How to Get Your Audiobook Discovered on Spotify (And What's Coming Next)

Spotify has over 600 million users, and most of them don't yet know they have access to audiobooks. In this episode, Ferol sits down with Will Dages, Head of Product at Spotify, to break down everything indie authors need to know about getting their audiobook discovered, promoted, and created on Spotify's platform.In this episode, you’ll learn:How Spotify's audiobook model works: the 15-hour monthly listening allotment, the pro-rata payout pool, and how a la carte sales compareHow Spotify uses taste signals from music and podcast listening to surface audiobooks to readers who've never tried the formatWhy do short books and children's content now have a competitive advantage on Spotify that they don't have on credit-based modelsThe metadata practices that actually improve discoverability, and the keyword-stuffing mistake that actively hurts youThe free tools inside Spotify for Authors: promo cards, 100 redemption codes per book, and weekly demographic listening reportsSpotify's new AI narration tool (in partnership with ElevenLabs): free for up to five books, ten curated voices, custom pronunciationsHow human narrators vs. AI narration differ, and why Will believes AI opens the door rather than closes itPage Match: the feature that syncs your physical book with the Spotify audiobook, and the 55% reading uplift and 2x completion rate it's already drivingThe Bookshop.org integration: how Spotify is now linking physical book purchases directly from audiobook pagesFollow Along: the new feature that displays visual content (images, text threads) synced to the audioWill's closing advice for every author: it's never too late to get into audiobooks. The market is still in massive growth mode.Want to learn more ways to reach readers? Visit writtenwordmedia.com for author resources, book promotion tools, and more.The Written Word Podcast is produced by Heart Centered Podcasting.© 2026 Written Word Media, Inc. All rights reserved.