An important announcement for Audible.com customers who enjoy Michael's story and Tim's narration

 Hey all, Robin here. I have a very important announcement for you regarding Michael's stories, Tim Gerard Reynolds, and consuming titles on the Audible platform.

This is going to be a bit long winded, so I'll do a TL:DR version: If you enjoy Michael's stories, and you like Tim's narration, and if you use Audible.com - you may want to take immediate action. Go to your Audible library and make sure that every single title is currently in it.  If not, either buy credits, use credits, or purchase any missing titles for cash before the end of the year. If you do - they should be yours to listen to whenever you want. If not, you may loose access to them for a long, long time.

I should note that the above statement ONLY applies to the Tim Gerard Reynolds versions. It is not an issue for Graphic Audio full cast recordings (at least I don't think so).

Alright, now for the long version.

Let's start by letting you know that Michael's stories are currently available on Audible.com from one of three ways:

• Distributed by Recorded Books (contracts directly with them and contracts that are sub-licensed through Orbit)
• Distributed by Audible Studios (contracts like Recorded Books - with advances and royalties)
• Distributed by ACX (the self-publishing arm for audiobooks - no advance but higher royalties)

Audible Membership Plans

Some people may not be aware, but there are several different ways books are distributed on Audible.

• Premium Plus Membership - is probably the one that 90% of the people have and what everyone is most familiar with. The "Premium" part is the ability to purchase titles for a credit. And the "Plus" part is the ability to listen to titles in the Plus Catalog (an all-you-can-listen library) for "free." The most common Premium Plus plan is 1 credit a month for about $14.95 - although there are other plans such as 1 credit every other month, 2 credits a month, 12 credits a year, and 24 credits a year - and each of them have a slightly different "price" for a credit. There may be other plans, but the ones I listed are what I remember off the top of my head. Under this form of membership, books you "purchase" with a credit are yours forever - even if you leave Audible's platform. The "plus titles" as you might expect would disappear in that case.  They also would "disappear" if the title is removed from the catalog - more on that later on. Another thing to note about this plan, if you forget (or choose not to) purchase a credit each month it will "roll over" and you'll have two credits for future spending.  At some point, these credits will expire - but it's a long time - I think after one year or something like that. One last thing about plus titles. Initially, they came into existence when Audible offered a "buy-out" with an author. In this kind of arrangement, there is a big one-time payment but no royalties. So whether a book is listened to  by 1 person or a million - the payment to the author doesn't change.
  
  
• Plus Membership - was added a few years ago, and it's about 1/2 the price of the Premium plan - it allows you to listen to as much of the Plus Catalog as you want for that one low price - but you get no credits to purchase "premium titles" with. All that said, you can always buy books for "cash."  But since the cash price is generally MUCH more expensive than the price of a credit, most people don't buy titles for cash.
  
  
• Standard Membership - this was introduced even more recently - and it switches people from an "ownership" plan to a rental plan.  I think its cost is $8.99 a month, and you get one credit to buy (either from plus or premium titles - don't quote me on that). These titles are NOT owned by you - you have access as long as you continue the membership and if you leave Audible you lose access to all the books. I think you can pause your account for a short period of time, but it's important to know that if you "forget" to pick up your one title that month - it DOES not roll over you just miss out.

Okay that sounds complicated, but there is more things coming - so bear with me.

New Royalty Plan

Some time ago - maybe a year or two - time flies by so fast - Audible decided on a new royalty plan, which had several provisions:

• ACX authors (and some Audible Studio authors) could CHOOSE to enroll their titles into the Plus catalog - books in it are paid "less" but they get more exposure because they don't require someone spending a credit to get access to them.  In general, I give this a big thumbs up - more options for authors is a good thing, so I applaud this. As part of this change, these "Plus titles" would now receive a royalty - a model I like more than the get-paid-once-no-matter-how-popular approach that was the "old" compensation model. So again, kudos to Audible for that.
  
