In a March 5 post on his website, Brandon Sanderson, the bestselling author known for his epic fantasy novels, reported that he recently met with Audible officials to address concerns with how authors are paid, and said that audiobooks from his Kickstarter campaign could soon be made available on the Amazon-owned platform.
Sanderson has been both a hugely successful traditionally published author as well as a successful entrepreneur through his Dragonsteel Entertainment company. In 2022, Sanderson launched what became the most lucrative Kickstarter campaign ever, raising $41.75 million from 185,341 backers. The money was used to fund the publication of four “secret novels,” which were to be published over the course of 2023 and 2024, including two new entries in his popular Cosmere universe. But Sanderson declined to offer his four secret novels on Audible, citing issues with how the leading audiobook platform pays its authors.
“I hoped this wake-up call would prompt change. I didn’t refuse to put my books on Audible out of retribution or to declare war; I did it because I wanted to shine as powerful a light as I knew how on a system that highly favored the audio distributors over the authors,” Sanderson wrote in his post. “I was convinced that the people at Audible really did love books and writers, and that with the right stand taken, I could encourage them toward positive change.”
Now, he writes, that positive change appears to be in the works.
“A few weeks ago, three key officers high in Audible’s structure flew to Dragonsteel offices and presented for us a new royalty structure they intend to offer to independent writers and smaller publishers,” Sanderson reported. “This new structure doesn’t give everything I’ve wanted, and there is still work to do, but it is encouraging.”
Sanderson said that the Audible team showed him new and improved “minimum royalty rates” for authors; a system that “pays more predictably” and that is “more transparent” for authors; and a plan to pay royalties monthly, instead of quarterly.
"Because of this, I will be bringing the Secret Projects to Audible very soon," he continued. "I consider Audible to again be a positive force for the industry, and I have decided to shake hands with them. Audible has promised to release their new royalty system for all authors sometime in 2024, though I should be testing it in the next month or so."
"Historically, one of the best ways to change things in my industry is for authors like myself to force it to happen," Sanderson added. "This is a victory for all of us, because happier authors able to make a better living (particularly those authors who are struggling in the midlist trenches) make for a more vibrant world for everyone."
