BookBub is going beyond marketing and promotion with its latest service, which actually sells audiobooks through a new site and mobile app
Indie authors who produce audiobook editions of their titles have told us they run into headwinds when trying to sell them. While quality of production—and expense—are key issues for indie authors in producing good audio (see our item from last year), writers also mention the need for alternative, targeted marketing approaches. The techniques used for ebooks and print don’t work as well for audio.
Just arrived to fill that marketing need: a new audiobook platform from BookBub. Called Chirp, the opportunity is available to both authors and publishers and is similar to the featured deal offerings that BookBub is known for—deep special discounts available for a limited time, with BookBub’s in-house editors making decisions about what gets promoted.
However, there is one key difference: consumers can purchase the discounted audiobooks directly from Chirp. And in a departure from the usual audiobook-retail initiatives, there’s no subscription. Consumers buy only what they want. (Whether authors/publishers offer the discount at other retailers is up to them; authors exclusive to Audible will not be able to participate.)
Currently on the new site, we see deep discounts, and some of them on big authors’ titles. Karin Slaughter’s Snatched, for example, is 99 cents instead of its usual $4.95, and Brunonia Barry’s The Fifth Petal’s price is $4.99, instead of $27.50. The soft launch has about 75 titles from indie authors (such as Julia Kent and Rachel Amphlett) and four publishers: Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Blackstone, and Penguin Random House.
If you’re interested in participating as an author, BookBub’s partner relations chief Katie Donelan says, “We’re currently only working with a very small number of partners, so the best thing for indies to do right now is sign up for our partner waitlist here. We’ll be scaling up the number of partners we’re working with over the coming months.”
Donelan tells us the waitlist is also a research tool. “One of the main reasons we set up the Chirp waitlist was to learn more about our partners’ current audiobook strategies so we can figure out how to work with as many partners as possible in the future. As such, I’d encourage all interested authors to sign up for the waitlist regardless of their audiobook distribution situation. The information they share in the waitlist signup form will help us learn about the market and figure out our future plans—and ensure they get updates about Chirp as it develops.”
Bottom line: This could be a boon to audiobook marketing for indie authors as well as for publishers. And notice the Romance section at Chirp’s site—unlike digital subscription programs, BookBub is unlikely to be wrecked by heavy engagement from romance readers, since they must pay per title rather than getting all they can consume for one price. The depth of the discounts may not hold as the service ramps up, of course. But at this early stage, the prices are tempting. Only on Chirp will the company sell direct-to-consumer—BookBub will not be selling ebooks or print directly—so a little branding distance smartly avoids confusion.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
