Greenlight Audio — Short tutorials

Greenlight Audio is "an audiobook studio for the on-demand era" — browse the catalogue and listen to previews free, or send a manuscript and the studio will "produce, distribute, and monetise it across every major platform."

Before you start

• The site is www.greenlight-audio.com. The top bar links to "Catalogue", "Narrators", "Produce", "Distribution", "Pricing", "News" and "MCP", with a "Sign in" button on the right.
• You do not need an account to browse or to hear the free previews. You need a free account to unlock a full audiobook. Sign-in is with Google only. The pricing page says: "Free account required — no card needed".
• Every plan is a monthly plan: Listener (free), Unlimited ($9.99), Audio Plus ($49) and Audio Studio ($129). Paid plans are billed through Stripe as cross-site Greenlight plans.
• The player sits at the bottom of every page and keeps playing while you move around the site.
• Narration is synthetic. The site labels each voice by tier ("Premium", "Studio" or "Automated") and never names the company that renders it.
• Sister sites: greenlight.film (film) and greenlight-publishing.com (books). One account works across all three.

T1Get your bearings on the home page

1. The headline reads "Every story sounds like something." Under it are two buttons: "Produce my book" (goes to /produce) and "Listen to the catalogue" (goes to /catalogue).
2. Below the buttons, a strip of four numbers appears: "Audiobooks", "Narrator voices", "Hours of audio" and "Avg turnaround". The first three are read live from the catalogue and rounded down with a "+"; only "7 days" turnaround is fixed text.
3. Scroll to "What we do" for the three services: "Production", "Distribution" and "Monetisation".
4. "How it works" shows four steps: "Upload", "Cast", "Produce", "Distribute". The "Start a production" button also goes to /produce.
5. At the very bottom, "One email per release. No newsletter fluff." has an email box and a "Subscribe" button. This is the same newsletter as /newsletter.

T2Browse and filter the catalogue

1. The header shows the true totals, for example "417 audiobooks · 2,100 hours of listening", and a strip: "Audiobooks", "Listening hours", "Genres" and "Free sample" ("Ch 1", "every title").
2. "Editor's Picks" shows the three highest-rated titles. It hides as soon as you search or pick a genre.
3. Use the two icons at top right ("Grid view", "List view") to switch layouts.
4. The "Sort:" row offers "Discover", "Newest", "Top Rated", "Longest" and "A→Z". "Discover" is a random order that changes on reload.
5. The "Voice:" row filters by "All", "Premium", "Studio" or "Automated". When new titles exist, a green "NEW" toggle appears under "Show:" with a count; the badge lasts 30 days.
6. The genre chips start with "All genres". Click any genre to narrow the grid.
7. Sixty titles show at a time. Click "Load more"; the caption reads "Showing 60 of 417".
8. Filters are written into the page address, so a filtered view can be shared or bookmarked.

T3Search for a title, author, genre or label

1. The search box is in the sticky bar under the header. Its placeholder reads "Search title, author, genre or label...".
2. Type any part of a title, author name, narrator name, genre or label. Matching is not case-sensitive and updates as you type.
3. A "label" is a themed grouping such as a playlist theme. If you arrive from a label chip on a book page, the active label appears above the voice filter as an orange pill with an "×"; click it to clear that label (its tooltip reads "Clear label filter").
4. Search and the genre chips combine: pick a genre first, then type to narrow further.
5. The "Editor's Picks" row disappears while a search is active so results start at the top.

T4Play a free sample from the grid

1. Hover over a cover in grid view. An orange play button appears in the bottom-right corner with the tooltip "Listen to chapter 1 free". In list view the button sits at the right end of the row, next to a green "Free Ch 1" tag.
2. Click it. The mini player opens along the bottom of the page and starts playing.
3. Click the same button again to pause; its tooltip changes to "Pause sample".
4. Click any other cover's play button to switch. Only one thing plays at a time.
5. Click the cover or title to open the full book page.

