Libri.fm is an audiobook company that is pivoting their business to focus on indie bookstores. The company currently deals with a dozen stores in the US and has just signed a massive deal with the American Booksellers Association to increase their footprint.
Thousands of bookstores all over the US will have the opportunity to sell audiobooks and earn a small commission for each title sold. The audiobooks from Libro.fm will be intergrated into the IndieCommerce platform,enabling the convenient purchase of digital audiobooks. Customers now have an option to purchase digital audiobooks – as well as print and ebooks – while supporting their local, independent bookstore, and as an alternative to Amazon’s Audible.com.
“The continued growth in sales of digital audiobooks has been very good news for writers and readers. And the integration of Libro.fm with IndieCommerce now means that these online sales can be very good news for independent bookstores as well. ABA is grateful for all the work that Libro.fm has done, and for their commitment to the indie channel,” said Oren Teicher, ABA CEO.
With the IndieCommerce integration, the digital audiobook appears on the IndieCommerce product page for titles available in that format; Libro.fm supplies the shopping cart and fulfillment via a store co-branded white label site, and the company is working to ensure that sales tax is being collected in all relevant states. Libro.fm will also provide a link back from the white label site to the referring store for purchase of the print book.
“We created Libro.fm because independent stores were getting left behind in the soaring growth of digital audiobooks, the fastest growing category in publishing,” said Libro.fm CEO Mark Pearson. “The IndieCommerce integration makes it seamless for a bookstore to sell both print and audio editions through their website as well as their Libro.fm co-branded storefront.”
More than 160 ABA member stores are currently selling audiobooks through Libro.fm; additional stores are expected to sign on to the program. Libro.fm helps the bookstore promote digital audiobooks through in-store and online marketing with a full catalog of resources.
According to Len Vlahos, incoming owner of the Tattered Cover, Denver, “With digital audiobooks being one of the fastest growing segments of the publishing industry, Tattered Cover was hungry for a solution. Libro.fm is a turnkey, seamless service, which provides our customers with a broad selection of digital audio at competitive prices. The only piece missing was the connection to our website, so the IndieCommerce integration is very welcome news indeed.”
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
