Publishing an audiobook used to mean navigating distributors, contracts, and a fair amount of industry jargon before your book ever reached listeners.
Spotify for Authors gives self-published authors another option: you can upload your audiobook directly to Spotify and manage it from your own catalog.
If you’ve already produced your audiobook and have your cover, audio files, and book information ready to go, the actual upload process is fairly straightforward. Spotify walks you through four main stages:
Details → Audio → Metadata → Review and submit
In this guide, we’ll walk through that process step by step, including what you’ll need before you begin and a few details worth double-checking before you hit Submit.
To publish an audiobook on Spotify, sign in to Spotify for Authors, start a new audiobook, enter your book details, upload your sample and chapter audio files, complete the required metadata, review everything, and submit the audiobook for publishing.
What do you need to publish an audiobook on Spotify?
Step 1: Sign in to Spotify for Authors
Step 2: Start a new audiobook
Step 3: Enter your audiobook details
Step 4: Upload your audiobook sample
Step 5: Upload and organize your chapters
Step 6: Complete your audiobook metadata
Step 7: Review your audiobook
Step 8: Submit your audiobook to Spotify
What happens after you submit?
How to manage your audiobooks on Spotify
How to promote your Spotify audiobook
FAQs
Before you start clicking Upload, it pays to get your files, and your metadata ducks, in a row.
At minimum, you’ll want your completed audiobook audio files, audiobook cover, title and subtitle information, book description, author and narrator information, and the appropriate classification and publishing details.
If the audiobook belongs to a series, you’ll also want the official Series Name and the book’s Series Number handy.
You’ll be entering this information throughout Spotify’s upload process, so gathering it beforehand can make the whole process much faster.
And one important distinction: Spotify for Authors is where you’re uploading and publishing the finished audiobook. Your narration, editing, mastering, and other audiobook production work should already be completed before you begin this process.
Start by signing in to Spotify for Authors.
From here, you’ll be able to upload audiobooks, manage titles you’ve already added, view information about your Spotify audience, manage your author profile, and access other author tools.
If this is your first time using Spotify for Authors, you’ll see an introductory screen explaining some of these features.
Click Get started to continue.
Once you’re inside Spotify for Authors, head to Catalog.
If you haven’t uploaded anything yet, you’ll see an empty catalog with an Add your first audiobook message and an Upload button.
Click Upload to begin.
Once you have published or drafted audiobooks, Catalog becomes the home base for managing those titles.
The first stage of Spotify’s upload workflow is Details.
Here you’ll enter the core information that identifies your audiobook.
In our example, we’re uploading the fictional cozy mystery Crime and Nourishment. Its Details screen includes fields for:
Take your time here. This isn’t merely administrative paperwork: this information helps identify and present your audiobook to listeners.
If your audiobook belongs to a series, pay particular attention to Series name and Series number.
For example:
Series name: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Series number: 1
Book 2 would use the same series name with Series number 2, Book 3 would use the same name with Series number 3, and so on.
Consistency matters. Use the exact same series name across every audiobook that belongs together.
WWM Tip: Copy and paste your official series name rather than retyping it for every book. Metadata has a remarkable ability to turn one stray space into an afternoon project.
For a deeper walkthrough, link here to our companion guide: How to Link Your Audiobooks in a Spotify Series.
Next comes Audio.
Spotify’s upload screen separates your Audiobook sample from your Chapters.
For the sample, the interface instructs authors to upload an MP3, WAV, or FLAC file and notes that samples should be less than 10 minutes long and shouldn’t include spoilers or explicit content.
You can drag and drop your sample onto the page or select a file from your computer.
Think about this file from a potential listener’s perspective. Your sample is their chance to hear the narration and get a feel for the audiobook before committing to it.
Choose something that represents the book and narration well without spoiling a major moment.
Below the sample uploader is the Chapters section.
Upload your audiobook’s chapter files here. Spotify accepts the same formats shown in the upload interface: MP3, WAV, or FLAC.
Once uploaded, the files appear individually in the Chapters area.
Spotify notes:
Your audiobook will play in order of how your files are arranged here.
That makes this a particularly important screen to double-check.
Give each chapter a meaningful title and make sure the files appear in the correct listening order.
Spotify’s interface allows you to rearrange the uploaded files, so don’t assume that the order in which they appear is correct simply because the upload succeeded.
Before moving on, it is worth doing three quick checks:
A perfectly narrated Chapter 17 isn’t much help if it starts playing after Chapter 3.
After Audio comes Metadata.
This portion of the process includes additional information Spotify needs to classify and publish your audiobook.
The fields shown in Spotify for Authors include areas such as:
The example screen includes fields for Grade level and BISACs.
These classification details tell retailers more about the type of book you’re publishing, so select categories that accurately represent your audiobook rather than treating this as a box-ticking exercise.