  
• Royalty rates would increase.  Under the ACX system authors have been receiving a 40% royalty if they are exclusive to Audible and a 25% royalty if they are "widely distributed" meaning their books can be sold elsewhere - like directly from the author, at Spotify, through libraries (via Libby), through indie bookstores via LibroFM or through a whole bunch of other "distribution" channels such as audiobooks.com, DownPour, and others. Under the new plan those rates go up to 50% for exclusive and 30% for "widely distributed" titles.  Okay - so an improvement - it's still MUCH below standard rates for digital content which is generally 65% - 70% - but it is 5% - 10% more - so I'm in favor. Audible Studios contracts also had an increase for the new royalty model.  They have always been exclusive - so there are not two choices for them. I can't really say how much of an increase this % rate is because different authors get a bigger or smaller increased based on how many books they sell. 
  
  
• Another change (at least I think this is a change) is that authors would get royalty statements monthly rather than quarterly - again something I applaud because seeing the effects of "sales" or other promotions is so much better when you get the data quicker to when the sale occurred.
  
  
• Lastly it let's authors have "some control" over pricing of their books (which we have not had whenever published through ACX or Audible Studios). Yes, there are limitations - basically there will be a "price band" based on title length, but authors will be able to price on the "low" end or "high" end.  Again, more options for authors so I approve.

The Downside

All that sounds great, and it is. But there is one last detail that makes all the difference in the world. And that is the "method by which royalties are calculated" will change.

The difference between the two models is vast, and if I explain all the details I'll  lose people. So, I'm going to try a  KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach. I'll provide only the highlights - so this is a "big picture" explanation.

• Legacy model - when you purchase with a credit - 100% of the value of that credit goes to the author whose title you picked.  Now, that "value" calculation is quite complicated (because some credits are free, and other credits are bought during special discounts, and some credits are at one price and some at another - also some credits are "banked" (not used).  What this means is that the "value of the credit" changes from month to month. But at the end of the day the final payout is based on retail price. So in a given month if two authors have the same "member price" then they receive exactly the same amount.  But titles that are twice as expensive recieves double the amount and titles that are 1/2 the price of the baseline receive 50% of the value of the credit. Still a bit complicated - but easy enough to deal with assuming the "value of the credit" is calculated properly.

• New Royalty model - the "meat of the matter" are the "plus titles," which are indeed "free" for the listener, but as we will see in a moment, there is a price - and it's the authors who pay it. Under the new model, Audible takes into account "listener behavior." so the only time the author gets 100% of the value of the credit is if the audible listener DOES NOT listen to ANY titles in the Plus catalog.  If they listen to a plus title for a small amount of time (varies on length), the title is considered a "qualified purchase" and as such, that title will "take" a portion of the value of the credit. Let's demonstrate with an example. Let say the listener purchased book (a) with a credit - and it's list price is $30 and then they listened to a few minutes of 3 books in the premium catalog such that the books became "qualified purchases." Let's also say the prices of those other 3 books are:  $45 for (b), $15 for (c) and $30 for (d).  Under the new royalty model the author of the "credit" purchase (a) would receive 25% of the credit value - and so would the author of the plus title (d).  For plus title (b) they would get 37.5%, and for plus title (c) they would get 12.5%.  So a "plus title" can actually earn more than the "title purchased with the credit." Even though from the listener's perspective that was "free" content and they probably assumed the author whose book they spent money on (in the form of the credit) would be getting the full support of that purchase."

Audible thinks this is the fairest way to provide the plus titles royalties. Personally, I think Premium titles should have premium payouts. I also think this model is a HUGE incentive for authors to put their books in the Plus library, as they can advertise it as "free" and yet still get paid for it in the same way as premium titles.

Isn't this what Kindle Unlimited does?

No not at all. The two systems are vastly different. 

•  Amazon DOES NOT take money from books that have opted out of Kindle Unlimited to pay for books that are enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. In other words I can opt out of Kindle Unlimited and I'm 100% unaffected by those authors who CHOOSE to use it. But in the Audible system, even if I DO NOT enroll my titles in Plus, my payout is being effected by others who HAVE put their titles in the plus catalog.
  
  
•  Kindle unlimited titles are paid based on pages read.  So if someone reads 20 pages and then abandons the book, the author only earns a small amount of money. But in the Audible situation, an "abandoned book" gets paid as if the entire book was consumed.
  
