Audiobooks have exploded in popularity over the past few years. People listen on their commutes, during workouts, while cooking dinner, and even before bed. For authors, this means more ways to reach readers. Audiobooks are not just a fun add-on anymore. They’re a powerful format that can bring in a steady income, build a bigger audience, and keep your story alive in someone’s headphones.
Making an audiobook isn’t just about grabbing a mic and reading out loud. There’s a whole process behind the scenes. And it can come with a wide range of costs. Some spend less than a few hundred dollars doing it all themselves at home. Others pay over fifteen thousand to hire top narrators, rent studio time, and work with full production teams.
This post will walk you through the actual costs step by step. By the end, you’ll know what each part costs, what’s worth paying for, and where you can save. Let’s break it all down, so you can make smart choices that fit your book and your budget
1. Key Cost Factors
Let’s look at what actually affects the cost of an audiobook. There’s no one-size-fits-all budget because what you choose to do yourself or outsource will change the total cost.
The most obvious is length. A longer book requires more recording time and more editing. You also might want to hire a professional voice actor or record the book yourself. That choice has a big impact on the total cost. Then there’s the space you record in. Renting a studio costs more than setting up your own room at home but can save you a lot of headaches if you don’t have experience with audio gear. Once your book is recorded it still needs to go through editing and mastering. And finally, there’s distribution. Some platforms let you keep a bigger cut of your sales. Others make it easier to reach big audiences but take a bigger slice of the earnings. Every step has a price tag and the total will depend on the path you choose.
2. How Audiobook Length Impacts Cost
The length of your audiobook is one of the biggest cost drivers. That’s because most Audiobook services charge by the finished hour. So a 6-hour audiobook will cost less to produce than a 15-hour one.
If you’re not sure how long your book will be in audio form, there’s a quick way to estimate it. On average, around 9,300 words equals one hour of finished audio. So a 60,000-word book would run about six and a half hours.
Common Length Benchmarks
- A 6-hour audiobook usually means around 60,000 words. These are often short novels or nonfiction guides.
- 10-hour audiobook lands near the 100,000-word mark. Many full-length novels fall into this category.
- A 15-hour audiobook means roughly 150,000 words. These are big books with detailed plots or in-depth nonfiction.
Cost Scaling Based on Length
If you want to keep things lean, a 6-hour audiobook can be made for around three hundred to two thousand dollars. That number includes basic narration and editing if you’re on a tight budget. But if you want a polished product with professional voice talent and post-production, you could spend over three thousand dollars. For a 10-hour audiobook, expect a budget of thee to four thousand on the low end. If you go for high-quality narration and expert editing, the price climbs to four thousand or more. And for a 15-hour audiobook, you’re likely looking at fifteen hundred to four and a half thousand dollars for budget-friendly production. Premium options can cost over seven thousand.
Keep in mind, that it takes more than an hour of work to create an hour of finished audio. Most professionals spend two to three hours recording and editing every single hour of audio. That time adds up fast as the book gets longer.
3. Narration
The voice of your audiobook can make or break the experience. A great narrator brings your story to life and keeps listeners hooked. But their voice doesn’t come cheap. Or, at least, not always.
Hiring a Professional Voice Actor
Professional narrators charge by the finished hour of audio. The rates depend on their experience. Newer talent might charge one hundred dollars per hour, while seasoned pros or union members can charge up to five hundred per hour or more. Let’s say your book is ten hours long. You could pay anywhere from one thousand to five thousand dollars just for the voice.
The upside? You’re getting someone who knows how to deliver lines smoothly. They understand pacing. And they rarely fumble.
Some platforms like ACX offer something called royalty-share. This means the narrator gets paid later by taking a share of the audiobook sales. It cuts your upfront cost to zero, but you’ll share profits for years. It’s a good option if cash is tight, but it’s not free in the long run.
DIY Narration
Now let’s say you want to narrate the book yourself. That’s totally doable. And a lot of authors try it. It’s affordable and it gives your audiobook an authentic touch.
Still, it’s not free.
