The Audio Book Opportunity

This week let's discuss audio books, which has become a $1 billion industry as of 2018. Last year when I attended the Great Valley Bookfest, I noticed readers kept asking me, "Do you have audio books?" The answer was no, but it made me think about it. Then the other day I got asked if we wanted to convert one of our best-selling books to an audio book - for a price, of course. That book didn't lend itself to conversion anyway. The question did pique my curiosity. I did a little research...

 

The audio book market is rapidly increasing. According to the Audio Publishers Association, sales for audio books were $940 million in 2018. The market had increased by 24.5% over sales in 2017, which is a large increase. Projected growth indicates that sales figures will top $1 billion in 2019. This lucrative marketplace does offer opportunities.

 

For indie authors, what are some of the considerations when answering the question, "Should I do an audio book?" I'm going to discuss this question and illuminate some of the things to consider when it comes to answering that question for your own book.

 

How do print or eBook sales look on your book? A book that is not selling well in print isn't likely to do any better in the audio format. Focus first on the print and eBook sales before considering going audio. Your priority should be on getting name recognition for the book by promoting the current formats. Name recognition aka brand will make other formats easier to sell.

 

Audio book listeners are always looking for new titles, so that marketplace can be leveraged for additional sales above and beyond print and eBook. What am I saying? A gap exists between readers and listeners that audio can fill. For example, a prospective listener goes to a book festival not to find regular books, but to specifically purchase audio books. That segment of the market is very specific, and can only be filled by audio books. Those listeners aren't going to buy your book in the print or eBook formats. So, those listeners offer a sales segment you can capture as additional opportunity.

 

Audio books have additional costs to make them, so you need to know that it's worth it. Doing an audio book without a sales track record on the book itself is akin to wasting money. Now if you want to do it as a vanity project just to have it available, that's your decision and your money. The additional costs include paying for voice talent (it's not easy to record narrative); hiring the technical team to put the recording onto a downloadable format you can sell; and then finding distribution for that format. 

 

 

Michelle Gamble is the executive editor at 3L Publishing and PR, which specializes in new and emerging authors. For information, visit www.3LPublishing.com or call 916-300-8012.