T5Read an audiobook's page

1. The breadcrumb reads "Catalogue / [Genre] / [Title]". On the right, two arrows labelled "Newer" and "Older" step through the catalogue in date order.
2. The square cover sits on the left. Under it is the main button, which depends on your situation: "Sign in to listen", "Use 1 of N credits this month", "Add to library", "Upgrade to listen", "Listen Now" or "Resume Ch N".
3. On the right: the genre pill, the title, an italic subtitle if there is one, "Written by [author]", and a row with running time, chapter count and language.
4. Two cards follow: "Written by" and "Narrated by". The narrator card shows the voice tier, for example "Premium Voice · [voice name]". Clicking either card searches the catalogue for that name.
5. Further down: a "Share" bar, a stats strip, optional "Labels" chips, the "Synopsis" with a "Read more" toggle, the chapter list, and "You might also enjoy".

T6Listen to the free 90-second preview

1. Under the cover, click "Listen free — 90-second preview". The mini player opens with the track named "[Title] — Preview".
2. On desktop, an embedded player also appears beside the description, headed "Preview · 90-second excerpt" and "Narrated by [narrator]". Its orange button plays and pauses; the small buttons skip "Back 15 seconds" and "Forward 30 seconds"; the speed button cycles 0.75× to 2×; a volume slider and "Mute" sit at the right.
3. Click the progress bar to jump. With the bar focused, the left and right arrow keys move five seconds; Home and End jump to the start or end.
4. The preview needs no account and spends nothing.

T7Sign in with Google

1. Click "Sign in" in the top bar, or any "Sign in to listen" button. The sign-in card reads "GREENLIGHT.AUDIO" and "Sign in to your account".
2. Click "Sign in with Google". This is the only sign-in method; there is no password form.
3. Approve the Google prompt. You return to the page you came from; if you came straight to /signin, you land on /catalogue.
4. Once signed in, the "Sign in" button becomes your avatar. Click it for a menu: "Your account", "Listening playlists", "Submit audiobook", "Request narration", "Subscription & plans", "Newsletter", links to the sister sites, and "Sign out". Admins also see "Admin".
5. Press Escape or click elsewhere to close the menu.

T8Unlock a full audiobook with a monthly credit

1. Sign in (T7). Under the cover, the button now reads "Use 1 of N credits this month", with "0/1 credits used this month" beneath it ("0/10" on Audio Plus).
2. Click the button, or click any chapter in the list. A dialog titled "Use a monthly credit?" asks whether to "add '[Title]' to your library? Unlocked audiobooks are yours to keep." Confirm with "Use 1 credit".
3. The button changes to "Unlocking…", then "Listen Now", and "✓ In your library" appears. If you clicked a chapter, that chapter starts playing.
4. On Unlimited, Audio Studio or Audio Studio+, the button reads "Add to library" and there is no dialog, because nothing is spent.
5. Credits reset on the first of each month. Unlocked books stay in your library permanently.

T9Use the player

1. The mini player shows the cover, title and narrator. Click the title to open the book page.
2. Controls: "Back 15 seconds", the orange "Play"/"Pause" button, and "Forward 30 seconds". With a whole book loaded, "Previous chapter" and "Next chapter" appear on wider screens, with a counter such as "3/12".
3. The thin orange line along the top is the progress bar. Click it to jump; with it focused, use the arrow keys (5 seconds), Home and End.
4. The speed button shows "1×" and cycles through 0.75×, 1×, 1.25×, 1.5× and 2×.
5. On phones, tap "Expand player" for the full-screen sheet with a scrubber, "Chapter 3 of 12" and a "Speed" row. "Collapse player" or Escape closes it.
6. Chapters play on automatically. "Previous chapter" restarts the current one if you are more than three seconds in.
7. Lock-screen and headset buttons drive the same player. "Close player" (the ×) stops playback and saves your place.

