AI audiobook distribution, store by store: what each one accepts and what gets rejected
Free PDF · 13 printable pages · Sent by email
A printable map of AI narration rules at Audible, Amazon, Spotify, INaudio, Google Play, Kobo, and Apple: what each accepts, the exact labels, the file specs, and what gets books rejected.
The store rules, exact labels, specs, and checklist for this page are in the PDF.
Every store's AI narration rules, labels, and file specs in one PDF
Thirteen printable pages, from the rules table to the pre-upload checklist. Pick a page to preview it.
Who made the file decides where it can go
Every audiobook store sits on one of three routes for AI narration. Check the route before you produce, because two of them are closed to audio you made yourself.
Audio you produced
It takes your own file
You upload finished audio and choose the store’s synthetic voice option. This is the only route open to a file you produced yourself.
It only uses its own voice
The store narrates your ebook itself and credits its own system. A file made elsewhere has no way in.
It turns the file away
Synthetic narration is refused, or accepted only from a short list of named providers in their original packages.
An aggregator is not a way around the rules
Voices by INaudio accepts digitally narrated audiobooks only as unmodified packages from Google Play Books, ElevenLabs, or Spoken Press, and delivers them only to partners that accept them. The map lists which stores sit on which route, the label each one requires, and the specs your files have to meet.
Check every store before you upload
Pick the stores that take your file, use their exact labels, and export once to a spec that passes them all.
AI audiobook distribution: common questions
Short answers for authors and publishers. The map has the full rules table, labels, and specs.
Which stores accept AI-narrated audiobooks?
Spotify for Authors, Kobo Writing Life, and Google Play Books accept a file you produced, as long as you choose their synthetic voice option. Apple’s guidelines permit AI narration with disclosure, delivered through a preferred partner. ACX requires human narration unless otherwise authorized.
Can I sell an AI-narrated audiobook on Audible?
Not through ACX with your own file. ACX requires human narration unless otherwise authorized and prohibits unauthorized text to speech and AI. Amazon’s Virtual Voice beta generates audio from an eligible KDP ebook for the U.S. marketplace, but it is Amazon’s own narration, not an upload route.
Does Kobo accept AI-narrated audiobooks?
Yes. Kobo Writing Life asks you to list the narrator as Synthesised voice - male, female, or unspecified. Kobo does not currently distribute any Kobo Writing Life audiobook to libraries, whether it is AI narrated or not.
Can I upload my own AI-narrated audiobook to Apple Books?
Apple’s audiobook guidelines allow AI narration if it is stated in the title or narrator field and in the description. Apple takes audiobooks only through preferred partners, so you need a partner that will deliver your file. Apple’s own digital narration is separate and is labelled Narrated by Apple Books.
Can INaudio distribute an AI-narrated audiobook made with any tool?
No. Voices by INaudio accepts digitally narrated audiobooks only as unmodified LPF packages from Google Play Books, ElevenLabs, or Spoken Press, and delivers them only to partners that accept digitally narrated titles.
Do AI-narrated audiobooks reach libraries?
Only in part. Spotify does not share digital voice titles with its referral partners, INaudio does not publish which partners take them, and Author’s Republic says AI voice titles are not permitted on all retail and library platforms. Ask your distributor in writing before you plan on a library channel.
Is this really free?
Yes. The PDF map is free. Enter your email and we send you a download link. You do not need to pay or create a Narration Box account.
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More on publishing AI-narrated audiobooks
Guides on where audiobooks are accepted, and the tools that produce the audio.
Audiobook publishing guides
Produce the narration
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