Spotify Audiobooks Launches a New Publishing Program for Independent Authors

Spotify continues to work daily to lift up new voices, providing creators with opportunities to live off their art. Through Spotify Audiobooks, its in-house publishing imprint, the platform has partnered with various publishers and authors to license and produce hundreds of titles.

Starting today, Spotify Audiobooks is launching a new website encouraging independent authors to submit short-form stories for audiobook creation and publishing consideration.

“Spotify Audiobooks is thrilled to be opening submissions for short-form content written by independent authors who are as passionate about audiobooks as we are,” said Leah Kleynhans, Spotify Audiobooks Producer. “We know Spotify users will love exploring these intense, bite-sized listens, and expanding our audiobooks catalog in this way gives fans even more choice in the content they love to consume on our platform.”

This is a global program, open to any author with an English-language short-form story who controls their own audio rights for that work.

If Spotify chooses to move forward with an author’s submission, Spotify will publish the audiobook, handling all aspects of production, distribution to major audiobook retailers, and payment of an advance and royalties.

How to Submit a Short-Form Story to Spotify Audiobooks:

  • Visit the short-form audiobooks site, which includes frequently asked questions and a link to the submission page.
  • Ensure the story is a novelette of approximately 10,000-20,000 words.
  • Focus on one of three genres: romance, mystery/thriller, or sci-fi/fantasy.
  • Cross-genre works such as romantasy, dark romance thriller, mystery sci-fi, or psychological thriller are encouraged.
  • Do not submit erotica or children’s content.
  • Submissions will be chosen on a rolling basis.

Spotify remains committed to lowering the barrier to entry so that more authors than ever can have their books heard. As part of this initiative, Spotify is also encouraging independent authors who prefer self-publication to upload existing short-form audiobooks via Findaway Voices. With Spotify Audiobooks, authors have the opportunity to have their books produced and distributed through Spotify, while Findaway Voices offers a path for existing content to reach new fans.