The following FAQs should answer most questions you have as audiobook listeners requesting giveaways at AudioFreebies.com. If you have further questions, please send us an email by completing the form on the Contact page.
If you see a blue "Request this Audiobook" button, clicking on it will scroll down to a form for you to complete. Fill in your name, email address and what region you are in, and an email with those details will be sent to the person who listed the book on the site (usually the author or narrator), who should send you a promo or giveaway code within a day or two (often within a few hours).
If there are buttons on the page for US Code and UK Code, click on these to receive an immediate code displayed on screen. When audiobooks are produced through ACX.com (Audible’s independent audiobook production arm) in many cases, the audiobook's author and often also the narrator will be given access to 'promotional codes' which can be redeemed for a free copy of the audiobook to help promote the title and gain reviews. For audiobooks published through ACX prior to 26 March 2020, the number of codes available was up to 100 US and 100 UK region codes. For audiobooks published through ACX after 26 March 2020, the number of codes has dropped to 25 to 50 codes for each region.
Similarly, if an audiobook is produced through Findaway Voices (an audiobook producer and distributor), the authors/publishers can apply to receive 30 to 100 giveaway codes for the audiobook.
Some authors and narrators use these codes to send free copies to review sites and bloggers. Some codes are used as competition prizes. Many are given to people in the hope of gaining a review - and this will increasingly be the case since ACX changed their policy so that only 25 to 50 codes are available for each region for audiobooks published after 26 March 2020.
Authors and narrators want to see their giveaway codes provided to eager listeners in the hope they will spread the word about the audiobook, through rating and reviewing it at sites like Audible, Goodreads and Amazon, or providing word-of-mouth recommendations on social media and directly to friends and family.
No. Whether or not a code is provided is entirely up to the person who listed the book with us. For audiobooks published prior to 26 March 2020, most authors/narrators actively want to give their codes away, so for these audiobooks, they'll usually be happy to provide a redeemable promo or giveaway code to anyone who wants one.
For audiobooks published after 26 March 2020, however, it may be a different story. For these audiobooks, there may be an increased emphasis on gaining reviews, with many of these listings marked as "Reviewers Only". This is because audiobooks published after 26 March 2020 are no longer eligible for royalty payments for code redemptions, and the author/narrator may only have 25 to 50 codes per region to give away. (This number used to be 100 codes per region). So as more audiobooks filter through that are published after March 2020, you'll start to see authors and narrators becoming more selective about who receives codes, with codes more likely to be provided to requesters who the author/narrator feels are more likely to provide a review at Audible, Goodreads or Amazon.
For many audiobooks published prior to 26 March 2020, the author and/or narrator was provided with up to 100 US and 100 UK promo codes, and they received a royalty payment for each promo code redeemed. This was the cause of the proliferation of code giveaways with authors and narrators very happy to give away as many codes as possible. However, recent changes mean audiobooks published after 26 March 2020 now only receive 25 or possibly 50 codes for each region, and the author/narrator no longer receives any royalty payment when a code is redeemed on any audiobook published after 26 March 2020.
So where before, authors and narrator were very happy to give away as many codes as possible (because they had 100 in each region to give away, plus they received income from each code redeemed), authors and narrators will become more selective about their code giveaways for any audiobook published after 26 March 2020, with an increased emphasis on gaining reviews for those titles. We ask that you only take a code for any title marked as "Reviewers Only" if you have a genuine intention to leave a review for that title within about a month.
For codes that you receive by email, the email you receive from the narrator or author should tell you how and where to redeem your code. For codes displayed on screen, there is a link and instructions on the displayed page.
US region Audible promo codes are redeemed at https://audible.com/acx-promo
UK region Audible promo codes are redeemed at https://audible.co.uk/acx-promo
Findaway Voices Giveaway Codes are redeemed at https://authors-direct.com/redeem/
Note that Findaway Voices giveaway code audiobooks must be listened to using the Authors Direct mobile app for iOS or Android, and are only redeemable by US, Canada and Australian residents.
If you've been emailed a code from the author or narrator, the fastest way to get help is to email them with your problem.
If you've received your code via on-screen display, let us know your problem by submitting a Code Problems form. We'll investigate and get back to you within 24 hours. The Code Problems form is found under the For Requesters/Listeners menu and the Contact menu, as well as being on each page where a promo code is displayed on screen, under the 3 large coloured boxes where it says "If you experience code redemption problems and want us to investigate, complete the Code Problems Form".
If the listing uses automated code delivery (where a promo code is displayed on-screen), then if there are no codes left then instead of being shown a code, you'll be directed to either a "More Codes are Coming" page (if the author or narrator will have more codes to give away in a day or so) or a "No More Codes Remaining" page. This No More Codes Remaining page is your chance to let us know that codes have run out on that book, so we can contact the author/narrator to let them know. You can also fill in your name and email on this page so we can let you know if/when more codes become available.
If the listing uses manual code delivery (where you fill in a form so the author or narrator can email you a code) then when you submit a request form, an email with the details you submitted on your form is sent to the person who listed the audiobook (usually the author or narrator of the audiobook). It is then up to them to email you a code. If you don’t receive a code, it may be that the author/narrator hasn’t seen your request or they have run out of codes (though we try to note this on the website as soon as we are informed). Ultimately it is up to the author/narrator to send out codes if or when they wish, however if you are worried that your request has gone astray, or you have some other concern, you can contact us via the Contact page.