T10Resume where you left off

1. While you listen, your position is saved in this browser every five seconds. Signed-in listeners also have their chapter and position saved to their account every fifteen seconds, and immediately on pause, close or chapter change.
2. Open the book page again. If you are past chapter one or more than ten seconds in, the main button reads "Resume Ch N". Click it to continue from your saved position.
3. In the chapter list, finished chapters show a green tick, and the current chapter shows a small progress bar and the tag "In progress".
4. On /account, the "Continue listening" shelf shows each book in progress with a percentage and "Ch 3 / 12". Click a cover to return to it.
5. Saved positions within ten seconds of the end are ignored, so a finished chapter replays from the start.

T11Share an audiobook

1. Below the narrator card, find the row labelled "Share".
2. The buttons are "Share on X", "Share on Facebook", "Share on WhatsApp", "Share on Telegram", "Share on LinkedIn", "Share on Reddit", "Share by email" and "Copy link".
3. "Copy link" changes to "Copied!" for a moment and puts the book's address on your clipboard.
4. The shared text reads: Listen to "[Title]" on Greenlight Audio. Links unfurl with the cover, title and author.
5. Book pages are indexed by search engines, except unlisted titles, which open from the link but are hidden from search.

T12Meet the narrators

1. The header reads "Narrators" with a line such as "63 voices across 2 languages. Each narrator is matched to the work — never assigned by spreadsheet."
2. A strip shows "Voices", "Books narrated", "Hours of audio" and "Languages".
3. "Voice tiers" offers three clickable cards: "Premium" ("Our most expressive voices…"), "Studio" ("High-definition studio narration…") and "AI", marked "retired" ("Retired in August 2026; these titles are being re-recorded on newer voices."). Click a card to filter the roster to that tier; click again to clear.
4. "Most prolific narrator" features the top Premium voice. Below it, search "Search narrators by name..." and sort by "Most books", "Most hours" or "A→Z". "Filter by language" chips follow.
5. Each roster card shows the name, tier, hours and titles (or "Newly cast" for a voice without a book yet), languages and up to two genres. Click a card for the narrator's page (T14).

T13Audition voices in the Voice Library

1. Scroll past the roster to "Voice Library". The heading reads "Premium Voices" by default.
2. Under "Category", choose "Premium Voices", "Studio Voices" or "Automated Narration". The intro line changes, for example "N Google Chirp 3 HD studio voices" or "N automated narration voices. Cost-effective, consistent…".
3. Narrow with "Tier" (when more than one exists), "Gender" ("Male", "Female", "Non-binary") and "Language".
4. Each card shows the voice name, badges such as "FEATURED", "LOW COST" or "STUDIO", a one-line description, gender, accent, age, a "best for" line and language tags.
5. Click a card to play its sample; click again to stop. Starting a voice sample pauses the main player so two streams never overlap.
6. Note the voice name and mention it in the "Notes" box when you request a production (T21).

T14Read a narrator's page

1. The breadcrumb reads "Narrators / [Name]". A portrait fills the left column; when no photo exists you see the narrator's initials instead.
2. "Audiography stats" lists "Books", "Total hours" and "Languages".
3. The right column shows the name, language tags, a bio when one exists, and chips for voice type and accent.
4. A summary line reads "[Name] has narrated N audiobooks for Greenlight Audio, totalling N hours of finished audio across N languages."
5. "Audiography" lists "Books narrated by [First name]" as covers with running time and genre. Click any cover to open the book.

T15Choose a listening plan

1. The heading reads "Pick your listening level". Four cards follow: "Listener" (Free), "Unlimited" ($9.99 per month, "Most popular"), "Audio Plus" ($49 per month) and "Audio Studio" ($129 per month).
2. Listener: "1 full audiobook per month — yours to keep". Unlimited: "Unlimited listening — the entire catalogue". Audio Plus: "10 audiobooks per month". Audio Studio adds "Self-publish 1 audiobook / month".
3. Small print under each paid card says how it is billed.
4. Click "Get Unlimited", "Upgrade to Audio Plus" or "Upgrade to Audio Studio". You are sent to sign in first if needed, then to Stripe Checkout. The button reads "Loading…" meanwhile.
5. Your current plan's card shows "✓ Current plan" and is disabled.