  
• To pay for Kindle Unlimited books - Amazon uses Kindle Unlimited subscriptions. They keep the two transactions separate. Audible said there aren't enough Plus memberships to adequately compensate the plus titles - my response to this is I'd be willing to lower my royalty rate back to the original amounts and Audible could add those funds to the plus pool.  Or another alternative would be to look at the number of premium titles bought and the number of plus titles that are "qualified" and split the money down those percentages. If that were done, I would get 100% of the credit, so no "splitting of the credit." And the plus titles could be paid based off of minutes listened to. That would align with Kindle Unlimited.

What I object to . . .

Okay, to say I had a problem with this "robbing Peter" (authors who have their books in the Premium catalog) to "pay Paul" (authors in the plus program) was an understatement. There are several reasons for this:

• First I don't think the the 5% - 10% royalty increase will offset the "credit dissolution" aspect of the new plan.
  
  
• Second, I don't think this is the way that most listeners would like authors to be compensated.  I think they expect that 100% of their credit goes to the author of the title they picked.  I don't think they "consider" the plus titles at all - and if they do - they think of them as "free" - because that's what Audible messages.  
  
  
• Third - I have no interest in taking money from my fellow authors. I want to earn my money by people buying my books - I don't want to earn by "leeching off" another author by takin money I see as belonging to them. 
  
  
• And as mentioned above, but it bears repeating: I don't like the fact that even if I "opt out" of the Plus catalog, I'm not insulated by those that opt in. 

To say I was shocked and dismayed when I learned about the new model, is a gross understatement. I begged and pleaded with Audible to apply any number of "tweaks" that would prevent the "credit division" portion of their new plan.  When my pleas fell on deaf ears - I created a petition.

The Petition

You can find the petition on change.org  There have been almost 30,000 people who signed it, and almost 1,600 people who "promoted"it ("promoted" is when someone donates money to change.org when signing - this is optional). You can certainly sign the petition without paying anything. But if you choose to donate, please be aware that the money  doesn't go to me - it goes to  change.org to help them keep the doors open. I think they are a worthy organization - so I support that, but  I want to make "the money" aspect of the petition" clear so people don't think I'm "getting rich" off this petition.

In any event - the petition does a deeper dive into how the royalty calculation changes, so please check it out, and if you agree with me, sign it - and leave a comment.

Audible's Position

I should note that after several meetings with Audible about their new royalty model their position was:

• Robin you are the only one who has a problem with the new royalty model
• Robin you just don't understand the new royalty model, and if you did, you would support it
• Robin you will earn more money on the new royalty model than the old one
• Robin we have the data and you do not, so your fears of earning less are uninformed and unwarranted

To these, my responses are as follows:

• I don't think most authors know enough about the details of the new model to have an "informed opinion" about it.  I suspect they only see that royalty rates are going up 5% - 10% so they are thinking "where can I sign."  I believe most aren't even aware of the "split credit" aspect.  Those that ARE aware of the split credit are as "freaked out" as I am, but they don't want to speak out because they are afraid of having their titles removed from the platform and for many it is the biggest part of their author income.
  
  
• I do think that I understand the model better than just about any author out there - because I've talked to people on the new model, seen royalty reports (which are VERY complicated) and analyzed these reports to death.
  
  
• I do think there will be "winners" and "losers" under the new model. And to be honest, I think we might do better under it then many authors. But earning more money for me isn't my primary concern - I want a fair system and if I get richer while other authors get poorer - well I don't feel good about that.
  
  
• I have no rebutal for the uninformed aspect because, of course,  I don't have the data, nor can I get at the data. And to be honest - the guy who came up with the model IS someone I respect and I don't think he'd lie to me. But there are two counter arguments I  can make. (1) I can see NO FREAKING WAY to audit royalty reports on the new model. I mean, not only do I need to know how many of my books sold - but I need to know how many other books were consumed by every single one of my listeners. That can multiply into thousands of data points - and there could be a "math error" in this very complicated formula. (2) The data collected so far was when there were only a small number of authors from the beta program enrolled. As such, there were only a few titles that were eligible for "credit sharing." Once the program "goes live" and once more authors put their titles into Plus - the "credit splitting is going to mushroom. So calculations may show a net positive now, but over time I think the payouts will get smaller and smaller.

