Audible’s new proposed royalty structure is a slap in the face to authors, readers who care about them, and exactly opposite of what they promised Brandon Sanderson barely a year ago.
It is an attempt to seize a monopoly by punishing authors until they agree to exclusivity, which would drive Audible’s competitors out of the market.
Might I recommend the free software Caliber? It can strip DRM off of ebooks. It’s not as good as buying them without it to begin with, but it’s a solution.
https://calibre-ebook.com/
I also recommend this one
https://getlibation.com/
I used it to get my audiobooks out of my Amazon account before deleting it.