T16Manage your account

1. The page opens with "Welcome back, [first name]" and a "Submit audiobook" button. Four numbers follow: "In progress", "Finished", "Listening time" and "Playlists".
2. "Continue listening" shows books in progress (T10). With none, it reads "No listening progress yet — start an audiobook to see it here." with a "Browse catalogue" button.
3. "Your playlists" is next (T17).
4. "Subscription & billing" shows your plan, price and status. Free members see "See plans →". Paying members see "Manage billing →", which opens the Stripe portal for "Invoices, payment method, and plan changes". "Next charge:" shows the renewal date.
5. "Newsletter topics" lets you tick "New audiobooks", "Books" and "Film projects". Subscribers see "Subscribed as [email] — toggle topics to update your preferences." and "Unsubscribe from all →", which asks "Unsubscribe from the greenlight newsletter?".
6. "Profile" lists "Name", "Email" and "Member since", with a "Sign out" button.

T17Create a listening playlist

1. Open the avatar menu and click "Listening playlists", or scroll to "Your playlists" on /account.
2. Type a name (up to 80 characters) in the box labelled "New playlist name…" and click "New playlist". The button reads "Creating…" while it saves.
3. The playlist appears as a card with its name and "0 audiobooks".
4. With no playlists, the section reads "No playlists yet — name one above to start collecting audiobooks."

T18Subscribe to the newsletter

1. The page heading reads "Stay in the loop." with "One email per release, no fluff, unsubscribe any time."
2. Under "Topics", tick any of "Audiobooks", "Books" and "Film projects". "Audiobooks" is ticked by default. At least one topic must stay ticked or the button is disabled.
3. Type your address in the box ("you@example.com") and click "Subscribe". It reads "Subscribing..." meanwhile.
4. You then see "Almost there." and "Check [email] and click the confirmation link to start receiving updates for your selected topics." Nothing is sent until you confirm.
5. Subscribing again with the same address merges your topics and resends the confirmation if you never confirmed.
6. Signed-in members can also manage topics on /account (T16).

T19Unsubscribe from the newsletter

1. Open the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any Greenlight email. It carries your address and a signed token, and the page works only through that link.
2. The page shows "Unsubscribing [email]…" and then "Unsubscribed." with "[email] has been removed."
3. To come back, click "Re-subscribe", which goes to /newsletter.
4. Signed-in members can instead use "Unsubscribe from all →" on /account.

T20Read studio news

1. The page reads "News — New productions, distribution updates, and studio news." A "Subscribe RSS" button links to /feed.xml.
2. Search with "Search articles..." and filter by "All", "Announcement", "Industry", "Product" or "Guide"; each chip shows a count.
3. "Pinned" articles appear first in a wide card. Other articles appear two per row with category, date and author.
4. The sidebar lists "Recent" articles and a compact newsletter box ("One email per release.").
5. Open an article. It shows tags, the title, "By [author]" and the date, then the body. At the end, a "Share" row offers "Share on Twitter", "Share on LinkedIn" and "Copy link". "Back to News" returns to the list.

