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Times are certainly changing for the publishing business. Not only are online markets being flooded with (terrible) GenAI-written novels, but sites like Spotify and Audible are suddenly becoming the first place that fans are finding new books. Hits like Dungeon Crawler Carl and the continued dominance of romantasy novels have meant that audiobooks aren’t just a supplement for the printed books: more often, they’re the initial focus.

It is a trend that has been gaining momentum for a while now, with Spotify even including audiobook listening habits in everyone’s Spotify Wrapped for the first time in 2025. However, audiobook publishers aren’t just focusing on novels that are already in print. Will Yamaguchi Dobson’s debut children’s novel, The Fortress of Lost Memories, got an audiobook adaptation, complete with a cast of 17 actors, a full six months before it is due to be published in April 2026. In fact, Audible reportedly built an exclusivity clause into the contract to ensure that is exactly what happened.

“I was very fortunate that Audible was on the hunt for a Disney/Pixar-style book for the whole family when my agent pitched my idea,” Yamaguchi Dobson said in an interview, disclosing that he was given an offer from the commissioning editor at Audible “based on five chapters.” Much like with traditional publishing contracts, he was given an advance split on signing and when the final draft of the book was signed off.

The change of audiobooks going from a supplement to published novels to the main event is a big shift for the publishing industry and is perhaps akin to the rise of ebooks and self-publishing in the late 1990s and early 2000s. While audiobooks aren’t overtaking print just yet, it feels like the inevitable direction the industry is heading.

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

• The hottest upcoming fiction
• Queer romance to add to your reading list
• A genre fiction literary column called If It Bleeds, We Read

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.