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Audiobook Narrator Rate Guide
Ways Narrators Get Paid
There are 3.5 ways that a narrator gets paid:
1 - Per Finished Hour (PFH) (this is the most common)
2 - Per Studio Hour/Per RAW Hour
3 - Royalty Share
3.5 - Royalty Share+
Here’s what they mean:
1. Per Finished Hour:
This is the industry standard when paying narrators. This rate is based on the total length of the finished project. It doesn’t matter how long it takes the narrator and/or producer to finish the project, all that matters in terms of billing is how long the audiobook is when it’s done.
For instance, if the narrator’s rate is $135 PFH, and when the project is complete, the total length of the audiobook is 10.3 hours, you would pay $1,390.50 ($135 PFH x 10.3 hours).
2. Per Studio Hour/Per RAW Hour:
This is where you pay a narrator for how long it takes them to record the book. You are basically paying them for every minute they are in front of the microphone.
Generally, this is not a common way audiobook narrators get paid, and you will likely not run into this, but it’s important that you understand the difference.
For instance, if the narrator’s studio rate is $200/hour, and you have a 10 hour book, it may take the narrator 15 hours to record it. In this case, you would pay $2,000 for the studio fee. This may not include editing and production, so you would simply have raw audio, and would need to pay someone additional monies to complete the project.
3. Royalty Share
This is a payment method seen on ACX (Audible Creators Exchange, the site that many independent rights-holders and narrators use to connect), though you may see it on other sites as well.
In Royalty Share, you wouldn’t pay the narrator anything up front. When the book publishes on Audible, rather than you collecting all royalties as the rights-holder, 50% of the royalties will go to your narrator.
Royalty rates can vary from 25%-40% of the retail price depending on the way you distribute the audiobook: on a $10 book, you as the rights-holder would get anywhere from $2.50-$4.00 per sale under normal circumstances, and with Royalty Share, half of your royalties would go to the narrator/producer.
3.5 Royalty Share+
This is a hybrid approach that ACX released in 2019 where in addition to paying the normal share (50%) of your royalties to the narrator, you would also agree to either a flat rate (one-time payment) or a PFH rate to them to produce the book for you.
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Industry-Standard PFH Rates
As PFH is the most common way that narrators get paid, that is what will be discussed here.
These are the average rates you should expect to pay for non-union, professional audiobook narration.
Inexperienced narrator: $85-$100 PFH
Moderately Experienced: $90-$150 PFH
Very Experienced: $150-$250+ PFH
Experience level is based on the number of books that the narrator has completed, though there is no set guideline for how many books would constitute "moderately experienced” versus “very experienced”. As a rule of thumb, moderately experienced narrators should have at least 30 books to their name.
For more information on Union rates (voiceover talent, when they are in a union, are in SAG/AFTRA), please check out the GVAA Rate Guide.
Evaluating Narrator Rates
What are some of the criteria you should take into consideration when determining a) which rate (PFH vs Royalty Share/+, the most common options available via ACX) and b) how much to pay?
Experience
As mentioned above, this can be a bit subjective, but the more books a narrator has produced, the more experience they have.
A brand-new narrator will likely not be demanding $150 PFH (or, at least, they shouldn’t unless they are supremely talented, skilled, or have had loads of training prior), just as someone who has narrated 45 epic fantasy books will not look at rates less than $150 PFH in most cases.
Also look to see, if they are looking for a higher rate, that in addition to the number of books they have completed if there repeat clients (they’ve narrated a series). This can be a good indication that the work they do is good enough to get repeat business.
Quality
In addition to quantity, listen to the quality of the recordings that they have done. Does the production value meet what you are looking for? Does it sound like they are “reading” or narrating (performing)?
Genre/Length
What is the genre of your book? Is it a non-fiction book about business strategy requiring industry-specific lingo, or an epic fantasy with dozens of characters? Is it a 3-hour long read, or will the finished project be 20 hours of completed audio?
The more challenging the project (required vocabulary, required recording time, required editing time), the more you should expect to pay a narrator.
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The link to the calculator at the top of this page can help you with an estimate of how long a project may take.