T21Request a production quote

1. Under "Live cost estimate", drag "Manuscript word count" (20K–200K) and pick "Starter", "Studio" or "Premium". "Production cost", "Audio length", "Turnaround" and "Est. annual royalty" update live.
2. "Pick a production tier" shows Starter $899 "Delivered in 30 days", Studio $3,499 "Delivered in 21 days" and Premium $8,999 "Delivered in 14 days".
3. Fill "Tell us about your book": "Your name", "Email", "Book title", "Word count", "Language", "Genre", "Upload manuscript" ("PDF · DOCX · ePub · RTF · TXT — up to 25MB") and "Notes for the production team (optional)". Name a preferred voice from T13 in the notes.
4. Click "Submit for production". You see "Submission received." and a promise to "reply within 48 hours with a project plan, narrator matches, and a final quote."
5. The request then moves through internal statuses: submitted, reviewing, in production, delivered or rejected. There is no status page; updates come by email.

T22Check whether you can self-publish

1. Open the avatar menu and click "Submit audiobook". The page reads "Your submissions" under "Self-publishing".
2. The intro explains: "Submit a self-narrated audiobook (or pre-recorded chapters) and a publisher will review, assign an audio ISBN, and put it in the catalogue. Studio tier subscribers can submit one audiobook per calendar month."
3. Audio Studio and Audio Studio+ members see "+ Start a new submission" and a counter such as "0/1 submissions this month".
4. Other members see "Upgrade to Studio →" and a box headed "Audio Studio plan required — Self-publishing is an Audio Studio benefit", naming your current plan.
5. Past submissions are listed with a status pill: "Draft", "Submitted", "Your review", "In admin queue", "Admin review", "Approved", "Published" or "Declined". Click a row for detail (T24).
6. "How it works" at the foot ends: "Your audiobook lives on greenlight-audio.com under your pen name."

T23Upload a self-narrated audiobook

1. The page reads "New audiobook — Upload your chapters as MP3, M4A, or WAV files. Each chapter as a separate file — order them after upload."
2. Fill "Title" (required), "Subtitle", "Pen name" (required), "Narrator name" ("Leave blank if same as author"), "Genre", "Back-cover blurb" (required; the counter reads "N / min 50 chars") and "About you".
3. Under "Cover art" ("Optional · 5 MB max · square works best"), click "Upload cover image".
4. Under "Chapter audio files" ("MP3 / M4A / WAV — 200 MB per file · 30 min total minimum"), click "Upload chapter files" and select several at once. Use "↑", "↓" and "×" to reorder or remove rows. OGG and AAC are accepted too.
5. At 30 minutes total, "Submit audiobook" becomes active. It steps through "Creating submission…", "Saving chapter list…", "Linking cover…" and "Submitting…", then shows "Submission received" and opens the status page.

T24Follow your submission through review

1. The page shows your cover, title, "by [pen name]", genre, chapter count and length, then a status card with a hint.
2. Straight after submitting, the status is "Your review": "Listen back to your chapters and approve to send to the publisher queue." An "Audit" box reports "Structural checks passed…" and that automated content audit "is not yet enabled".
3. Under "Chapters", each file has a small audio control. Listen through, then in "Your next step" click "Approve for publishing →". The status becomes "In admin queue" ("Awaiting publisher.").
4. A publisher then claims it ("Admin review"), reserves an audio ISBN and publishes it ("Published — Live on greenlight-audio.com."). Your narrator page appears once an admin verifies the name.
5. If declined, the status reads "Declined" with a "Reason" box.
6. "Withdraw this submission" asks "Permanently remove this submission? This deletes the uploaded audio." Confirm with "Withdraw". Unavailable once published.

T25Understand distribution and royalties

1. The heading reads "Everywhere your listeners already are." with the promise of "all 14 major audio retailers and library distributors".
2. "Live on Spotify" is a real shelf: "Not a promise — a shelf. N Greenlight audiobooks are live on Spotify right now. Tap any cover to listen." Sort by "Title", "Author" or "Newest"; click "Show all N" to expand. Each cover opens Spotify.
3. The "Royalty calculator" takes "Monthly units sold" (10–2,000) and a tier ("starter", "studio", "premium"; 60%, 70% or 80% share) and shows "Gross revenue", "After platform cut (~40%)" and "Your share".
4. "The 14 platforms" grid lists each retailer and library service (Audible, Spotify, Apple Books, Kobo, Storytel, OverDrive and others) with a region note.
5. "Where the money goes" and "How distribution works" (five steps from "Master file" to "Royalty collection") explain the flow.
6. At the foot: "Start a production" goes to /produce; "Distribute an existing file" goes to /contact.

