If you have multiple audiobooks in a series on Spotify, you want listeners to know exactly what comes next.
The good news is that linking a series on Spotify is relatively simple. You don’t manually connect Book 1 to Book 2 with a separate linking tool. Instead, Spotify uses your audiobook metadata, specifically your Series Name and Series Number, to recognize which books belong together and in what order.
That makes consistency especially important. One small difference in a series name can prevent your books from being grouped as expected.
In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly how to set up or correct your series on Spotify using Spotify for Authors.
To link audiobooks in a series on Spotify, open each title in Spotify for Authors and make sure every book uses the exact same Series Name while giving each title the correct Series Number. Spotify’s metadata guidelines state that retailers use the matching series name to group books together.
What does linking a series on Spotify actually do?
Step 1: Log in to Spotify for Authors
Step 2: Open the first audiobook in your series
Step 3: Edit the audiobook metadata
Step 4: Enter your Series Name
Step 5: Add the correct Series Number
Step 6: Repeat the process for every audiobook
Step 7: Check your series on Spotify
What if your series on Spotify is not linking correctly?
How to optimize a Spotify audiobook series
FAQs
First, an important distinction: you aren’t creating a series page by dragging individual books into a collection.
You’re telling Spotify that several audiobooks belong to the same series through their metadata.
Spotify’s official Metadata & Assets Guide instructs publishers to enter a Series Name and Number for applicable titles and says:
Make sure the Series Name is exactly the same for all books of the series.
Spotify explains that retailers use this information to group the books.
For example, imagine you’ve published this trilogy:
The series metadata should look something like this:
Series Name: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Series Number: 1
Then Book 2 would use:
Series Name: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Series Number: 2
And Book 3:
Series Name: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Series Number: 3
The series name stays identical. Only the number changes.
That distinction is what allows Spotify and other retailers using the metadata to understand the relationship between your books.
New to Spotify for Authors? If you haven’t uploaded your audiobook yet and want to know how to get into Spotify, start with our step-by-step guide to How to Publish an Audiobook on Spotify. We’ll walk you through the full process, from adding your book details to uploading your audio and submitting your title.
Go to Spotify for Authors and sign in to the account connected to your audiobook catalog.
Spotify for Authors gives self-published authors tools to upload and manage audiobooks directly on Spotify, along with catalog management, audience insights, royalties, promotional tools and author-profile features.
Once you’re signed in, you’ll need to work through each existing audiobook individually.
Click Catalog.
Find the first audiobook you want to connect to your series and open the title.
If you’re setting up an existing series, starting with Book 1 makes the process easier because you can establish your exact naming convention before moving through the rest of the books.
Spotify’s current instructions for editing an audiobook are:
Once you’ve opened the audiobook, click Edit.
Spotify allows eligible publishers and self-published authors to edit an audiobook’s details, audio and metadata from this screen.
You’re looking specifically for the series information in the book’s metadata.
If you’re uploading a brand-new audiobook instead, you’ll encounter these fields while entering the book’s details during the upload process. Spotify’s direct-upload workflow asks authors to provide their audiobook details, files and metadata before publishing.
Find the Series Name field and enter the official name of your series.
This is the most important part of the process.
The name needs to be identical on every audiobook in the series.
For example, don’t use:
Book 1: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Book 2: Angie Prouty Nantucket
Book 3: The Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Even though a human reader would immediately understand that those names refer to the same series, inconsistent metadata can make it harder for retailers to group the titles correctly.
Spotify specifically instructs authors to keep the Series Name exactly the same across every book.
A useful habit is to copy your series name directly from Book 1 and paste it into every subsequent title rather than retyping it.
WWM Tip: Check spacing, punctuation and capitalization too. Don’t rely on “close enough” when working with retailer metadata.
It should ideally look like this:
Book 1: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Book 2: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Book 3: Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries
Next, enter the book’s position in the series.
For a straightforward trilogy, that’s easy:
Spotify’s metadata guidance calls for both the Series Name and Number when a title belongs to a series.
Older Spotify/Findaway guidance similarly recommends including both the series name and book number and stresses consistent formatting throughout the series.
Take the time to check the order before saving. You don’t want someone who just finished your first book being directed toward the third installment when Book 2 should be next.
Now work through the rest of your series.
