One of the biggest problems many beginner authors face is thinking that there is only one way to make money from their talent: getting sales of their products.
The reality is that in this current digital world there are plenty of other opportunities for making money in addition to making a direct sale of your own products: referring your visitors/audience to subscribe to Audible.
The way to make money with the Audible Bounty Referral Program is by leading the visitors who land on your website to subscribe to Audible. Once a new subscriber registers and purchases your audiobook during the first 61 days, Audible is going to pay you $75 and that will happen every time you help them gain a new subscriber.
When you understand this strategy, making money from your talent and from your new affiliate marketing skills will be easier than ever. The only thing you need to do is open your mind and be persistent.
In this post you will learn how to promote your own audiobooks as well as any other audiobooks on your website or blog posts and lead your visitors or current audience to register in Audible:
Audible Bounty Program Vs Amazon Associates Program
Amazon offers two types of affiliate programs: the Audible Creator Program for audiobooks, podcasts, and audio courses, and the Amazon Associates Program (for any affiliate marketer) so you can lead visitors to any kind of physical or digital product, plus the Amazon services: Prime Video, Prime Reading.
The main difference between the Audible bounty program and the Amazon Associates program is that the bounty program is exclusive for authors who want to promote their own titles (audiobooks, audio magazines, podcasts, or audio courses). The Amazon Associates program is designed to enable anyone to promote titles on their websites, YouTube channels, or through other marketing strategies.
Thus, an author can promote his/her own works with the bounty program, and other authors’ works with the affiliate program. The following table shows the commissions paid by Amazon on both types of programs and some examples of earnings:
| Number of Subscribers | Audible Bounty Program (Your own titles) | Amazon Associates Program (other titles) | Advertising Fee |
| 1 | $75 | 1 sale | $0.50 |
| 500 | $37,500 | 500 sales | $250 |
| 1500 | $112,500 | 1500 sales | $750 |
- According to this table, setting an initial goal of 500 subscribers the first time you start promoting your first audiobook, will grant you experience and a good return on your investment (ROI)
- Producing an audiobook with professional standards will cost $300 per finished hour (PFH) on average. Multiply the number of hours (length) your audiobook takes by the average PFH rate, and you will notice how easily that investment will bring a nice result
- Once you gain experience with more than three published audiobooks, then you can raise the bar and look for a minimum of 1500 new subscribers, with a very satisfactory result
- Understanding the basics of social media marketing to gain organic traffic and becoming a friendly weekly email marketer author will help you to vanish any fear and doubts about reaching the 1500 subscribers/buyers goal
The way to make money with the Audible Bounty Referral Program is by leading the visitors that land on your website to subscribe to Audible. Once a new subscriber registers and purchases your audiobook (with any payment method or an Audible credit) during the first 61 days, Audible is going to pay you $75 and that will happen every time you help them gain a new subscriber.
The way to make money with the Amazon Associates Program is by promoting not only all the range of audio products available on Audible but also any kind of physical products and digital services (eBooks, Kindle editions, audiobooks, or membership plans, Prime Video, and so much more).
In this table, you can see all the products and services for which Amazon Audible compensates its associates. Keep in mind the requirements to successfully earn those fees:
- The new visitor must sign up for an Audible membership plan
- The visitor purchases an ALC (A La Carte*) audiobook on Amazon.com
| Product | Advertising Fee | Conditions |
| Audible Gold Digital Membership | $10 | The visitor registers for the Free Trial period After the Free Trial period, the registered visitor pays for the first month on the Audible Premium Plus plan: $14.95 |
| Audible Free Trial Digital Membership | $5 | The visitor registers for the Free Trial period |
| Audible Audiobook | $0.50 | The visitor purchases an audiobook with a payment method or with an Audible credit |
*ALC audiobooks are titles that don’t belong to the Audible Plus Catalog and show their full price and the member’s price.
Hacks to Make Money with the Audible Bounty and Amazon Associates Programs
Blogging
- Having a blog on your website can help your readers and audience know you much better. Share experiences and tips about how you have been able to solve common problems in your niche: insert 2-3 affiliate links in every post and page of your website
- Posting frequently about topics and search queries in high demand on search engines can bring a good amount of organic traffic (new visitors already interested in your content and works: the more posts you have, the greater the number of affiliate links
- As organic traffic visitors already have a clear and specific interest, they are much more likely to register in Audible through your affiliate links, as well as become subscribers of your weekly newsletter
Email marketing
- Email marketing is a powerful marketing tool when you know how to use it: look at the following strategies:
| Strategy | Action | Follow Up |
| Send a welcome email to new subscribers | *Let them know about your weekly news *Insert one affiliate link that leads to Audible or an Amazon product | *Your emailer service (Aweber, Sendinblue, etc) will show you statistics on opening rates *Keep an eye on what days and time of the day brings more openings |
| Send warm-up messages before launching a new title | *Email from 2 to 5 times before the launch *If the titles you want to promote are part of a high price funnel, sending 4 – 5 messages will be effective *If you’re launching a new title under $14, 2-3 messages will bring a good result | Check the number of subscribers that decide to leave your email list; too many messages will push them to that edge |
| After launching a new title, email the non-open messages only | With a suitable, charming message, invite the subscribers to go and check the sample of your new title | Emailing after the launch of a new title will enable you to squeeze some more sales from your email list |
YouTube channel:
- Imagine your YouTube channel is a mall: each video represents a shop in that mall
- Therefore, some videos can generate more sales than others, just like the shops in a mall
- The key is to have a good amount of videos
- You may insert from 2 to several affiliate links in the description of each video
- On average, every 1000 views can lead to 40 sales
All the above strategies can help you get the initial 500 subscribers who register to Audible, as well as your first 500 sales goal promoting other physical or digital products on Amazon.
The more you publish, the more you will know your audience and readers. Therefore, the following minimum goal is to reach 1500 new subscribers or 1500 sales!
Types of Links to Lead Your Visitors or Current Audience to Audible
Amazon offers its associates a wide range of options to promote products, from long to shortened links to attach to a word or sentence in a blog post or paragraph of a page on your website, to banner ads in different sizes and shapes.
- Product links: Only image link, enhanced link, and only text link.
- Only image links can be inserted anywhere on your website. They will look like an image of the product you want to promote
- Enhance links are images with a short text that describes the product, plus a BUY FROM AMAZON button
- Only text links are the most subtle type of affiliate links you can choose
- Banner ads: They can range from rectangular vertical or horizontal ads with the image of the product you want to promote, as well as the standard square ads that can be placed anywhere on your site
- Use square ads to promote eBooks and audiobooks as they can show the cover of the title
- Use permanent rectangular or square ads in the blog and pages that receive more visitors; at least one of them must be dedicated to leading visitors to register on Audible
How to Insert Your Audible Affiliate Links on Your Website or YouTube Channel
The first step you need to take is to register for the Amazon Associate Program. Make sure your username and password are strong to avoid hackers intruding on your businesses!
- Once you’re logged in you will see a clear menu that leads to choosing between links or banner ads.
- Find the product you want to promote and choose the type of link
- Generate and copy the link to the post or page you want: standard ads can go on permanent ad spaces on your website; you can place links in suitable and relevant parts of your posts and pages. Avoid making it look spammy!
- Save the changes in the posts and pages where you add the affiliate links and adds
How to Track Which Types of Links Are Leading More Visitors to Audible
Every time you log in, go to the tracking page in your account and check weekly the performance of each type of link and make any necessary changes:
- Look for the posts that get the best results
- Pay attention to the way you placed the links and repeat the same structure on future posts