Recent contracts

Okay, so I don't like the new royalty model - and I wanted no part of it.  Thankfully, Audible listened to me, and all my recent contracts were written on the "legacy model" with a term for 10 years such that I had "protected" my new titles until 2035 - 2038 depending on the release dates - so nothing to worry about for a long, long time.

There is one book - The Death of Dulgath that recently expired, and because I had no ACX titles - I decided to "try out ACX with it." This title was released in January 2026 and since ACX contracts are for an initial term of 7 years with 1 year extensions - putting it on ACX would keep it on the legacy model until 2033, so I felt like I had dodged a bullet.

The good news is that for most of Michael's books such as: All of the Rise and Fall, all of the After the Fall, and the majority of the Legends of the First Empire, I have them "safely locked in to the legacy royalty model - a concession Audible Studios made for me on the new contracts (and I thank them for that)

As for the ACX contacts, there term is for 7 so I felt lucky to get that "posted" befoer the new royalty model went live.

Now, our most recent contract is for the After the Fall series, which was written in partnership with Lorian Ellis. For this contract, both Michael and Lorian have to agree on how to proceed. The "counsel" I'm providing them is we should just bite the bullet and agree to an amendment to go on the new model.  Why? A few reasons.

• Michael and Lorian have already received $500,000 which would need to be paid back if the contract was terminated.
  
• Lorian paid off her house with her part of the money, so she doesn't have it in the bank to pay back.
  
• Keeping the contract (and not fighting it in court) will guarantee the other $500,000 will be paid as the other books are finished/released. -This is money that I want Lorian to "count on."
  
• It is possible that the new series "doesn't earn out" in which case the $1,000,000 is the only money they will ever see, so it's quite possible they won't "lose money" regardless of what royalty calculations are performed, so in the grand scheme of things what model is used isn't the most important aspect for THIS set of books.
  
• Tim is about to start recording this book in 14 days - and if I tell him not to - because of contract disputes I won't be able to get on his schedule again until late 2028 or 2029 which will mean no new audiobook for October's 2026 release.

Older contracts

Now, some of the "older contracts" end earlier - for instance The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter's contract ends in December 2027, and I expected the new royalty model to be in place at that time.  But "it is what it is." And so I planned to just "make the best of it." For that title, I figured I wouldn't have a choice of royalty models. So whether I went with ACX, Audible Studios, or even with Recorded Books (as I assumed all publishers/distributers would be on the new model) by then - I'd have to accept the new model. My plan was to put it on ACX because while all royalty models are the same I get a higher royalty rate with self-publishing rather than when Audible Studios or Recorded Books are involved

The ACX shoe drops

So on April 28th ACX made an announcement.

• The beta is over and the new royalty model is going live.
  
• Authors can start enrolling in the new royalty model on May 26, 2026.
  
• After December of 2026 no titles will be on Audible on the legacy royalty model.

Because I have a contract, I was confused. So I reached out to my contacts at ACX for clarification.  I was told, that I had until the end of the year to enroll my titles into the new royalty model or they would be archived an unavailable for sale.

I pointed out that: 

• We have a 7-year contract - they can't just ignore that fact
• The contract clearly states the rules by which royalties are calculated
• The contract DOES NOT provide any means by which the royalties can be altered
• While I can terminate the contract at any time - they can ONLY terminate if (a) the book is deemed to be offensive or (b) they determine I didn't have the rights to transfer in the first place.

They informed me that:

• The contract would not be terminated
• They are going to change how the royalties are calculated in all their contracts
• They have the right to remove titles on their platform for any reason at any time, Aa=lthough they refuse to  point to the clause that indicates this)

Okay, so all of this is bad. But I have only 1 title there so it's not the end of the world.  I could file a case for binding arbitration (and I may do that on principle), but I suspect it will take longer then the end of December to get a hearing, so at some point I'll probably have to sign or remove my title from ACX.  The good news is my arrangement with ACX is non-exclusive so I CAN continue to sell the book directly to listeners, even if they delist me.

