Author’s Republic Review: Read This First

Author’s Republic is an audiobook creation and distribution platform for self-publishing authors that combines ACX’s production capabilities with Voices by INaudio’s wide reach. But is it really the best of both worlds?

In this article, we’ll evaluate Author’s Republic based on seven criteria — eligibility, production, uploading process, distribution, royalties, promotion, and customer service — to help you figure out if it’s right for you. But first, here’s a quick overview:

📆 Launched: 2015
📍 Available in: All countries
🌎 Reach: Global
💰 Cost: No upfront costs; Author’s Republic keeps 20% of net royalties
💸 Royalties: Varies by partner; not disclosed
📇 Distribution channels: Audible, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, and tens of other retail, streaming, and library partners
🌟 Alliance of Independent Authors’ rating: Excellent (Partner)
👑 Best for: Creating and distributing your audiobook in the same place

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Available worldwide	Need a PayPal account or US bank account
No requirement to have published the title in another format already	Maximum chapter length of 78 minutes (shorter than average)
Global reach	Have to email customer support to opt out of individual retailers
Create and distribute your audiobook all on one platform
Distribute to audible even if you don’t have an ebook version listed on Amazon	No guarantee that you’ll be accepted to promotional schemes
Complimentary ISBN that can be used on other platforms
No upfront distribution costs	Have to pay for production upfront
Competitive revenue share rate	Payment terms aren’t set out transparently
Set your own suggested list prices	Have to contact support to change price
Fast customer support response times
Trusted by ALLi

Read on for an in-depth analysis.

Eligibility criteria (5/5)

One of Author’s Republic’s major selling points is its (lack of) eligibility criteria. The service is available to all authors with a PayPal account (plus US authors without one). You can easily set up a PayPal account in over 200 countries and regions, making Author’s Republic one of the most accessible audiobook creation and distribution services out there.

Unlike other platforms, Author’s Republic also doesn’t require you to have a physical or electronic version of your book listed on Amazon in order to publish to Audible.

Production (3/5)

Unfortunately, the platform’s flexibility around who can create an account does not extend to other aspects of its business model. You have to pay any narrator you hire on its marketplace per finished hour (as opposed to via a royalty share agreement). This means you have to cough up a significant sum in advance of putting your audiobook up for sale — although you won’t have to share any profit with the narrator.

Narrators typically charge between $50 and $400 per finished hour and the average narrator can read 9,300 words per hour, making the cost of recording an 80,000-word novel anything from $430 to $3440.

Payment options aside, Author’s Republic offers a straightforward audiobook creation process. Simply upload your book’s manuscript, fill out a few details, and start auditioning narrators. You can conveniently filter profiles by age, gender, country, accent, and genre.

Uploading process (4/5)

If you’d rather create your own audiobook, Author’s Republic makes that easy, too. Follow its step-by-step guide to ensure your files meet the site’s technical requirements. You can even request a same-day “audio track detection report” that assesses whether your audio is up to standard.

Author’s Republic’s audio requirements are mostly bog-standard, but its chapter length limit is notably shorter than ACX or INaudio’s: 78 minutes instead of 120.

You can submit audiobooks with digital narrators, but the use of AI must be labelled clearly in accordance with industry guidelines.

Distribution (4/5)

Whether you create your audiobook on Author’s Republic or upload your own, you’ll receive a complimentary ISBN. Unusually, you can use this ISBN when uploading your audiobook to other platforms (for example, to access the full royalties from your most profitable retailer), as long as it’s the exact same product.

You certainly don’t need to upload your audiobook anywhere else, though. Author’s Republic has more than 50 distribution channels — more than other audiobook aggregators.

The only reason Author’s Republic doesn’t receive 5/5 for distribution is that it again falls short on flexibility. By default, you can only opt out of groups of partners rather than individual platforms — unless you email customer support before submitting your book for distribution.

It’s the same story with pricing. Once you’ve set a “manufacturer suggested price,” you can’t change it without contacting customer support. (Note that, as always, retailers aren’t guaranteed to honor your suggested price.)

Royalties (3/5)

Like other top players in the audiobook distribution industry, Author’s Republic promises authors an 80% share of net royalties. However, unlike Voices by INaudio, it refuses to disclose the exact agreements it has with its retail partners. This lack of transparency knocks a point off our rating.

See below our team’s exchange with a customer support representative.

Promotion (2/5)

Another aspect Author’s Republic doesn’t do so well is promotion. The service doesn’t offer its own marketing tools — it offers the opportunity to apply to promotional opportunities run by its external partners. However, there’s no guarantee you’ll be accepted, so it’s a bit of a wishing game.

Even the promo codes aren’t guaranteed and may take 1–2 weeks to arrive. 

That said, other aggregators like Voices by INaudio don’t fare much better. Audiobook marketing is primarily something you’ll have to learn to do by yourself, regardless of which aggregator you pick.

Customer service (4/5)

Given how often you have to contact customer support, it’s a good job they have decent response times. When we emailed support, we received one reply within minutes and another (over lunchtime) within two hours. Reddit users also corroborate our findings.

On the whole, these replies are even said to be helpful (our request for information excepted). This is in contrast to most of its competitors, where engaging with customer service can be a slow and frustrating endeavor, so we’re quite impressed.

Verdict: Should you publish your audiobook on Author’s Republic?

If you’re looking for a single platform through which to create and distribute your audiobook, we recommend Author’s Republic — as long as you can afford to pay a narrator $300+ upfront. 

If you’re looking to distribute a pre-made audiobook, we find Voices by INaudio’s interface and flexibility when it comes to things like distribution and pricing to be more convenient for most authors. However, if maximum reach is your number one priority, Author’s Republic is still the better choice for you.

Reedsy Rating: 3/5