Audiobook
Audiobook Production and Distribution
Audiobook listeners are a different audience from print readers, and many of them never buy the paperback. We produce your audiobook to the technical standards retailers require and help you choose where to distribute it.
- Narrator chosen with you, not assigned
- Mastered to retailer audio specifications
- Corrections until the brief is met
- No lock-in on standard services
The problem
Audiobooks are rejected for technical reasons more often than creative ones
A narrator with a lovely voice, recorded in a spare room, can still produce an audiobook that retailers reject. Audio platforms have strict technical requirements on volume, peaks and background noise, and they check every file. ACX, the platform that supplies Audible, requires each file to sit between -23dB and -18dB RMS, with peaks no higher than -3dB and a noise floor no higher than -60dB RMS.
Then there are the problems listeners hear: mouth clicks, uneven volume between chapters, mispronounced names, a character who sounds different in chapter twenty. Producing an audiobook well means getting the performance and the engineering right.
Narration
Choosing who reads your book
Professional narrator
The usual choice for fiction and most nonfiction. We help you choose a voice that suits the genre, the point of view and the characters.
Author narration
Often the strongest option for memoir and expert nonfiction, where listeners want to hear you. We coach, direct and edit the recording.
Digital narration
Synthetic voices are cheaper and faster, but retailers apply their own rules to them, and some do not accept them. We explain where they can be sold before you choose.
Not sure which option fits?
Send us the brief. You will get a scope, a timeline and a fixed price within 24 hours — no obligation.
- Narration: help choosing a narrator, or direction if you read it yourself
- A pronunciation guide for names, places and specialist terms, agreed before recording
- Audio editing to remove mistakes, breaths, clicks and background noise
- Sound design where it suits the book, such as intro music, kept subtle
- Mastering and file formatting to the retailer's technical specifications
- Opening and closing credits, and retail sample clip
- Distribution set-up and publishing guidance
Length and cost
How long your audiobook will be
Audiobook production is usually measured in finished hours, the length of the final edited audio. The industry rule of thumb is about 9,300 words per finished hour, so an 80,000-word novel runs to roughly eight and a half hours. The real length varies with the narrator's pace and the amount of dialogue.
Producing one finished hour takes considerably longer than an hour: recording, retakes, editing, proofing against the text and mastering all add time. That is why audiobooks are quoted from the word count, and why longer books cost proportionally more.
Distribution
Where audiobooks are sold
ACX
Amazon's audiobook platform, distributing to Audible and Amazon. Offers exclusive and non-exclusive terms, with different royalty rates.
Wide distributors
Services such as Voices by INaudio, formerly Findaway Voices, reach other retailers, subscription services and library platforms.
Direct platforms
Some platforms, such as Spotify for Authors, accept non-exclusive uploads directly from authors.
Exclusive or wide
The main distribution decision
Choosing exclusive distribution through ACX generally means a higher royalty rate in return for selling only through Audible and Amazon. Going wide means a lower rate on Audible sales but access to other retailers and libraries. Terms change, so we check the current rates with you rather than quoting figures that may be out of date.
Free proposal
Tell us the goal. We’ll send the plan.
Share your requirements and a strategist gets back to you within 24 hours with scope, timeline and a fixed price. No obligation, no sales pressure.
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Response within 24 hours
Usually much sooner during business hours.
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Talk to a strategist
Not a call centre — the person who scopes your work.
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Fixed pricing upfront
You approve the number before anything starts.
Prefer to talk?
[email protected]Questions
Questions about audiobook production
Still unsure about something? Talk to a specialist — no script, no sales pitch.
Start with a final, edited manuscript, because changes after recording are expensive. Then choose a narrator, agree pronunciations, record, edit and master the audio to the retailer's specifications, and set up distribution. We manage that process and keep you involved at the casting and review stages.
A common estimate is about 9,300 words per finished hour. A 60,000-word book would be around six and a half hours, and a 100,000-word book nearer eleven. The narrator's pace and the amount of dialogue change this, so we confirm the estimate when we quote.
For memoir and expert nonfiction it can work very well, because listeners want your voice. It takes stamina and a quiet recording space, and requires careful editing. For fiction with many characters, a professional narrator is usually the better choice. We can give you an honest view after a short test recording.
You can produce one, but where you can sell it depends on each retailer's current policy on digitally narrated audiobooks, and some restrict them. We check the rules for the platforms you want before recommending digital narration. Policies in this area are changing, so we check them at the time of your project.
It depends on where you distribute it. Audiobooks are a separate format, so if one is used it must be different from your print and ebook ISBNs. Some platforms do not require one; some wide distributors do. We tell you what your chosen platforms need.
Exclusive distribution through ACX usually pays a higher royalty rate but limits you to Audible and Amazon. Wide distribution reaches libraries and other retailers at a lower Audible rate. If most of your readers already buy on Amazon, exclusive can make sense; if libraries or other stores matter, wide may be better.
Works well with
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Ready when you are
Ready to work with the pros?
Get a free proposal in 24 hours — scope, timeline and fixed price. No obligation, no lock-in contract.
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