Tag: short stories

Spotify to Publish First Independent Author Releases Through Audiobook Selects, With More Planned Ahead

October 16, 2025

Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out an open call for independent authors to submit their short-form stories. Today, we’re formalizing that initiative as Spotify Audiobook Selects and preparing to publish the program’s first cohort of 16 audiobooks on November 4.

This program is a key part of our overall mission to uplift new voices, giving more creators the opportunity to live off their art. By producing and distributing these titles, we’re connecting talented independent authors with listeners around the world.

“With Spotify Audiobook Selects, we get to champion a hugely diverse range of authors and narrators, take chances on bold ideas, and bring these stories to millions of listeners who might never have discovered them otherwise,” said Colleen Prendergast, Spotify’s Associate Director of Licensing and Publishing, “all in a short, bingeable format we think Spotify listeners will love exploring.”

Meet the first Spotify Audiobook Selects cohort

From comedic space adventures to romantic small-town meet-cutes, the first collection features a variety of short audiobooks across the romance, mystery/thriller, and sci-fi/fantasy genres. Here’s what a couple of the authors from this first cohort had to say about the experience.

“It’s very cool to be a part of something new. I’ve never published an audiobook before, so having this team really championing it has been absolutely amazing,” said Stephanie Y. Yang, author of Strak’s Bad Day. “I feel really fortunate that I’ve had the chance to work with such an amazing team that is making my audiobook the best version that it could possibly be.”

“Let’s just say I screamed [when I got the offer],” added JC Savoy, author of Radio Romance. “I’ve been an indie author for over 30 books, but getting accepted into Spotify’s program was validation that my writing still connects with people. I’m still smiling, I have to be honest!”

Full list of titles (alphabetical by author last name):

You can pre-save these titles on Spotify now.

The next chapter is yours to write

Our next submission window opens November 4, and this time, the theme is “swoon-worthy tropes.” Authors are encouraged to submit novelette-length stories (10,000–40,000 words) that creatively explore romance tropes like “friends to lovers,” “grumpy/sunshine,” and “only one bed.”

This is a global program, and any author with an English-language short-form story who controls their own audio rights can submit. If your story is selected, Spotify will publish your audiobook— paying an advance and royalties, managing all aspects of production, and distributing to major audiobook retailers.

The Spotify Audiobook Selects program is just one of the ways we’re working to write the next chapter for audio storytelling, and we can’t wait to hear what you create. Full details and the submission link will be announced on November 4.

Get Your Fill of Guided Meditation, Audiobooks, Short Stories, and Poetry on Spotify

February 19, 2019

Books and poems aren’t just for reading. They’re also rich, lyrical works ripe for streaming. Scroll through the genres under Browse on Spotify, and sure enough, you’ll find Word, a category home to recordings of everything from poetry to guided meditation, audiobooks, and short stories. If you’re searching for a track full of rhythm and tone—minus the music—Word is the place to find it.

The Word genre, under Genres & Moods after selecting Browse, contains a diverse catalogue with written works from throughout history. Need a refresher on why Odysseus spent so much time at sea? Start with Mythologies. Craving something a little more modern? Try poetry by and from the Beat poets. Looking to learn a new language? We have audio courses in Spanish, Italian, French, and Chinese. And if you’re searching for something to sink your teeth into, try Sofia Ek’s audiovisual book, The Minefield Girl.  

Or, maybe you just need to chill out. If so, you’re not alone. Word listeners stream tracks on guided meditation most of all. According to our data, people can’t get enough of this mindfulness practice—similarly to how yoga was a growing fitness genre on Spotify last year. Top-streamed meditation pieces include The Honest Guys’ “Guided Meditation: Deep Relaxation,” Mark Williams’s “Guided Body Scan Meditation,” and Erica Rayner-Horn’s “Guided Meditation I – Breathing Calming Body & Mind.”

But the age-old art of storytelling holds strong as well. The other top-played spoken-word recordings include Fairy Tales for Kids’ “Beauty and the Beast,” Bart Wolffe’s “The Invisible Man – Part One,” and a reading of “Just So Stories: How the Whale Got His Throat,” by Rudyard Kipling. As for who’s listening to the spoken word on Spotify, it’s primarily people aged 55 and up who speak English, with users from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, and Ireland taking the top five slots.

Stories, books, and poetry as we know them largely started as oral traditions—something to keep communities warm and together through the long nights. From Grimms’ fairy tales or Leonard Bernstein’s classical music lectures, the flame of the spoken word is alive on Spotify.

Looking for something versatile enough to play before bed or during a long road trip? Try our collection of audiobooks.