Here is the short explanation of the audiobook production business, what it takes to get your book narrated, and how much it costs.

Q: How much do people spend for audiobook production?

A: It seems the average cost spectrum to get a book fully produced into an audiobook is $2500 – 4000 or more. What are your best options?

Key factors:

1. A well-know narrator will command top dollar

2. Seeking additional editing and mastering requires more time and money

3. Book length figures in to your final costs

You can spend less to get your book recorded, but beware of the quality and lack of expertise.

The real answer is going to depend on whether you record your audiobook and self-publish or whether you hire a narrator PLUS an audiobook producer.

Or you hire an independent producer with both talents, but not interested in future royalties.

Here are some possibilities:

1. Invest $100 – 1000 in audio equipment and learn to record and produce.

Learn how to capture quality audio as well as to learn how to edit and produce the audio. You’ll also need to understand the technical production quality requirements of Audible, Findaway Voices, and Author’s Republic.

2. Enter into a revenue sharing agreement with an audiobook narrator.

You can find narrators who will split your book sales 50/50. Different platforms offer different deals. For example at ACX, you pay a reduced rate upfront and then receive 50% of royalties for 7 years. A downside is that your audiobook can only be sold on the Audible and ITunes platforms. The Findaway Voices revenue sharing is reduced up front cost and the narrator receives 20% of royalties for 10 years.

3. Pay a Per Finished Hour rate (2025 cost range is $100 – 300, less experienced narrators at the lower end).

This is a way to pay a narrator according to the number of words. To give yourself an idea of the cost: divide the total number of words by 9,300 to get an idea of how many hours the narrator will charge you for. This is most likely not your total cost. Not all narrators will ALSO produce the audio, which will be an additional PFH charge.

4. Find a hybrid deal between PFH and revenue sharing.

PROs

There are a few PROs going with the above scenarios. If you decide to invest in the equipment, you can retain all control and aren’t sharing any revenue. You’ll also learn for your next project. The revenue sharing/PFH options might be viable if you’re on an extremely tight budget.

CONs

There are many more cons to consider in all four above scenarios. 

1. You must enter into exclusive distribution contracts with revenue sharing and many PFH deals. In other words, no WIDE distribution.
2. You’ll be sharing royalties for many years unless you DIY and keep control.
3. You’ll lose out on book revenue. Narrators who charge up front plus royalty deals are collecting consistent revenue. It’s not beneficial for most authors unless they can generate consistent sales.
4. You might not attract experienced narrators. Audiobook narrators that have invested time and money into their studios tend to be warry of accepting projects that don’t have prospects for sales.
5. Be aware that actual audio production studio costs are on top of narration fees in most cases.
6. Most narrators will not be promoting your book(s).
7. For DIY, you’ll have a large learning curve of being an audio engineer and producer, plus learning how to produce audio files specifically for distribution. It’s doable, though.

Q: What is my best option?

A: Unless you are agreeable to the options above, find a narrator that is strictly paid to record and produce the audio. No revenue sharing.

It’s a bonus if you can find a narrator who also knows how to edit and produce the audio, plus knows how to produce the audio files at the quality needed to upload at ACX, Findaway Voices, and Author’s Republic.

Your brain will be relaxed simply knowing that the revenue sharing part of the equation has been removed. You pay the fee or fees and then you’re done. Free to collect all the revenue without splitting anything.

What should you look for when seeking such a narrator?

Performance Ability – The ability of the narrator to read your book passionately and appropriately. You need them to connect with your listeners and meet their expectations–as well as your expectations that they can interpret your intended emotions as an author.

Technical Skill – I mentioned that most audiobook publishing platforms have technical requirements that their audio must attain. Many authors are not audio engineers and don’t need to understand this criteria, but their hired editor or producer MUST.

Your total cost to produce your audiobook includes narration plus audio production. Seek a narrator who is qualified for both technical skills to reduce your costs.

Creative Control – If you want to have creative control over every aspect of the production, consider hiring a  narrator/producer who seeks your guidance on the tone and voice character of your audiobook. Choose to work closely with a voice talent in a studio where you can act as the director. Or, be comfortable with the direction they want to take your audiobook. Ask for work-in-progress samples.

When working with freelance narrators online, you typically have to give up a lot of creative or directional control once you have chosen a narrator and trust their job progress and their interpretation of the manuscript.

Budget – It can be less expensive to record your own audiobook than to hire a professional narrator for a flat rate fee. At a minimum you will need to purchase basic equipment, but it can be used again on your own projects or you may even choose to do some freelance narrating of your own once you learn the process.

Q: Where do I go from here? How can I retain control of the creative process and royalties, but hire the right talent?

A: Hire an independent narrator/producer who is not interested in taking a piece of your book sales.

The bottom line: it sucks trying to get your audiobook recorded without spending a ton of money and/or giving away half of your royalties for years to come.

My humble solution: Hire me. Select the work-made-for-hire model and hire me or someone to do a job and that’s the end of my involvement.

I have simpler rate for narrating and producing audiobooks. After I ask you a few questions, I am going to send you an offer. My offer will have nothing to do with taking your future royalties. Your product will always remain yours. You are hiring me as a voice talent, project director, and audiobook producer. This is known as a work-made-for-hire with no future claims on your book.

My price will not be as expensive as the top narrators and producers but it will not be low. It will be reasonable, however.

There are extras that I will provide such as:

• Work-in-progress samples.
• Closely work with you on determining the passion needed for your project.
• Private server space for audio delivery.
• I will guarantee that the quality will be up to the standards of Audible, Author’s Republic, and Findaway Voices.
• You will not have to hire an additional audio producer to finalize your files. This service is included.
• No charge for the time necessary for production extras such as the inclusion of background music or marketing blurbs.
• Communication with you if any question about pronunciations
• Consultation with you if I feel an area might be expanded on or told differently because of the audiobook format.

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Visit https://payhip.com/b/OJmgt  and we’ll start the conversation about your project.

Here is the price schedule page: https://songs4god.net/audiobook-price-schedule/

Find my email at the PayHip page and ask me about the next available start date. Depending on the project, I aim for a 60-day turnaround.

Audio Samples

Six audiobooks. Five audio samples are found at https://www.audible.com/search?searchNarrator=Stephen+Robert+Cass

• 101 Things Every Man Should Know by Dak Frederick
• Worship Songs and the Law by Stephen Robert Cass
• The 5 Keys to a Clear Mix by Stephen Robert Cass
• The 5 Steps to Get Your Songs Heard by Stephen Robert Cass
• Establishing a Culture of Lead Worshipers by Stephen Robert Cass
• How to Be a Worship Songwriter by Stephen Robert Cass audio sample can be found at https://howtobeaworshipsongwriter.com
• Iron Sharpens Iron by Stephen Robert Cass is in process and will be released in the fall of 2025.
• All the audiobooks, graphics, and companion documents of the books of Stephen Robert Cass are found at https://youtube.com/@StephenRobertCass

Hire Stephen Robert Cass

Save on finding a narrator plus a final product audio producer. Visit https://payhip.com/b/OJmgt.

Here is the price schedule:  https://songs4god.net/audiobook-price-schedule/

My studio:

ProTools