The Writers’ Union has presented a prototype: a possible app and business model that should be “nicer” towards the authors.
According to Anja Gatu, children’s book author and president of the Swedish Authors’ Association, the compensation for the authors in the existing audio book services is often too low. In addition, you get paid per minute listened to, which rewards long novels over shorter books and children’s books, she believes.
– The larger publishers can sort of buy themselves a “boost” of the algorithms in the streaming services, which means that certain authors are visible in the feed and end up on the top lists. The smaller publishers, who don’t have the same muscle, their literature is drowning, she says.
The association will not run the proposed app itself, but hopes that some company will take over.
“It’s like bananas”
Will listeners benefit from this app in any way?
– Those who love literature should know that they can contribute to a more sustainable system where you help replace those who created the content. If we don’t have fair compensation, we don’t have writers who can fill the positions until the end, says Anja Gatu, adding:
– It’s a bit like when you stand in the grocery store and think: “Should I take these sprayed bananas where the people who picked them feel very bad, or should I take fair trade bananas that are a little more expensive?”.