PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Audiobook

How to Cite an Audiobook in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for an audiobook gives the author's last name and first name, the book title in italics and title case, Narrated by and the narrator's name, audiobook ed., the audio publisher, such as Random House Audio, and the year. The app you listened in, like Audible or Libby, stays out of the entry. When you quote, give the timestamp in place of a page number: (Skloot 01:02:15).

The format

Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book: Subtitle. Narrated by First Name Last Name, audiobook ed., Audio Publisher, Year.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 27, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

In PERRLA, choose Book, then Book, e-book, or audiobook, then All or part of a book. Add the author, then add a Narrator contributor for each person who reads the book. Type Audiobook in the Format box, and enter the audio publisher and year from the audiobook's own details. PERRLA writes Narrated by, joins two narrators with and, adds audiobook ed. in the right spot, and handles the title case and italics.

Quoting a passage? When you add the citation, choose Time as the location and type the hours, minutes, and seconds where the quote begins. PERRLA writes the timestamp with colons: (Skloot 01:02:15).

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author

Start with the author of the book, not the narrator: last name, a comma, and first name, then a period. The narrator gets credit later, after the title.

Skloot, Rebecca.

Authors who read their own books get both credits: they're the author up front and the narrator after the title.

2. Title

Write the book's title in italics and title case, with a colon before any subtitle, followed by a period.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.

3. Narrator

Right after the title, write Narrated by and the narrator's name in normal order, first name first, followed by a comma. Two narrators are joined by and. Three or more: give the first narrator and et al.

Narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin,

Copy the narrators from the audiobook's credits. The publisher's page usually lists them as "Read by."

4. audiobook ed.

Next comes the version, which tells your reader you listened instead of reading: audiobook ed., followed by a comma. It's lowercase here because it follows the narrator. MLA marks an e-book the same way, with e-book ed.

audiobook ed.,

If the audiobook is abridged, add that word to the version too, since the recording leaves parts of the book out. A numbered edition of the book comes before it: 2nd ed., audiobook ed.,

5. Publisher

Name the company that published the audio edition, followed by a comma. It's often a separate audio imprint of the book's publisher, like Random House Audio or Macmillan Audio. Leave out the city.

Macmillan Audio,

Audible, Libby, Spotify, Apple Books, and Hoopla are where you listened, not who published, so they don't belong in the entry. The one exception is a book Audible itself produced, like an Audible Original, where Audible really is the publisher.

6. Year

End with the year the audiobook was published, then a period. You'll find it on the publisher's page for the audio edition, often listed as the release or on-sale date.

2014.

Examples

An audiobook with two narrators, quoted with a timestamp

Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, read by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin, from Random House Audio. Both narrators are named, joined by and. This citation quotes a passage that begins 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 15 seconds into the recording.

  • In-text citation(Skloot 01:02:15)
  • Narrative citationAs Skloot writes, … (01:02:15).

An audiobook with one narrator

Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, a common read in nursing and palliative care courses, read by Robert Petkoff and published by Macmillan Audio in 2014. This citation quotes a passage 42 minutes and 10 seconds in.

  • In-text citation(Gawande 00:42:10)
  • Narrative citationGawande observes that … (00:42:10).

An audiobook read by its author

Brené Brown reads her own Dare to Lead, published by Random House Audio in 2018. She's listed once as the author and again as the narrator. This citation paraphrases the whole book, so it needs no timestamp.

  • In-text citation(Brown)
  • Narrative citationBrown argues that …

In-text citations

An audiobook's in-text citation is the author's last name, the same as for a print book. In place of a page number, give the timestamp where the passage begins. Narrators never appear in the in-text citation.

  • A quote: the timestamp as hours, minutes, and seconds, with colons between them and no comma after the name: (Skloot 01:02:15)
  • Under an hour in: the same pattern: (Gawande 00:42:10)
  • A range: give the start and the end, joined by a dash: (Skloot 01:02:15–01:03:02)
  • A paraphrase of the whole book: the name alone: (Brown)
  • Name in your sentence: give the timestamp alone at the end: As Skloot writes, … (01:02:15).

Copy the time from your player. Don't swap in a page number from a print copy you didn't read: the timestamp is what lets a reader with the same audiobook find your quote.

Common mistakes

  • Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Narrated by Robert Petkoff, audiobook ed., Audible, 2014.Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Narrated by Robert Petkoff, audiobook ed., Macmillan Audio, 2014.Audible sells and streams the audiobook; Macmillan Audio published it. Name the publisher, not the app.
  • Campbell, Cassandra, and Bahni Turpin. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin,The author leads the entry. Narrators go after the title, with Narrated by.
  • (R. Petkoff, Narr.) [Audiobook].Narrated by Robert Petkoff, audiobook ed.,That's APA. MLA writes Narrated by and the full name in normal order, and marks the audiobook in the version spot.
  • (Skloot, 1:02:15)(Skloot 01:02:15)MLA puts no comma between the name and the location, and its own examples give each part of the time two digits: 01:02:15.
  • (Skloot, ch. 7)(Skloot 01:02:15)For a quote from an audiobook, give the timestamp, so a listener can find the exact spot.

Quick checklist

  • Author first, never the narrator
  • Title in italics and title case
  • Narrated by and the narrator's full name, after the title
  • audiobook ed. after the narrator
  • The audio publisher, never Audible, Libby, or another app
  • The audiobook's year at the end
  • A timestamp in hours:minutes:seconds for every quote

Questions students ask

Do I have to say I listened to the audiobook?

Yes, if the audiobook is what you used. MLA asks you to cite the version you consulted, and a timestamp only makes sense for the recording. The narrator and audiobook ed. tell your reader which version that is.

Do I include Audible in an MLA citation?

No. Audible is the store and app where you listened, and MLA leaves out the platform you downloaded the audiobook from. Use the audiobook's publisher instead, which you'll find on the publisher's page or in the audiobook's details. The exception is an Audible Original, where Audible is the publisher.

How do I cite a quote from an audiobook in MLA?

Use the timestamp where the quote begins, in place of a page number, with no comma after the name: (Skloot 01:02:15). Write hours, minutes, and seconds, separated by colons, as your player shows them.

What if the author narrates the audiobook?

List the author first as usual, and also name them as the narrator after the title: Brown, Brené. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Narrated by Brené Brown, audiobook ed., Random House Audio, 2018. The in-text citation is still just (Brown).

Which year do I use for an audiobook?

Use the year the audiobook edition came out, from the publisher's page for the audio edition. For an older work recorded much later, like a classic, you can add the year the book first came out right after the title, as you would for a republished book.

What if there are three or more narrators?

Name the first narrator and add et al.: Narrated by Claire Danes et al. Two narrators are both named, joined by and.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements: author, title, other contributors, version, publisher, and date) and chapter 6 (in-text citations, including time stamps for audio and video), and the MLA Style Center's posts on citing an e-book (the version element) and citing an audiobook (written for the eighth edition; used here for the narrator, the time stamp, and leaving out the download site). Example sources are the ones verified for the APA 7 page: each audiobook's page from its publisher, Penguin Random House and Macmillan, with the Penguin Random House pages re-opened Oct 27, 2026.

PERRLA adds Narrated by, audiobook ed., and the timestamp, so your audiobook entry comes out in the MLA format.

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