This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Today's listener has an ear for opportunity in the expanding audio book market. Hey friends, hey listeners, welcome to Side Hustle School, Chris Guillebeau here. I've been an author since I guess about 2008. So however long that is, well that was when my blog came out. My first book came out a year and a half later.
But I have learned a lot about the world of publishing. I'm the kind of author who asks a lot of questions from my literary agent and the various publishers that I've worked with. Some authors just kind of go with the flow and just kind of take things as they come. But I have been asking why questions a lot, like why do we do it this way? How does this work?
And so on. The world of publishing is quite nebulous. And if you want to be an author or you're interested in the world of publishing at all, the only way you can answer is by asking questions. So I like this question we have today, a little bit different. A listener has crafted outlines for some audio books, audio books being the largest category growth in the world of publishing over the past few years, at least more audio books being sold now than ever before.
And in some cases they're on par or exceeding the sales of print books. It really depends on the title, the category and so on. But this listener has crafted outlines for some self-help audio books that he believes will resonate with his audience. So he wants to bypass the traditional third-party route, doesn't want to go with a publisher, he wants to do it himself, I respect that. He's ready to tune into the frequency of direct sales and is seeking the best method to amplify his marketing and distribution signal to his listeners.
What does that mean? Well, he wants to sell his audio books. That's what I mean. So how can we help him do that? What's the best way he can sell them?
And might I have some advice for him? In fact, I do. That advice along with his detailed question coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
Hey Chris, I'm Sean from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Your book "The Art of Nonconformity" got me into the world of thinking differently many years ago.
Here's my question. Recently I've created the outline for several self-help audio books and want to sell them directly to my audience without trying to use a third party. How can I effectively market and distribute these audio books myself? [Music]
Selling audio books can be a big business, as mentioned. The category of books sold, if you think about print, digital, such as Kindle, other eBooks and audio.
Audio has grown the most in recent years. And there's also some high profit margins to it if you are self-publishing, which is what Sean intends to do. Just to give you a comparison for a traditionally published book, like for my books, I will earn two to $3 off of every audio book sale. Whereas if Sean or somebody else is self-publishing, they're gonna earn $10 or more on average for every sale of the audio books. So, and you might say, well, why don't I do that?
Well, traditional publishers these days have gotten smart. They absolutely will not do a book deal, at least at any significant level, that does not include audio rights. So you can't go to a major publisher at least and say, hey, I would love to sell you the print rights, but not the audio rights that really doesn't work so much anymore, it used to work, not so much now. Getting back to Sean, my biggest advice is, yes, sell them on your website, that's great, but I'm not sure why you would want to exclude Audible. You can self-publish your self-help audio books and sell them through Audible and you will reach a lot of people.
So I would definitely not exclude them. I understand you want to do the DIY thing. You will still be doing the DIY thing and you'll make that average of $10 or whatever it is, a significant margin on every sale through Audible. So definitely do that. They're also gonna take care of some of the headaches that you might encounter with the distribution and such.
So yes, you can sell them on your website. There's not a huge reason why not to do that, but there would be a big reason not to sell on Audible. So I wouldn't exclude them at all. And there's some other retailers and platforms as well. So Sean, you're definitely on the right wavelength.
This is a hot market right now. If you have built up a following and want to sell information, audio is a great way to do it. I just would not exclude Audible because there's so many listeners there. And it's just so easy. Everybody has the Audible app.
They can click a button and download your book and it's just a great way to do it. And I say that without them being a sponsor. It's just, you know, as an author, I rely on platforms such as Audible and others. All right, Sean, I hope that is helpful. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
I would love to listen to one of your audio books and listeners. If you have a question or a project you're working on, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We're in the midst of the holidays, of course, but the podcast rolls on, rolls out every single day, seven days a week. But for now, I'm going to sign off. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
