What Does an Audiobook Actually Cost to Produce?

The four real cost centres

Narration is the largest line item and is usually priced per finished hour. Mastering and quality control follow, then proofing against the manuscript, then distribution setup and metadata.

A useful rule of thumb: a finished audio hour is roughly 9,000 words of manuscript. Estimate your finished hours first, and every other number becomes predictable.

Royalty share versus paying upfront

Royalty share lowers your upfront cost and shares your long-term income. Paying upfront costs more today and keeps every future royalty. If your book has a long shelf life or a series behind it, paying upfront usually wins.

When to skip audio entirely

Heavily illustrated books, workbooks, and titles with dense tables rarely translate. If your existing ebook and print sales have not found an audience yet, fix discovery first — audio multiplies attention, it does not create it.