# Lantern Audio

> Boutique audiobook distributor — one-time $199 setup fee, 75% of net receipts, ~20 retail and library channels including Audible, Kobo, OverDrive, and Hoopla.

Source: https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/publishing/lantern-audio
Website: https://lanternaudio.com
Category: Publishing & Distribution (https://selfpublishingdirectory.com/publishing)
Pricing: paid — $199
AI-powered: no
Tags: boutique, premium, audiobook, libraries, non-exclusive, one-time-fee
Last verified: 2026-05-06
Best For: Premium fiction publishers who value boutique curation and quarterly royalty reporting, and authors comfortable trading channel breadth for white-glove service
Distribution Channels: audible, apple-books, google-play, kobo, barnes-noble, overdrive, hoopla, scribd, storytel, libro-fm, audiobooks-com, audiobooknow, downpour, walmart, bibliotheca
Exclusivity Required: no
Format Support: audiobook
Royalty Rate: 75% of net receipts; one-time $199 per-title setup fee
Service Type: audiobook-distributor

Lantern Audio is a boutique audiobook distributor that charges a one-time $199 per-title setup fee and pays 75% of net receipts across roughly 20 retail and library channels — including Audible, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, OverDrive, Hoopla, and Libro.fm. It sits between INaudio's free-but-self-serve model and full-service production houses, with optional casting and mastering add-ons for authors who want a single vendor handling the full audiobook pipeline.

- **Best for:** Premium fiction publishers who value boutique curation and white-glove onboarding over the lowest commission rate
- **Key features:** ~20 retail + library channels (incl. Audible, Apple, OverDrive, Hoopla, Libro.fm), accepts externally produced audio, optional casting/narration/mastering services, promotional giveaway codes, quarterly royalty statements
- **Pricing:** $199 one-time setup fee per title; Lantern keeps 25% of net receipts (75% to author); no annual subscription
- **Limitations:** Higher all-in cost than INaudio (free + 20%) or Author's Republic (free + 20%); ~20 channels is roughly half of INaudio's footprint; quarterly payouts are slower than monthly competitors
- **Why authors love it:** Pays out when wide-aggregator self-service feels overwhelming — the curated catalog approach plus add-on production services makes Lantern feel closer to a small audiobook label than a pure pipe