Who we are
Let's get acquainted
BENARI is a platform for Russian-speaking readers and listeners: audiobooks, e-books and podcasts live in a single account. The audio player remembers where you stopped, the reader keeps its own page and chapter, and every book carries its own progress.
The catalogue currently holds Russian and world classics — Bunin, Kuprin, Gogol, Leskov, Bulgakov, Gorky, Andreyev, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, Janusz Korczak. Some editions are in the original English. Podcasts are already on air; the first season is free to listen to after free registration.
We are not a marketplace and not a file locker. The platform holds an editorial position: we decide for ourselves what we take, and we answer to the reader for every piece in the catalogue. The selection is strict — and that is the whole point. Getting in here is harder than uploading a file to a self-publishing service; in return your work stands not in an endless feed of uploads but beside the classics, and the reader opens it with the same trust.
Who we are looking for
Three roles, and they differ
Authors
Fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoirs, children's literature. A finished manuscript or an already published book whose rights are yours.
Podcasters
Your own podcast — running or planned. Conversational, literary, educational. Recorded material is welcome, but a description is enough to start.
Lecturers
We are only now growing the educational side, and our material is recorded rather than live. A finished lecture series is exactly what we need right now.
A good fit if
- the rights are yours and can be confirmed with documents;
- you are ready for editorial review and revisions;
- it matters to you that your work stands next to the classics rather than in a heap.
Not for us yet
- “upload and forget” — every piece goes through editorial review;
- material whose rights are disputed or cannot be confirmed;
- immediate sales volume: we curate, we do not trade in quantity.
How it works
Five steps
Not one of them happens behind your back.
Application
You register and receive a role — author, podcaster or lecturer. This is not a form sent into the void: the role opens a cabinet where everything that follows is visible. Each question is asked once and at the moment the answer is actually needed: rights before publication, payment details before the first payout.
Upload
Text, EPUB, audio, cover and rights documents all go up in one place. You confirm the rights, and we ask for the documents up front rather than after publication. The form includes an AI declaration — if AI took part in the text, translation, narration or cover, that has to be stated.
Moderation
First an automatic check of required fields and the technical soundness of the files, then the editorial one — rights, integrity, quality, metadata. You receive a first reply within 5 working days. How long publication takes depends on how many revisions are needed, and we name that in correspondence. The moderation history is kept and the status is visible in your cabinet — you will not have to write and ask how it is going.
Publication
A podcast goes out in stages: first the show description, then the season, then the episode. Each level is reviewed separately.
Catalogue
What is published enters the shared catalogue — the same place as the ratings and the collections. Readers find it the way they find the classics: through the catalogue, ratings and recommendations.
The exchange
What we ask and what we give
| You bring | We do |
|---|---|
| A manuscript, EPUB or audio | Check the recording quality and the metadata |
| A cover | Place the edition in the catalogue beside the classics |
| Rights documents | Run staged moderation with a visible status |
| Readiness to revise | Give you a cabinet where the whole history is visible |
What every published work receives
This is the guaranteed minimum — it is not negotiated separately and it is not for sale.
- a page with cover, title, your name, blurb, tags and age marks;
- a place in the shared catalogue and on themed shelves;
- search, plus the “More by this author” and “Similar works” blocks;
- a sample of text or audio, if one has been prepared;
- a creator page listing all of your material;
- a working reader or player that keeps position and progress;
- an interface in five languages — Russian, English, Spanish, Polish and German;
- access to that work's statistics in your cabinet.
Editorial collections, the home page, seasonal campaigns and external promotion are a separate matter: the editors decide those by their own plan. We do not sell them and do not promise them as part of the basic terms.
No small print
Rights and money
What stays yours
- authorship and moral rights;
- everything not transferred to us in writing;
- the right to publish on other platforms — the licence is non-exclusive by default;
- the right to demand a correction in metadata or in a report;
- the right to decline a future promotional campaign;
- the right to end the relationship by the procedure set out in the contract.
Silent exclusivity does not exist. If the contract carries no explicit exclusivity clause, the licence is non-exclusive and you are free to publish anywhere else as well.
About money
You confirm the rights to the work, and we ask for the documents before publication rather than after. It is the dull part, but it protects you as much as us.
We deliberately do not print percentages or payout schedules on this page. Not because we are hiding them, but because every project has its own circumstances: a short-story collection is one thing, a recorded lecture series another, a podcast with an existing audience a third. Terms, rights and the economics of a project are discussed in person.
What we can promise here: a report always shows four figures — the channel, the gross amount, the deductions and your rate. The platform's general costs — salaries, development, advertising, hosting — are never deducted from your base.
Getting ready
What to gather in advance
You do not need all of it at once — but the more is ready, the faster the conversation.
- Text — a manuscript in any readable format, or a finished EPUB.
- Audio — if a recording already exists. Requirements are below.
- Cover — if you have one. If not, we will discuss it. It has to read at a small size on a phone.
- Description — two or three sentences about what this is and who it is for. The reader will see the same words in the catalogue.
If you already have a recording
Here is what the editors check in audio — a handy list to measure yourself against beforehand:
- one sample rate and one file format across the whole edition;
- no clipping, no background hum, no abrupt jumps in loudness;
- clear division into chapters, correct order and correct file names;
- a short, safe sample prepared for preview listening;
- written rights to the text, the performance, the music and the sound design;
- author, translator, narrator, sound engineer and publisher stated precisely.
Part of this is checked automatically, and the analysis tells real clipping from isolated peaks — a single click will not get your recording rejected.
Questions
What people ask most
What does it cost to publish with you?
Nothing. We charge an author, podcaster or lecturer nothing for placement, storage, moderation, page setup or promotion — in no form whatsoever. If paid self-publishing has burned you before: there is nothing to pay here.
How much will I earn?
It depends on the project, and no honest figure can be named in a general text. We discuss it in person — before publication, not after.
How long does moderation take?
A first reply within 5 working days. After that it depends on how many revisions are needed; we name the timing in correspondence and do not promise what we cannot keep.
Do you edit the text?
The editors check rights, file integrity, quality and metadata — and send a specific list of remarks tied to fields and files. It is not a judgement of literary taste. Literary editing, if it is needed, is agreed separately.
My book has already been published. Is that a problem?
No, as long as the rights allow you to place it with us. That is exactly what the documents confirm. Our licence is non-exclusive by default, so the book can stay where it already came out.
My podcast has a small audience. Is there any point?
There is. Regularity and recording quality matter to us more than the size of the audience at the start.
I am not in Israel. Is that all right?
It is. We have no country restrictions. Your jurisdiction affects only the payout method and the tax paperwork — and that comes up when money does, not at the door.
What languages do you work in?
The platform's main language is Russian. Part of the catalogue is in the original English. The interface is translated into five languages, though the amount of content and support differs between them.
What happens if my material is not accepted?
A refusal is never silent. If the application is technically incomplete, you get the list of missing fields and can reapply straight away. If revision is needed, you get specific remarks. If publication is impossible for legal reasons, we name the reason. The history is kept, and you can come back to the application.
I used AI. Is that forbidden?
Not forbidden, but it must be declared. The application form carries a declaration: state whether AI was used for the text, translation, narration or cover, and to what extent.
Applying
How to apply
Through the cabinet
Register and receive a role. The most direct path: the cabinet opens at once, and everything after that is visible to you.
Create an accountBy direct message
Facebook or Instagram. We read every one.
Ready already?
What to put in the first message
- who you are;
- what you have — a manuscript, a recording, a lecture series;
- what shape it is in right now.
That is enough to start the conversation.