#Audiblegate: How Audible-ACX Returns Policy Penalizes Authors - Writer Beware

As Panzer entered the Catosphere today the Panzermobile was suddenly violently shaken about by the crying and gnashing of teeth outside. Following all the chaos, took our brave kitty boy to the Writer Beware site. There he found a post about Audible's ebook return policy. Panzer told you about this situation in a post last week.

 

According to the post by Victoria Strauss, Audible has been using an audio books return policy without alerting authors to it. While some authors suspected their audio book sales didn't make sense, it wasn't until a computer glitch a couple of months ago brought Audible's return program to light. Audible members can listen to an audio book (either partially or totally) and then return it and exchange it for another audio book for no extra charge. The author, meanwhile, loses the royalty for the sale because it was returned. In Audible-ACX's Premium Plus program this is actively promoted as a benefit of the program. Since learning about the returns policy, some authors have gone so far as to get Audible memberships to test the program. They did this to see if there is any number of returns at which point a member will lose this return benefit. The answer: No. And it's not just the authors' losing out on the royalties. Narrators who didn't get paid up front, are losing on the returns to. There are several links to other sites, YouTube and Twitter for more information by authors about this return policy.

 

It really stinks over there.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Author sites? ... YouTube? ... Twitter? ... That is one big steaming pile of you-know-what Audible stepped in."

 

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring a thermos of tea and twelve muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow all the links in the post, bring another thermos of tea, a thermos of hot cocoa, another twelve muffins, ten chocolate chip cookies (biscuits), and six brownies. Oh, you will also want to bring your sleeping bag for a nap in the middle of all your reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to #Audiblegate

To read Panzer previous post about #Audiblegate (although, if you follow all the links in the Writer Beware post you don't need to) tootle over to Audible exchange policy