You’ll need gear: a microphone, a pop filter, an audio interface, and a good pair of headphones. You’ll also need a quiet space to record. Most people spend somewhere between two hundred and one thousand dollars getting their setup in place.
AI Narration (Optional but Trending)
This is the new kid on the block. AI narration tools can turn your text into audio for a one-time fee, usually around fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars. It sounds cheap. And it is. But most AI voices still sound robotic.
4. Recording Setup – Studio vs. Home
The recording space matters a lot more than people think. It can shape the entire sound of your audiobook.
Option 1: Professional Studio
Recording in a pro studio gives you clean, crisp audio. No traffic noise, no echo. You also get access to a sound engineer who can guide the session and fix problems in real-time.
The price?
Studios charge by the hour. Rates range from fifty to hundred dollars per hour, depending on the location and the quality.
Recording a ten-hour audiobook usually takes around twenty to thirty hours. That means your studio bill alone could land somewhere between one thousand and three thousand dollars.
It’s not cheap, but it takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. Someone else handles the tech so you can focus on the read.
Option 2: Home Studio
If you’re on a budget or planning to record multiple books, setting up at home makes sense. It’s a one-time investment. Once you buy the gear and treat the room, you’re good to go for future projects.
A basic home studio can be built for two hundred to a thousand dollars. You’ll need a good mic, a stable mic stand, some basic soundproofing, and a recording program.
Make sure the space is quiet and treated with foam or blankets to stop echoes. Even a closet full of clothes can work in a pinch.
Done right, a home studio can get pretty close to professional results. But it takes time to get it right. And if the sound quality isn’t great, you might have to spend more later on editing or re-recording.
5. Post-Production (Don’t Skip This)
Post-production is where your audiobook turns from a raw voice file into something smooth and listener-ready.
Editing and Mastering
Editing is where mistakes get removed. This includes long pauses, background noise, mouth clicks or repeated takes. It makes the audio flow like a conversation, not a patchwork.
Professional editors charge around fifty to one hundred dollars per finished hour of audio. Mastering, which balances the volume and prepares the files to meet platform rules, adds another forty to one hundred dollars per hour.
Then comes proof-listening. This is when someone listens to the whole book with the text in hand, catching anything that was misread or missed.
Together, these services can add up. But skipping this part can ruin your audiobook. Bad edits or uneven volume will turn listeners off in seconds.
Full-Service vs. DIY
If you hire a full-service Audiobook production company, they’ll usually handle everything. You get the final files, ready to upload. No headaches. But the cost is higher. If you go solo, editing can take three to five hours of work for every finished hour of audio. That means a ten-hour audiobook might need thirty to fifty hours of editing work. It’s slow, but it saves cash if you know what you’re doing.
Some great tools to help with DIY work include Audacity, which is free, or programs like Reaper and Adobe Audition. They all do the job. You just need to learn your way around them.
6. Distribution Options (What’s the Real “Cost”?)
Once your audiobook sounds great, you need to get it into the hands of your audience.
ACX (Audible/Amazon)
ACX is a big name because it connects directly to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. They don’t charge a fee to upload. Instead, they take a percentage of each sale.
If you sign an exclusive deal with ACX, you get forty percent of each sale. Go non-exclusive, and your cut drops to twenty-five percent.
ACX also offers a royalty-share deal where you don’t pay anything upfront. The narrator gets half of your royalties instead. They also have a Royalty Share Plus option, which mixes a small fee with a royalty split.
These deals help if you’re short on cash, but they do reduce your long-term income.
Findaway Voices (Spotify-owned)
Findaway lets you sell through thirty or more platforms. They don’t charge upfront, but they take twenty percent of your royalty earnings.
One nice thing is that for sales on Spotify, you get to keep one hundred percent of the royalties. That makes it an attractive option if you want to go wide instead of exclusive.
You also get to set your own price and have more control over where your audiobook shows up.
Other Aggregators
Other options include Author’s Republic, Lantern Audio, and a few others. These work like Findaway. They help you reach more platforms and take a small cut of your royalties.
