The audiobook version of the Technician Class study guide became available on Audible/Amazon over the weekend. I’m not exactly 100% thrilled by this, though. In fact, I was even thinking of pulling it from Audible.
The biggest reason for this is that Audible does not let you set the price of your own audiobook! Instead, they say, “Each retailer of your Audiobook independently prices your product and determines such price in their sole discretion.” They then give a table listing approximate prices for various lengths. My book is approximately two and a quarter hours long, and the table lists an approximate price of $7 – $10. Buying the book from Audible.Com costs $6.95, while buying it from Amazon.Com costs only $6.08.
This is really amazing to me because when you publish and e-book with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and print versions with CreateSpace, both Amazon companies, you have the complete freedom to set whatever price you want.
In addition, the royalties aren’t as generous as with KDP or CreateSpace. With KDP, if you’re book is priced $9.95 or less, you receive a 70% royalty. CreateSpace isn’t quite so generous, but it’s still pretty good. Audible only gives you a 40% royalty, and you only get that if you agree to let Audible/Amazon be the exclusive distributor.
Since it’s done, I’ll probably just let it ride. I’m seriously considering not doing audio versions of the General Class and Extra Class study guides, though. It’s a lot of work, and if the sales don’t materialize, I’d probably be better off writing a different book. On the flip side, I have already sold three copies without any promotion whatsoever.
What do you think? I’d appreciate any thoughts you might have on this.