The interface labels the Audiobook retail ISBN as optional.
If your audiobook has its own ISBN, this is where you’ll enter it.
Remember that ISBNs identify specific editions and formats of a book, so don’t simply grab an ISBN from another edition without confirming that it’s the appropriate identifier for the audiobook.
The Metadata screen also lets you review information including your suggested retail price and release date.
This is an excellent place for a final sanity check. A typo in a description is annoying. A typo in a price or release date can make for a much more exciting morning than anyone requested.
Once you’ve completed Details, Audio, and Metadata, Spotify takes you to Review and submit.
This is your opportunity to look over the audiobook as a whole before sending it off.
On this screen, review your book details and cover, description, series information, audiobook sample, chapter names and order, metadata, pricing, release information, and any other information you’ve supplied.
If something doesn’t look right, use the Edit options to return to the appropriate section.
This is one of those occasions when proofreading is considerably faster than fixing something later.
Everything correct?
Click Submit.
Your audiobook has now moved out of the setup stage and into Spotify’s publishing process.
That doesn’t mean you should immediately close every tab and forget it exists. Once the title is available, it’s worth checking the listener-facing Spotify listing yourself.
Look at the audiobook the way a reader would.
Is the correct cover showing? Is the title right? Does the description display properly? If it’s part of a series, is the series information correct?
Those small checks can catch issues that are much easier to understand when you’re looking at the finished listing rather than a metadata form.
Once you’ve submitted an audiobook, you can return to Catalog in Spotify for Authors to manage your titles.
Your Catalog can contain both published titles and drafts.
If you’re uploading several audiobooks, particularly a backlist, Catalog makes it easier to see what you’ve already worked on and what still needs attention.
Authors with multiple books in the same series have one additional job: making sure Spotify understands that the audiobooks belong together.
Spotify relies on the series metadata attached to the individual titles. That means each audiobook should use the same Series Name and its appropriate Series Number.
For example:
| Audiobook | Series Name | Series Number |
| Crime and Nourishment | Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries | 1 |
| Prize and Prejudice | Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries | 2 |
| The Bun Also Rises | Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries | 3 |
We’ve covered the full process in How to Link Your Audiobooks in a Spotify Series, including how to troubleshoot books that aren’t being grouped correctly.
Getting an audiobook onto Spotify is an important milestone. Getting listeners to discover it is the next chapter.
Once your audiobook is live, make sure you’re actively giving readers a reason, and an easy way, to find it.
You might share your Spotify audiobook with your existing email list and social followers, promote the release alongside your other audiobook retailers, and make sure your author presence and book metadata are polished wherever listeners encounter you.
Spotify for Authors itself also provides audience and promotional tools. The welcome screen, for example, highlights Spotify audience insights, customizable author profiles, and redemption codes alongside audiobook uploading.
And don’t forget about your backlist. If a listener enjoys one of your audiobooks, your other titles, especially the next book in a series, are some of the most relevant recommendations you can put in front of them.
You can also dig deeper into Spotify audiobook discovery in our guide and podcast episode: How to Get Your Audiobook Discovered on Spotify (And What’s Coming Next).
Publishing your audiobook is only half the story. Once it’s available, Written Word Media’s Audio Thicket can help you promote your audiobook to listeners looking for their next great listen.
Explore Audio Thicket Promos here.
Yes. Spotify for Authors provides tools that allow self-published authors to upload and manage audiobooks for Spotify.
The publishing workflow covered here is for uploading an audiobook you’ve already produced. You’ll need your finished audio files and audiobook cover before you can complete the process shown in this guide.
The Spotify for Authors upload interface shown here accepts MP3, WAV, and FLAC files for audiobook samples and chapters.
The upload workflow includes a dedicated Audiobook sample section. Spotify’s on-screen guidance says samples should be less than 10 minutes long and shouldn’t contain spoilers or explicit content.
Yes. Spotify for Authors lets you upload chapter files individually, give them meaningful chapter titles, and arrange them in the order in which the audiobook should play.
In the Spotify for Authors interface shown here, Audiobook retail ISBN is marked as optional.
Yes. When entering your audiobook details, add the appropriate Series Name and Series Number. Use the same series name consistently across all books that belong to the series.
For the full walkthrough, see How to Link Your Audiobook Series on Spotify: Step by Step.
If your finished audiobook is sitting on your computer waiting to meet some listeners, Spotify for Authors gives you a relatively straightforward path to get it onto Spotify.
The process boils down to four main stages:
Details → Audio → Metadata → Review and submit
Prepare your files first, work through each section carefully, double-check your chapters and metadata, and give the final Review screen the attention it deserves before submitting.
Then comes the more enjoyable part: putting your audiobook in front of people who might love it.
Ready to reach more audiobook listeners? Explore Audio Thicket Promos and put your audiobook in front of readers looking for their next listen.