Questions: Audible Audiobook “Sales” vs. Income & Kindle Unlimited KENP Royalties
I went with Audible/ACX exclusively for my $20 Audiobook. I narrated it myself and don’t split income with anyone. I’ve “sold” 92 copies of my audiobook since publishing on Feb. 11th. Most of those were “purchased” through their Audible subscription, with 1 credit. I don’t know my income from June or July yet. From February thru May, I sold 47 audiobooks. The cost of my audiobook is roughly $20. I went with exclusive rights, so I should be getting 40%. For those 47 copies (roughly worth $940), I made $130.83! (40% would be $376.)
I sold 15 audiobooks in June and 30 so far in July, but I won’t know the commission on those months until later. Regardless, at this point it feels like the "Costco chicken deal,” and a loss leader. I can only pray someone listens to the audiobook and recommends it to someone who will buy the print or eBook version.
I kept hearing people say you make the most in Audiobook sales, but I’m averaging $2 a book for a $20 book (at the “40% exclusive to Audible.”) I cringe when someone chooses the audiobook over the other options.
I also reached out to ACX (Audible) through phone and email several times, to get an explanation and to see if something is wrong. They are vague, never really give me any concrete answers, etc. I’ve had purchases of my audiobook at full price, too. But it seems I never receive the 40%, regardless. I find their customer service is lacking, to say the least.
Can someone explain this to me? Is this typical?
It’s the same for enrolling in the KENP (Kindle Unlimited Program.) That’s another loss leader, in my opinion. For instance, my eBook is 207 pages long. My eBook is $10. For this month, I’ve had a total of 4,420 pages of my book read. That’s over 21 people reading the entire book. So a retail price of $210. But for 4,420 pages, I have only made a total of $19. (The retail price of one paperback.)
Again, is this right?
I’ve had my best month this month, since publishing in February, due to an ad my son made me that I’ve been running on Facebook. (He makes ads for a living.) My book is a rebrand of a book published in 2017, so I’ve had to rely mainly on purchases from strangers.
So far from July 1st-22nd (month 5), I have 85 orders on Amazon, 30 audiobook orders on Audible, and I’ve had 4,420 pages of my eBook read on their Kindle Unlimited Plan—with 9 days left of the month. I’m interested to see how that pans out with my audiobook royalties. But their royalties seem to be a mystery until I get a bank deposit.
I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with the KENP Kindle Unlimited program or Audible/ACX royalties. Is this the norm? It seems wrong, to say the least.
@Thomas Umstattd Jr., Any insight?
Blessings,