Submit to relevant trade-review outlets
Submit or verify submission to AudioFile
If your book has an audiobook, ask the audio publisher or producer whether it was submitted for editorial review. AudioFile's coverage moved into Kirkus in 2026, so confirm the current submission route before sending anything.
Authors often hire help with this: publicity or marketing.
Why it matters
Audiobooks are reviewed almost nowhere else with attention to the narration, and library audio buyers used AudioFile to choose. That attention now runs through Kirkus, so it's still worth pursuing, but confirm the route first: the old submissions page no longer has instructions, and the release window is short.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher and Author and Publicist. Audio publisher or publicist submits; author verifies, or submits when self-producing
- When
- Before or near the audiobook release (Submit to relevant trade-review outlets: six to three months before publication, against each outlet's own deadline)Checked September 15, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
AudioFile Magazine reviewed audiobooks specifically, judging narration and production as well as the text, and its Earphones Award was a recognized signal of a strong performance. In 2026 that coverage became part of Kirkus. The old audiofilemagazine.com (opens in a new tab) submissions page now redirects to Kirkus's audiobook page and carries no instructions of its own; Kirkus's publisher submission guidelines are the current source, and they list an audiobook contact and the file format wanted. Reviews are editorial consideration: submitting doesn't oblige anyone to review.
The submitter is whoever produced the audiobook, and that may not be your print publisher. Audio rights are often licensed separately, so find out who produced the audio and ask that party whether an audiobook review submission is on its list, and which route it is using now. If you produced the audiobook yourself, through a platform or an independent producer, you're the submitter.
The window is before or near the audiobook's release. Have the narrator, running time, and audio ISBN ready, because those are the details an audiobook review needs that a print submission doesn't.
This item applies only when an audiobook exists or is scheduled. Print-only books have nothing to send.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the print publicist handles audio review submissions when a separate audio publisher holds the rights.
- Missing the release window because the audio edition came later than the print.
- Sending files to the old AudioFile address instead of the current Kirkus route.
- Submitting without the audio-specific details a review needs: narrator, running time, and audio ISBN.
What done looks like
- The party that produced the audiobook identified and asked whether an audiobook review submission is on its list.
- The current route confirmed on Kirkus's publisher submission guidelines before anything is sent.
- Submission made before or near the audio release, with the date and format recorded.
- Narrator, running time, and audio ISBN available for the submission.
- Any review or award designation saved for audio retailer pages and library outreach.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Ask your publisher
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Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 15, 2026
- How confident we are
- Partially verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 15, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.