How Much Does It Cost To Create An Audiobook?

Literally the most frequently asked question we encounter. And frankly, rightly so. 

When you’re investing your own money, you do need at least a ballpark to aim for to know whether it’s worth your time and effort to give it a go.

Although audiobooks are the fastest-growing book format in the world – by every measure – production volume, sales growth and increase in author revenue (wordsrated.com), you have to make the decision to produce an audiobook for your own reasons.

It could be that: 

you want fans to have the choice to purchase your book in a format that suits them

an increasing number of fans are consuming books on the move or while doing other things

you’d like to assist those that find reading difficult

your fans live worldwide in places where you don’t have physical book distribution

your fans live in places where the postal service is either expensive or unreliable

an audiobook is the next step in your marketing / profile-raising strategy

reviewers and potential new affiliates prefer to receive material in audio form.

The list could go on and on. But the main point is that only you can decide if investing in an audiobook is the right way for you to go.

3 Factors That Will Affect The Cost Of Your Audiobook

There are three main factors which will affect how much your audiobook will cost. They are word count, the narrator and distribution rights. Let’s look at each in turn. 

1. Word Count

The biggest factor affecting the cost of your audiobook production is the number of words in your book. Simply put, the longer the book, the more it will cost to produce. Most producers and narrators will charge you a ‘per finished hour’ (pfh) rate, which is a set fee times how long your finished audiobook is. For example, a producer may charge £350 pfh and your audiobook turns out to be 11 hours long. So 350×11= £3850. Be sure you know what’s included in that rate. For example, does it also include casting, your narrator, editor, proofer and your mastered audio files in a couple of formats? Some producers, like us at Bengo Media, will charge you a set fee for the whole production after we have spoken to you and worked out exactly what you need.

2. Narrator

The second biggest factor is the narrator you choose. You might think self-narrating would be cheaper than hiring a pro, but in fact, it could well cost you a lot more. 

That’s because your producer will need to spend more time with you, coaching  you through the narration, and you will almost certainly need to record in a professional studio because your temporary home set-up will probably not reach the sound quality that sophisticated listeners expect to hear. Add to that your travel expenses and the time spent away from your usual day-to-day activities.

However, if you do go for a professional narrator, their prices vary enormously depending largely on how well-known, or in demand, they are. A good, professional narrator, who isn’t a household name, will often surprise you by coming in well under the cost of you self-narrating. Also most of them now have professional home studios included in the price, saving you the cost of hiring a studio and paying travel expenses.

3. Distribution Rights

An often overlooked factor that can alter your audiobook production price is whether you are being given local/regional or global distribution rights for your production. As this is a digital product, you should always ask for a price that releases global distribution rights to you so that you can promote your audiobook on as many distribution platforms, to as many markets, as you see fit. 

Your Audiobook Estimate

If you know the length of your book (or have a good idea of what it will be), pop over to our audiobook production estimate calculator and get a rough price for a book that is professionally narrated and that comes with global rights. And you’re very welcome to get in touch with us at any time if you have any audiobook production questions we can help answer.