Audiobook Best Practices Working Group

How to Get Involved

If your organization is part of the book publishing ecosystem—whether you’re a publisher, printer, distributor, retailer, library, or system vendor—your contributions can help establish standards and best practices for audiobooks. Participation is open to both BISG members and nonmembers.

1. To join, e-mail info@bisg.org to express your interest and get on the mailing list for meeting invites, agendas, and other key communications.
2. Attend working group meetings, held monthly in 2026. View the full schedule of Audiobook Best Practices Working Group meetings here. 
3. Contribute to discussions, resource development, and programming based on you and your organization’s expertise and capacity.

By joining, your team will have a direct impact on establishing audiobook standards and best practices.

2026 Working Group Charter

Current State

Production and sales of audiobooks in the North American market have increased significantly across the last decade. Growth rates for audiobooks have led all other formats. Delivery has migrated quickly from physical media to digital downloads and now streaming services. More publishers and retailers are offering audiobooks.

New companies are also offering new audiobook-related services, including AI-generated narration, translation, and accessibility support. AI tools are becoming more prevalent. Recipients such as retailers and distributors—if they haven't already—are likely to use these tools to make assumptions where explicit metadata is not available (examples include linked works and products, contributors when identifiers such as ISNI aren't provided, etc.). This risks inaccurate representation of audiobook content and its contributors, impeding discoverability.

The US has been the leader in audiobook adoption and sales of this format continue to grow. Recent studies have shown that Spanish language audiobooks are the fastest growing subsector in the US market. International markets have also shown increasing growth, especially those in western Europe and in Latin America. The format allows for the removal of barriers across languages and geographies. 

The North American audiobook industry lacks a consistent framework to outline the basic practices for producing, describing, and distributing audiobooks; i.e., there are no best practices. Recipient standards, most of which are not compatible with one another, characterize the landscape. The UK-based Book Industry Communication (BIC) commissioned a project that recommended audiobook best practices for the U.K. market; those recommendations have been well-received there. This working group has undertaken an aspirational update and adaptation of those best practices. 

Objectives

• Identify unmet industry needs around audiobook production (metadata, file formats, technical aspects of audio production in casting, sound engineering, and mastering) and distribution, including potential developments within the U.S. market. For unmet or anticipated needs, provide resources and education that can help those involved in audiobook production and potentially make recommendations to BISG’s workflow committee and the BISG board.

• Identify and communicate key technological advances that affect the audiobook space (including AI applications), both through inclusion in the best practices document and through BISG’s communication channels. 

• Bring together companies from across the supply chain to talk about their current efforts, establish and share best practices, and educate the industry on audiobook best practices. With BISG, use this knowledge to inform the book publishing industry.

• Create and maintain liaisons with other associations that work to promote audiobook best practices. Examples include the Audio Producers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Library Association, among others.

Stakeholder Impact/Benefits

• Provide a forum in which multiple segments can discuss, develop, and improve audiobook best practices and provide a foundation for positive coordinated industry change.

• Standards for audiobook creation and distribution can increase speed to market,  reduce costs for publishers and audiobook recipients, and help stakeholders evaluate quality levels.

• Improve the quality of metadata provided for audiobooks to aid with production,  discovery, and user experience. 

Deliverables

1. Continued development of the BIC-led project to provide audiobook best practices for the North American Market 

2. Include documentation on audiobook best practices and propose changes, additions, and enhancements that will serve the North American market accordingly

3. Where necessary, lead or facilitate discussions among supply-chain participants involved in audiobook production and distribution

4. Publish the proposed best practices by end of year 

5. Share and educate the North American supply chain as needed, primarily through programming

Blockers

Representation in key areas needs to be maintained so that the committee can fully address issues. BISG’s Workflow Committee members currently lack significant depth in audiobook best practices. The ability to recruit and engage subject matter experts from across the supply chain is critical to the success of the working group.