Audiobook Review Challenge

[Rayne]

Hi, I'm a new Indie Author and have recently self published my book called "Unmasking: A Journey". I also narrated (gotta admit, adding the sound effects was super fun!) and published the audiobook (nope, never done this before either).

Now, I'm looking to review other author's audiobooks in exchange for reviewing mine? And then share our reviews on social media?

[Carole]

A lot of people should be interested in how Reyne did this- it's certainly less expensive than hiring an actor or splitting the proceeds with them.

Personally, I love the monthly checks from Audiobooks- they rival our other outlets. I wish I had a sexier voice.

[Rayne]

Super cool Carole!

One thing I found was that if you're not an American or a British citizen you can't directly deal with Audible.com. Which is a bummer.

Instead I went through Authors Republic. What I learned when I did this was that even though I set the price of the audiobook (in line with the pricing of similar audiobooks in the same genre) - Authors Republic told me later that the retailer decides the price they want to place on it.

So.

After six months (which is about how long it took for the audiobook to be distributed to the major retailers - I think, about 9 major retailers), I decided to take my audiobook off of Audible.com.

The royalties I was receiving were nominal and I couldn't get more information from Authors Republic on what the retailers were actually selling my book for.

Instead I'm using an ecommerce shop on my website and selling directly to the reader/listener. This allows me to offer "coupon" deals to people, so - for free, 50% off, whatever I'd like. It puts more responsibility on me to market it, but I also receive better returns this way.