Bestseller Brandon Sanderson says Audible treats authors ‘poorly’

One of the best-selling fantasy and sci-fi authors of recent times, Brandon Sanderson, has moved some of his latest books from Audible, Amazon’s audiobook platform, claiming the platform treats authors “very poorly.”

The Oathbringer author claims Audible controls 90% of the US audiobook market but pays book authors only 25% to 40% royalties, which is far below digital industry standards of 70% for games, apps, etc. Even bookstores pay 50% royalties—higher than Audible.

Sanderson is the first best-selling author to publicly call out Audible’s practices. Publishers, like Penguin Random House, say audiobooks benefit the platforms selling them and not the authors.

Sanderson recently moved a few of his audiobooks to Speechify and Spotify platforms. He made headlines last year for raising $42 million through Kickstarter to self-publish four novels he wrote during the pandemic.

Audible maintains that it’s committed to investing in authors and has open communication with everyone, including Sanderson.