East London bookshop Bàrd Books to sell audiobooks in store thanks to Bookshop.org

Thanks to Bookshop.org, readers can now buy and listen to audiobooks on one easy-to-use platform, while financially supporting indie bookshops in their fight against Amazon (who owns Audible). Audiobooks will be available to buy on a subscription model priced at £12.99 per credit/month, which has been designed to generate the most revenue for indie bookshops.

The audiobook market in the UK is growing rapidly, with no signs of slowing down. The most recent data provided by the Publishers Association revealed that in 2025, audiobooks were worth £255 million, up 10% on the previous year – significant in comparison to the overall publishing industry which only grew by 3%. A 2025 study by YouGov has shown that 30% of readers listened to audiobooks in the previous year.

Hand-Selling Stories and Independent Recommendations

Vicki Shenkin Kerr, Founder/Owner of Bàrd Books, East London, said: “I love listening to audiobooks, and am always listening to them on my walks. It’s great having Bookshop.org as my audiobook go-to. I would not like to use that big company that we do not talk about. We actually have a ’swear jar’ in our bookshop, so we’re not allowed to say the word – but you know what I mean. It’s great having Bookshop.org offering audiobooks because it means that we can recommend audiobooks to our customers and know that the money goes to support not just us, but other indie bookshops as well which is great. Some favourite audiobooks – one that is on Booker Shortlist is Black Bag by Luke Kennard, narrated by Luke Kennard – a weird wonderful experience of a book. A couple of other ones that I’ve enjoyed in the past which I think work really well as audiobooks are Heartburn by Nora Ephron. It’s narrated by Meryl Streep and Meryl Streep is so wonderful that you laugh out loud, you have to laugh out loud, it works so well as an audiobook. Another one is Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, again it’s narrated by the author, and what makes this book so wonderful is getting the nuances of his Irish vernacular which is juxtaposed with this story that is set back in the time of Euripides, when you hear it in his actual voice it brings it to life so much more, so it’s a definite recommendation from me. Happy Bookshop (listening) Day!”

Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director of Bookshop.org UK, said: “We’re excited to be launching a whole new product that offers a significant, and importantly, regular revenue stream for independent bookshops. Audiobooks have become such an important part of the way we tell stories and a vital part of the book industry's growth. We are excited to give the 30% of readers who have listened to an audiobook in the last year a better way to buy their audiobooks: there's no reason for them to turn to Amazon now! With our new subscription service, indie bookshops benefit from every credit purchased.”

For the latest developments, follow them on social media at @bookshop_org_uk.