Audiobooks.com
• Scribd
• Google Play
• Findaway Voices
• Spotify
• PublishDrive
• Marketing tips (bonus) 

What Are the Best Audiobook Services?

1. Audible 

Amazon’s Audible is the largest audiobook publisher and store, providing over 200,000 titles of audio content to listeners all over the world. They also have a subscription model, where listeners can enroll in a 30-day free trial. After subscribing, they enjoy one free audiobook per month and 70% off every additional title.

To sell on Audible, you must go through Amazon’s Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). The platform can produce and distribute your title to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.

To get your audiobook produced by ACX, you pay an agreed-upon rate for each finished hour of your title. You can also publish under the royalty share model without an upfront cost to you. But you’ll have to split royalties for a specified length of time, typically a seven-year contract. Read more on audio production with ACX here.

Royalties you earn:

If you sell exclusively with ACX, know that there’s a seven-year contract mentioned above. You’ll also miss out on other global channels, niche markets, and more. If you sell non-exclusively with ACX and choose to publish wide, you get lower royalty rates through ACX, but full control of where and how you want to sell with other vendors.

2. Kobo

Kobo audiobook publishing and distribution lands you in Kobo.com, Walmart, Indigo (Canada’s #1 bookstore), and Bol (an e-commerce shop in the U.K.) With Kobo, you’re not required to be exclusive to its network. There are no fees to publish with Kobo either.

Royalties you earn:

And, Kobo’s service is growing rapidly. In fact, Kobo’s sales jumped by 60% in 2021 and continued to grow in 2022.

3. OverDrive

OverDrive distributes to over 30,000 libraries worldwide, including places like the New York Public Library, London Libraries Consortium, and more. 

Along with Kobo, OverDrive saw a lot of growth in 2022 – hitting almost 200% more in sales. Digital libraries exploded in growth as more people sought online entertainment like audiobooks. Don’t miss out on library distribution!

Royalties you earn:

4. Gardners

Gardners is another audiobook publishing platform where you should consider publishing your audio books. The leading international wholesaler distributes not only digital books, but music, film, and more. The hub consists of nine stores focused primarily on the U.K., Sweden, Poland, and Denmark. 

Royalties you earn:

5. Audiobooks.com

Audiobooks.com is right behind Audible among the top audiobook subscription services in the U.S. Along with an extensive library, listeners have access to a podcast section that features more than 70,000 podcasts. Subscribers get a free title to start, and one free title curated from the VIP section every month.

To distribute to Audiobooks.com, authors need to contact them directly (and discuss royalty rates).

6. Scribd

With over 1 million active users, Scribd is a leading subscription book service. After 30 days of free access, subscribers get unlimited access to digital content for $9.99 a month. The platform offers an additional rotating library of free audio content of around 5,000 titles.

Scribd achieved 10-20% more revenue every month in the last couple of years. The demand for digital content has gone up and is staying up as book lovers continue to prioritize online modes like monthly subscription services.

Currently, it’s not possible to distribute directly to Scribd. Instead, you’d have to go through a third-party audiobook distributor like PublishDrive. PublishDrive makes connecting with different audiobook companies an easy and simple process.

Royalties you earn:

7. Google Play

Google Play is a gigantic digital store, reaching over 40 countries. All Android-based devices come pre-installed with the Google Play app. That’s a reach of more than 3 billion potential listeners. 

Royalties you earn:

Use an aggregator or distributor like PublishDrive to facilitate the audiobook publishing process at Google Play. When you publish on Google through PublishDrive, it takes only a handful of steps to go live:

8. Findaway Voices

With Findaway Voices, sell your title in more than 35 stores, reaching more than 170 countries. Its impressive network includes libraries like OverDrive, subscription services like Scribd, major players like Google, retailers like Barnes & Noble, and even music providers like Deezer.

Audiobook publishers like Findaway Voices champions an open market. You choose where to sell and how much to price your title (with the exception of Audible, which sets their own pricing). 

Royalties you earn:

Like Audible, Findaway Voices has a royalty share or pay-per-finished-hour option. You either take care of your audio files separately or get matched with a narrator. Learn more about one of the best audio production companies: Findaway Voices.

9. Spotify

Spotify selling audiobooks is great news for all the indies wanting to reach a wider audience.

PublishDrive’s partnership with Findaway Voices provides indies the possibility to sell audiobooks on Spotify – the world’s largest audio streaming platform, with more than 433 million monthly listeners who can enjoy music, podcasts, and audiobooks. The platform has free and subscription-based models, but the audiobooks need to be purchased as stand-alone products. 

So, if you self-publish your audiobook with PublishDrive, all you need to do is enable the Findaway store and your book will be distributed to Spotify.

Royalties you earn:

For PublishDrive indies on a subscription plan, we offer 40% of the net sale price earned with Spotify. 

10. PublishDrive

PublishDrive is a self-publishing platform that reaches more than 400 stores and 240,000 libraries. With audiobook publishing and distribution, authors reach all major channels mentioned on this page and more. Check out the entire list of PublishDrive’s audiobook store partners here.

Royalties you earn:

It’s quite straightforward to publish an audiobook on PublishDrive:

Other perks of publishing through PublishDrive include: smart tools that help with metadata optimization, automatic sales reporting, and exclusive promotions with numerous stores.

Marketing Tips to Boost Audiobook Sales

Speaking of promotions, there’s more work to do after your audiobook goes live. It takes a solid marketing plan to sell your book. PublishDrive has helped many of our indies make 10x more book sales with online promotions on retail stores like Amazon. Are you using these book marketing tactics below?

Maintain author branding: You want an online presence where book lovers can find and follow you. Create a website for free on WordPress. Set up author pages on Amazon, Google, and Goodreads. Run at least a couple of author social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter. Regularly share news about your book or personal life to build and keep relationships.

Collect audiobook reviews: Make this a top priority. In today’s e-commerce landscape, people buy after vetting the product via strong reviews. Search online and put together a list of audiobook bloggers in your genre. Ask other authors you know to swap reviews. Post in online forums. 

Feature in stores and newsletters: There are lots of free and paid promotions out there. See where you can advertise your book for free here. Make sure to ask the stores you decide to sell in about featuring opportunities. At PublishDrive, we regularly get indies to feature in promotional opportunities at Kobo, Scribd, and many more.

Now you know where to publish audiobooks. What’s next?

Choose The Best Audiobook Service: PublishDrive

PublishDrive is the only self-publishing platform you need to sell and promote audio, print, and ebook formats globally – in thousands of stores. Plus, our unique flat-fee model helps you retain the maximum royalties from each store.

By syncing your title(s) and stores on one dashboard, you can save time managing your author business every month. Ready to streamline your indie gig and increase your royalties?

Join The Club!