Budget
What is your budget for this project? If you don’t have any budget, you may need to use Royalty Share. Maybe you only have a little saved up for this, in which case you will be looking at narrators in the $90 PFH range. Or maybe this is your magnum opus, and you will spare no expense to get the best possible narrator.
In any case, understand that your budget will directly translate (usually) to the level of experience your narrator will have. Again, see the link at the top of this page for a calculator that can help you do the math on this.
Royalty Share versus PFH
As was shown in the section above, Royalty Share means that you share 50% of your royalties with the narrator.
This does not mean 50% of the retail price. Audible takes the lion’s share of that in even the best scenarios (if you allow them exclusive rights to distribute the audiobook, you will get 40% of the retail price; it’s lower the less exclusivity Audible has).
In order to evaluate this fairly, you should know about how an audiobook is produced. You can get the more in-depth version here, and here is the condensed, simplified version:
Narrator records the book
Narrator edits out all of the bad takes/breath and mouth sounds
Narrator listens to the track while reading the manuscript to check for accuracy
Narrator masters the files
Generally this is a 3:1 time ratio: for every finished hour of audio, the narrator or producer invests 3 hours of their time. A 10 hour book would take them 30 hours to produce.
Now, if a 10-hour audiobook is selling for $20, you will get $8 in royalties (at a 40% royalty rate for exclusive distribution through Audible). With Royalty Share, you (and by that, I mean that ACX/Audible will do this for you) would give half of that to your narrator; you each make $4 off of that one sale.
In order for that narrator to make the amount that would have been paid at a $135 PFH rate via Royalty Share, you would need to sell 337 books at a minimum. (I say minimum because depending on how the book is purchased, i.e. did someone buy it during a sale or via their unlimited subscription, which would lower the price and thus result in lower royalties.)
The Upside:
If you sell a ton of books over the next months or years, the narrator stands to make more than what the PFH rate would have netted them.
The Downside:
If your book doesn’t sell well, or at all, the narrator stands to make nothing or far, far less than their PFH rate for the 30 hours they put into producing it.
In order to convince an experienced narrator to work for Royalty Share and potentially give up their time from a PFH project for yours, you would need to make a very strong case regarding how you will market the book. You should also be very honest with yourself about how this book will sell.
Many new narrators will look at the Royalty Share option, as it is a way to dip their toes in the water without worrying about having someone spend a substantial amount of money on an unknown quantity; they may also find that their current skill level isn’t getting them any of the paid gigs (which are likely going to more experienced narrators), and Royalty Share is where the work is at for them.
Does this mean you shouldn’t do Royalty Share?
No, not at all. If you don’t have the budget for paying the PFH rate, and don’t anticipate that you will, but would still like to have your manuscript turned into an audiobook, Royalty Share is a great option.
Also, you will likely be giving someone who is either new or trying out voice acting as a new career or side hustle a chance to cut their teeth on audiobook narration. As long as you go in with open eyes as to the challenges of using someone new to the industry, this can be a positive experience for both of you.
And, in the end, if you post a project for Royalty Share, and someone agrees to work for Royalty Share, that’s between the two of you. No one is forcing a very experienced voice actor to work for Royalty Share, and no one is forcing anyone to audition for your project.
The key: be transparent. Don’t post a job for a PFH rate or Royalty Share+ and then, after receiving auditions, try to get the narrator to work for Royalty Share. That is a bait-and-switch, and won’t win you friends in the industry.
Red Flag: Super Low Rates
Beware of narrators willing to work for rates below $85 PFH. This is not to say that they won’t give you a good product; that said, the lower the rate, the more likely this is not an experienced person with any training, know-how, or the correct equipment. Depending on where you found the narrator, you are also risking fraudulent behavior on their part (where they take the money and run, or never provide the files, or just keep your project locked up).
This does not mean than people working for low rates will automatically attempt to scam you, merely that it could be a red flag when combined with other warning signs.
It does mean, though, that the person working for lower-than-standard rates may not have the knowledge to properly produce your book.
If they are offering to work for a lower rate, it’s time to start asking lots of questions to understand why they are willing to work for so much lower than the industry standard.
It is not an automatic disqualifier, merely a prompt to dig deeper and find out more information.