Then the other shoe dropped

During my conversation with ACX my Audible Studios representative chimed in with a short message. This change effects Audible Studio books as well. We can get you an addendum to sign, if you want to talk let me know.

This is SO MUCH worse because (a) I have a lot of books with Audible Studios (b) their contracts are longer (10 years rather than 7), and (c) unlike ACX where I retain my distribution rights, the Audible Studio contracts have TRANSFERRED ALL RIGHTS TO DISTRIBUTE my titles to them - so I can't distribute them myself. If I did, I would be in breach of contract.

So for these books, if Audible Studios delists them, I will lose 10 years of audiobook income. And for 10 years no one will be able to "get into" the story via audiobooks. Period.

I've butted heads with Audible on the new royalty model - so I'm not exactly their favorite person by a long shot. But I can't imagine that the above will actually be their response. It seems nearly incomprehensible that they could take that position with anyone - even me. I've asked for meetings from both of my Audible Studio contacts, but I haven't heard anything from either of them. My hope is that maybe they are watching the blog - and if they do, I want to offer what I think are reasonable solutions.

• Door #1 - I would be willing to sign an addendum that puts my titles on the new royalty model (at the agreed upon rates that we had before we switched the contract from the new model to the old model) BUT this would have to be a non-exclusive agreement such that I could (a) make these books available through libraries (a venue that is cut off to me under our current agreements), and (b) I could sell audiobooks directly to my readers through my website or Kickstarters. This is a good compromise because we would  continue our relationship (both earning from the titles -- delisting makes neither of us any money), and I would have the means to earn money by selling direct to make up for what I anticipate to be losses under the new model.
  
  
•  Door #2 - we can "part as friends" (a) Audible agrees to terminate my contracts; (b) I pay them for the masters under a sub-license agreement - something we've done for 4 other titles already, and (c) I would make them available on ACX under the new royalty model on the "non-exclusive terms." This would give me the same ability as Door #1 - but I would be "independent" rather than in a partnership, and yes, it would cost me some money - but they are giving me something of value, and I feel it's only right for me to compensate them for that.

I should say these are the two I came up with - but I'm open to hearing other options that Audible Studios may have. What I don't think can happen is for Audible Studios to try to pay me under the new royalty model (without me giving permission to do so) nor do I think they can retain the rights but refuse to distribute the books thereby preventing me from earning from my work for a period of 10 years.  If either of those two things occur, then I have no choice but to file a lawsuit - and since the Audible Studios contracts are governed by the courts, I will make my dispute a class-action filing so that other Audible Studios authors who are upset with this transition can join.

The Bottom line

It's quite possible the either ACX or Audible Studios, or both will delist Michael's titles. I'm 90% sure anyone who has "purchased" (with a credit or via cash)  will retain access to them - but if you have not, then you won't be able to purchase them until litigation is over. Which may be a very long time.

One last thing to note: there are a lot of titles that are under the control of Recorded Books: Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron, The Crown Tower, The Rose and the Thorn, Drumindor,  these titles will likely not disappear - but I have no insights into Recorded Books dealings with Audible - I do know they recently renewed their agreement - and I'm not sure what arrangement they came to but I have no reason to doubt that Michael's titles will remain "listed" for those books - but again. I have no way to confirm or deny that - it's just my "experience" that's telling me these books are probably safe. If I learn that's not so, I'll let you know.  Also regarding those books - for an extended period of time (6 months - not sure) - Recorded Books had these in the "plus" library which meant they were in the "free catalog" - but they were move out  - so for people who "got one or more of the books" during that time - you'll see that it is no longer in your library - so you really need to purchase or buy it with a credit just in case these titles get delisted at some point.

Fin.

Okay, I warned you this would be long - but as you can see it's very complicated. I'm hoping that Audible will honor my email requests for a meeting soon. It's odd that they aren't responding.  I'm truly hoping for one of the above proposals to be accepted. In any case, I'll keep you posted either way.

Robin.