For every title:
Using our example, your completed metadata would look like this:
| 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 |
Notice that Angie Prouty Nantucket Mysteries never changes.
If you have ten books in the series, repeat this process ten times.
It may feel repetitive, but getting the metadata right once can prevent a much more frustrating cleanup later.
Once your updates have been processed, open Spotify as a listener and search for one of the audiobooks.
Check that:
Don’t panic if an update isn’t instantaneous. Catalog changes may need time to process through Spotify’s systems.
Spotify says newly uploaded audiobooks can take up to 72 hours to become available after publishing, so it’s reasonable to allow processing time before assuming something has gone wrong.
If your books still aren’t being grouped correctly, start with the metadata.
Compare every title.
Look for differences such as:
Spotify explicitly says the name should be exactly the same across all books, making this the first thing to troubleshoot.
Confirm that each audiobook has its own correct series position and that you haven’t accidentally assigned the same number to multiple titles.
Changing Book 1 does not automatically rewrite the metadata for Books 2, 3 and 4.
Each audiobook should carry the correct series information.
Spotify for Authors can be used to upload and manage audiobooks directly on Spotify. If you’ve also opted to distribute those audiobooks to other listening platforms through Voices by INaudio, Spotify says edits need to be republished there for those changes to reach the other platforms.
In other words, fixing the Spotify version doesn’t necessarily fix your metadata everywhere else.
If you’ve confirmed that every title has the exact same series name, the correct numbers and enough time has passed for your edits to process, your next step is Spotify for Authors support.
Linking your books correctly solves the technical problem. But there’s a bigger marketing opportunity here too.
A listener who finishes Book 1 is one of the best prospects you will ever have for Book 2.
So don’t treat series metadata as an administrative afterthought.
Your covers should make the relationship between books immediately obvious.
Spotify recommends square audiobook artwork at a 1:1 ratio, with 3000 × 3000 pixels as the recommended size for uploads. Its metadata guidance also says applicable series information should be clearly displayed on the cover artwork.
A reader may discover Book 3 through search or a Spotify recommendation before they’ve ever encountered you.
Spotify says listeners can discover audiobooks through personalized recommendations based on their interests.
Make sure each book has strong metadata, cover art and a compelling description rather than assuming everyone enters your catalog through the first installment.
Spotify’s previous series-field guidance recommends using consistent series information and notes that publishers sometimes include the complete series order toward the bottom of a book description.
When appropriate, that’s another way to reduce friction for listeners wondering what to play next.
Once the series is organized, send listeners there.
Spotify for Authors includes promotional tools such as Promo Cards, and Spotify recommends tactics such as sharing audiobook clips and social content to build awareness.
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).
And when you’re ready to put your audiobook in front of more listeners, Audio Thicket promotions can feature Spotify links on eligible Deal of the Day promotions alongside other audiobook retailers.
Add the same Series Name to every audiobook and assign each title the correct Series Number in its metadata. Spotify says retailers use the matching series name to group books.
Yes. Spotify specifically instructs authors to use exactly the same Series Name for every book in the series.
Yes, provided you have the appropriate Spotify for Authors permissions. Go to Catalog, select the audiobook and click Edit to change its details or metadata.
Yes. Spotify for Authors now supports direct audiobook publishing for self-published authors, and Spotify says uploads are free, non-exclusive and have no limit on the number of audiobooks you can publish.
Spotify doesn’t specify a universal processing time for every metadata edit. For newly published audiobooks, however, Spotify says titles should become available within 72 hours. If your series information remains incorrect after your changes have had time to process, check the metadata again or contact Spotify for Authors support.
Linking your books into a series on Spotify isn’t complicated, but precision matters.
There isn’t a big “Create Series” button you need to find. The connection comes from your metadata:
Same Series Name. Correct Series Number. Every book.
Set those fields consistently across your catalog, double-check the results on Spotify, and you’ve removed one more obstacle between a listener finishing one audiobook and pressing play on the next.
If you’re investing in audio, that kind of frictionless backlist discovery matters. Spotify has increasingly positioned audiobooks alongside the music and podcasts listeners already consume, giving indie authors another place to turn one discovery into a long-term reader or listener.
Ready to reach more audiobook listeners? Explore Audio Thicket to see how Written Word Media helps authors promote audiobooks across major retailers, including Spotify on eligible promotions.