T26Contact the studio

1. The page reads "Contact — For production inquiries, distribution questions, narrator applications, or general questions."
2. Fill "Name", "Email", choose a "Subject" ("Production inquiry", "Distribution question", "Narrator application", "Press / media" or "General inquiry") and write your "Message" (at least 10 characters).
3. Click "Send message" ("Sending…" while it goes). You see "Message received." and "We typically respond within 48 hours."
4. Direct addresses are listed below: "Production" produce@greenlight-audio.com, "Narrators" narrators@greenlight-audio.com, "General" hello@greenlight-audio.com.

T27Learn about the studio

1. "About Greenlight Audio" describes "an audiobook production studio for the on-demand era" that produces, distributes and monetises audiobooks.
2. "The model" box: "One studio, three services: production…, distribution (we push to 14 platforms automatically), and monetisation (we collect royalties monthly and remit on the 1st). Three tiers, no add-ons, no hidden fees."
3. "What we make" covers lengths "from 90-minute short fiction to 50-hour epics" and explains that the studio is non-native English-speaking and translates into and out of English, "quoted per title".
4. "Where to listen" names the fourteen platforms.
5. "Sister companies" links greenlight.film ("film and television development studio") and greenlight.publishing ("digital-first book imprint").

T28Connect an AI assistant to the catalogue

1. The page reads "Connect your AI assistant to the Greenlight Audio catalogue." The server name is "greenlight" and the endpoint is shown with a "Copy" button ("Copied!" after clicking).
2. "What you can do with audiobooks": browse and search (Free tier), chapter lists and durations (Starter), streamable chapter audio (Growth).
3. "Connect your host" gives instructions for Claude Code, claude.ai ("Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector"), ChatGPT and VS Code / Cursor.
4. "Authentication & tiers": sign in with your Greenlight account through OAuth, or create an API key at greenlight.film/api-docs. The table lists rate limits: Free "10 req/hour", Starter "100 req/hour", Growth "1,000 req/hour", Enterprise "10,000 req/hour".
5. "Example: from prompt to playback" walks through "Find a French-language Greenlight audiobook and queue up chapter one."
6. "Full API & tool reference" and plans live on greenlight.film.

Glossary

• Credit — one monthly unlock. Listener gets 1, Audio Plus 10; Unlimited and Audio Studio have no cap. Resets on the 1st of the month.
• Unlock / library — spending a credit puts a book in your library permanently ("yours to keep").
• Preview — the free 90-second excerpt on a title, playable by anyone. The grid's "Listen to chapter 1 free" button plays this excerpt.
• Listener / Unlimited / Audio Plus / Audio Studio / Audio Studio+ — the plan names. Studio+ is the film Producer plan seen from this site.
• Premium / Studio / Automated — voice tiers on books and in the Voice Library. The narrators page calls the retired automated tier "AI".
• Label — a themed grouping chip on a book page that filters the catalogue.
• NEW — badge on titles published within the last 30 days.
• Newer / Older — the arrows on a book page; they follow publication date.
• Submission — a self-narrated audiobook sent through /account/submit. Statuses: Draft, Submitted, Your review, In admin queue, Admin review, Approved, Published, Declined.
• Production request — a quote request sent from /produce. Internal statuses: submitted, reviewing, in production, delivered, rejected.
• Pen name — the author name printed on a self-published title.
• ISBN — the identifier a publisher assigns before a submission goes live.
• MCP — Model Context Protocol; the way AI assistants read the catalogue.
• Double opt-in — newsletter sign-ups send nothing until you click the confirmation email.

Coverage