As promised, ACX/Audible has started showing audiobook returns for authors who use ACX as a distributor. But rather than offering reassurance, the information has shown how the Audible returns and exchange policy—which extends to a full year and allows for consumption of an entire title—can be problematic.
Indie novelist Lindsay Buroker, who has a series available on Audible, tweeted, “It’s good that they’re not hiding it anymore, but it shows what BS their policy is. I can see people trying and not liking a Book 1, but having a bunch of returns on Book 6 suggests people are gaming the system. By Book 6, you know what you’re getting. Book 6 has great reviews and is lovely, if I do say so myself. People are just serial-returning their way through the series.” Assuming such practices are widespread, it points to Audible allowing itself to be used as an unlimited subscription service. For more background on this issue, see our coverage from February.
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.
