Audiobook is the fastest-growing book format. More than half of adults have listened to rather than read at least one book. Audiobooks are no longer niche. Commuters, busy parents, and gym-goers, are backing the rise and with good reason.
Originally, audiobooks opened a new way of reading for the visually impaired, but now average readers are downloading more than ever. The way people consume books is changing, but for most first time authors, the book world has not caught up.
Traditional publishing houses close the door to more than 99% of aspiring authors. The few authors who do manage to make it through, rarely get the book deal they hoped for. Audiobooks and foreign-language editions are still reserved for big name authors with proven sales records. Everyone else gets one format, in one language, and are told to be grateful.
While there were real reasons that audiobooks remained rare to average authors, technology has largely changed the limitations. Audiobooks used to require professional studio time, a hired narrator, and depending on the length of the book anywhere from forty hours or more of recording and then editing. Book translation had its hurdles too. It meant finding a translator and trusting them to mirror your voice in a language you don’t speak and couldn’t easily check yourself.
The cost for either was often more than most books would ever earn, so publishers rarely created either one. The format gap wasn’t about the talent of new authors, it was purely a numbers game, and the price tag didn’t support the risk. The math has changed and alongside it the market has too. The old way rationed audiobook and language translation to a lucky few.
The modern way puts both within reach of any author with a finished manuscript when publishing with Spines.
One manuscript becomes an ebook, a paperback, and an audiobook. You choose the narration voice, even your own! For fiction, different characters can even speak in different voices. Your book will be professionally translated to travel to international readers. Human editors review and revise each translation so your meaning and tone remain. And you keep your full rights across each edition.
Your Publishing Journey Awaits – Start Now
Hundreds of authors have shared their experience, rating Spines 4.7 stars on Google and 4.6 on Trustpilot. Most are first-time authors, now reaching listeners and readers they were once told they never could.
You don’t need permission to exist in the formats your readers are already using. Your finished published book can become more than you imagined on one platform for one price. Take a closer look at Spines to see if your story was meant to travel.