Self-Distribution
This means selling your audiobook directly through your own website or through platforms like Gumroad or Payhip. You keep most of the money, aside from small payment processing fees. But you’ll need to do your own marketing, handle file delivery, and provide support. That’s extra work. Still, for those with an audience in place, it can be a smart way to hold onto more of each sale.
7. Total Cost Estimates by Production Style
Let’s bring it all together. Depending on how you create your audiobook, the total cost can swing quite a bit.
| Production Style | 6-Hour Audiobook | 10-Hour Audiobook | 15-Hour Audiobook |
| DIY | $200 – $1,000 | $200 – $1,000 | $200 – $1,000 |
| Budget Pro | $800 – $1,500 | $1,200 – $2,500 | $1,800 – $3,750 |
| Mid-Range Pro | $2,000 – $3,500 | $3,500 – $6,000 | $5,000 – $9,000 |
| High-End Pro | $3,500 – $6,000 | $6,000 – $10,000 | $9,000 – $15,000 |
8. Cost-Saving Tips Without Sacrificing Quality
There are smart ways to save money without cutting corners on the final product.
- If you’re just starting out, look into royalty-share deals. That lets you make the audiobook with no up-front cost.
- Buying your own recording gear is another way to cut costs long-term. Once it’s set up, you can record at your own pace and use it again later.
- Free tools like Audacity and Reaper are great for editing if you’re on a budget. They may take some time to learn, but they work well.
- If you’re comfortable narrating, you can do that yourself and then hire a freelance editor to clean it up. That balance gives you quality without overspending.
- Some authors use their podcasting gear for audiobooks too. If you already have the mic and interface, that’s one less expense to worry about.
9. ROI and Revenue Potential
Audiobooks usually sell for fifteen to thirty dollars. Depending on your platform and deal, your share can range from twenty-five to eighty percent.
If your audiobook costs two thousand dollars to make, you’d need around one hundred sales at twenty dollars with a fifty percent royalty rate to break even. After that, it’s all profit.
That’s the beauty of audiobooks. Once they’re done, they can sell for years. You don’t need to keep printing or shipping anything. It’s a digital product with long-term earning power.
Plus, a good audiobook builds trust. Listeners often remember the voice and return for more.
What’s the Right Budget for You?
There’s no perfect number that fits everyone. It all depends on what you want out of the audiobook and how much you’re willing to do yourself. Focus on creating something that sounds good and connects with your listeners. If you need to start small and grow with each release, that’s perfectly fine.
I’ve seen authors start with one microphone and a closet studio and end up with full audiobook catalogs that keep selling year after year. The key is to start, make smart choices, and keep learning as you go.
And above all, take the time to make something that listeners will enjoy from start to finish. It’s worth the effort.
References
[1] ACX. Negotiate Your Perfect Deal with Royalty Share Plus. https://www.acx.com/mp/blog/negotiate-your-perfect-deal-with-royalty-share-plus
[2] Listening Books. What is Proof Listening? https://www.listening-books.org.uk/what-is-proof-listening
[3] Glassdoor. Audiobook Editor Salary. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/audiobook-editor-salary-SRCH_KO0,16.htm
[4] Recording Connection. How Much Do Music Studios Cost to Use? https://recordingconnection.com/reference-library/how-much-do-music-studios-cost-to-use/#:~:text=Most%20music%20studios%20charge%20an,rate%20can%20go%20even%20higher.
[5] PublishDrive. AI Audiobook Generators Reviewed. https://publishdrive.com/ai-audiobook-generators-reviewed.html
[6] Authors Republic. Your Audiobook Production Budget. https://www.authorsrepublic.com/learn/blog/64/your-audiobook-production-budget#:~:text=Using%20the%20PFH%20structure%2C%20the,%24400%2B%20Per%20Finished%20Hour).
[7] Authors Republic. Understanding Per Finished Hour Rates (PFH). https://www.authorsrepublic.com/learn/blog/65/understanding-per-finished-hour-rates-pfh
[8] Spotify Findaway Voices Support. What Does Per Finished Hour (PFH) Mean? https://support.spotify.com/gh/findawayvoices/article/what-does-per-finished-hour-pfh-mean/
