Option #2: Hire an ACX narrator for no upfront cost (royalty share) *Equipment can be repurposed for other projects or resold on Ebay or Amazon.
$155 to $750+ depending on what equipment you choose to use, plus the cost of your time. but Audacity has everything you need for audiobook recording.
Recording Software: Free ( Audacity) - There are other paid programs that can be used such as Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Reaper, etc.
Microphone Stand: $15 - $40 ( desktop or boom/clamp mount) Studio Monitor Headphones: $80+ ( Sony MDR 7506 or Sennheiser HD 280 PRO) Can also be used for podcasting/instruments.) Interface: $100+ ( Scarlett Solo or Scarlett 2i2 for dual narration. Microphone: $50-$500+ (I highly recommend the Rode Nt1-A Kit or Rode Nt-1 Updated Kit) If after carefully considering the pros and cons, you decide to move forward with recording your own audiobook, here’s a list of equipment that you’ll need: Equipment List 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.
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 interpretation of the manuscript.īudget - It can be less expensive to record your own audiobook than to hire a professional narrator for a flat rate fee. Listen to audiobooks in your genre that have good ratings and reviews and compare their performance skills to your own before proceeding.Ĭreative Control - If you want to have creative control over every aspect of the production, you may want to consider narrating/producing your own audiobook or working closely with a voice talent in a studio where you can act as the director. However, if you are a fiction author, you are going to need some acting skills (natural or learned) and a good working knowledge of what’s expected from performers of your particular genre. In fact, in most cases, the audiences of public figures and influencers expect that the book will be narrated by the author and may be disappointed if it is not. Genre - If you’re a non-fiction author with a following (YouTube, Podcast, etc.) chances are, your audience will respond favorably to you narrating your own audiobook (assuming you have at least average performance ability).
I walk through how to satisfy these requirements in greater detail in my book - Audiobook Recording: A Beginner’s Guide to Producing Audiobooks using Audacity. Technical Skill - Most audiobook publishing platforms (including ACX) have technical requirements that your audiobook must meet before it can be sold on Audible, Amazon, iTunes, etc. Performance Ability - Your ability to perform the narrative reading of your book in a way that connects with and meets the expectations your listeners. Whether it is a good idea to record your own audiobook or not is a whole other question and depends on a number of factors such as: If a publisher holds the audio rights to your book, you will need to discuss your options with them (and possibly negotiate a new contract) before proceeding. If you are a self published author or a published author who has retained the audio rights to your book, you have the option of recording your own audiobook and selling it through Audible via ACX or through dozens of other audiobook retailers via Authors Republic. Work out a “hybrid” agreement that includes both a royalty share and a flat rate component (usually the flat rate fee is significantly lower than with a straight PFH contract.)ĭeciding which option is best for you is a big decision, so let’s take a closer look at the costs involved with each option in greater detail.
Pay a flat “per hour” rate to have your book produced by a professional narrator (this is often refered to as a PFH contract) or When it comes to creating audiobooks, there are four main options that you can choose from:Įnter into a revenue share agreement with an audiobook narrator,
In this post, I’m going to walk you through the pros and cons of the different options mentioned above for recording your audiobook so that you’ll have a good idea of how much it will cost to make an audiobook.
In short, you could spend as little as $0 upfront to work with a narrator on ACX, invest $50 to $500+ in audio equipment if you choose to record your audiobook yourself, or spend between $50 to $400+ per finished hour to have your audiobook narrated by a professional. The real answer is that it depends on whether you record your audiobook yourself or hire a narrator or audiobook producer to complete the production for you. How much does it cost to turn your book into an audiobook?