Your Guide to Audiobook Production Costs

How Much Does it Cost to Make an Audiobook?

It’s the question on every author’s mind these days: how much does it cost to produce an audiobook? The short answer is, it depends. Audiobook production costs can range from free to upwards of $7,000, depending on a few key factors, including the length of your audiobook manuscript, your narrator’s per finished hour rate, and your chosen production method. Whether you go the DIY route or enlist audiobook production services—like Author’s Republic’s fully managed audiobook production solution—is up to you. When budgeting for your audiobook production, consider your resources, including time and money, and weigh the pros and cons of each option. You may save money by handling everything yourself, but is the time investment worth it? On the flip side, hiring a professional narrator will be more expensive, but it may be worth it for the higher quality finished product. It’s important to understand what goes into the cost to produce an audiobook so that you make the best choices for yourself as an author. Let’s dive in!  

Audiobook Production Cost: 3 Options  

There are three main options for producing an audiobook, each with different levels of budget attached. You could record and produce the audiobook yourself, you could hire a professional narrator and producer, or you could outsource the entire production to a turnkey audiobook creation service.

   

Narrate & Record Your Own Audiobooks

To keep audiobook production costs low, you can opt for the DIY route, which includes everything from narration and recording to editing and mastering the audio, and more. While this is certainly the least expensive way to make an audiobook – with costs typically under $1,000 depending on how much equipment you already have – it is also the most labor-intensive, and it comes with the most risk. Unless you already have some experience with audio production and have some of the required gear, you may want to go with one of the other options for producing your audiobook to achieve a high-quality end result.

   

Hire a Professional Narrator

Depending on your skillset and specific needs, you can outsource some or all of your audiobook production work to save yourself time. Professional narrators typically charge based on the industry-standard per finished hour (PFH) rate which is based on the final word count of your completed manuscript. 

To estimate audiobook narration rates for your project, you’ll need to determine the expected run time of your audiobook in hours. Review your manuscript and exclude any sections that won’t be recorded, such as the table of contents, glossary, and copyright pages, to get your estimated audiobook length in hours. Narrators typically read at an average rate of 9,300 words per hour (155 words per minute). To calculate your audiobook's estimated final run time, take the word count of your finished manuscript and divide by 9300 (avg. words/hour). 

   

Word Count / 9300 = Estimated Audiobook Length in Hours

   

By that estimation, a 56,000-word transcript will work out to about 6 hours of finished audio.

Using that estimated audiobook length, you can then calculate your estimated audiobook production cost based on your narrator’s PFH rate using this formula:

   

Estimated Audiobook Length (hours) x The Narrator's PFH Rate = Estimated Total Cost to Produce your Audiobook

   

Audiobook narration rates can vary based on experience and other factors, but are typically in the $100-$250 PFH range. Assuming a PFH rate of $200, a 6-hour audiobook would cost $1,200 for professional narration. 

   

Use Fully Managed Audiobook Production Services

This all-inclusive package takes the pressure off of authors, leaving everything in the capable hands of expert production managers, like the ones at Author’s Republic. This turnkey service offering includes everything from finding the perfect narrator to editing the final audio files. While this service does come with a fee, it has its perks. Not only will you save time, you’ll also benefit from an experienced production team that can help you with promoting and selling your audiobook.

It's never been easier to create and sell your audiobook. Whether you narrate your audiobook yourself or hire a professional for your audiobook production, there are options for every budget level. If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck with your audiobook production budget, work with the Author’s Republic Studio and get access to promotion and distribution to listeners across more than 50 retail and streaming channels worldwide.

   

Create Audiobooks with the Author’s Republic Studio