Our Audiobook Production Process — What to Expect
A friendly walk-through of how we produce your audiobook: how narrator selection works, what 'finished hours' really means, ACX/Audible delivery specs, and exactly how the recording, editing, and mastering stages run.
Audiobook production is closer to making a film than printing a book. The narrator is your protagonist's voice for 6+ hours; the engineering decides whether listeners stay or skip; the platform compliance decides whether Audible accepts the upload. None of those choices have a one-size-fits-all answer. This page walks you through how we work through them with you — narrator auditions, finished-hours scoping, post-production, and exactly which platforms we deliver to — so you commission with full information, not vibes.
1Before You Order: How Long Will Your Audiobook Be?
Audiobooks are scoped by finished hours, not by word count, but the two are tightly correlated. The industry rule of thumb is roughly 9,300 words per finished hour — so a 60,000-word novel typically lands at ~6.5 finished hours. Pick your tier (3, 6, or 10 finished hours) based on your manuscript word count; if you land between two tiers, the smaller one with extra-hour add-ons is usually cheaper than the next tier up.
💡 Pro Tips
- 60k words ≈ 6 finished hours (good fit for the Standard tier)
- 90k words ≈ 10 finished hours (Premium tier territory)
- Non-fiction often runs slightly faster (fewer dialogue beats); literary fiction slightly slower
- Finished hours are AFTER editing — the raw studio time per finished hour is typically 6.4× longer
⚠️ Important
- Don't underestimate the runtime — ACX rejects audiobooks that don't match the declared duration
- Forewords, dedications, and back-matter (acknowledgements, about-the-author) count toward total runtime — include them in your word count
- Bonus content like discussion guides or chapter notes is best recorded as a separate optional file rather than padded into the main runtime
Not sure how many finished hours your book will be?
Run your manuscript through our free Word Count Calculator and divide by 9,300 to get a quick finished-hours estimate. Or send us the manuscript at intake — we'll quote the right tier and flag if you're better off with extra-hour add-ons rather than the next package up.
2What "Finished Hours" Actually Means
Audiobook industry standard: a finished hour is one hour of polished, listener-ready audio in the final master. It is NOT the raw studio recording time. A typical finished hour requires 6–7 hours of actual studio work: 2–3 hours recording, 1–2 hours editing pickups and breath/lip-smack removal, 1 hour mastering for ACX loudness compliance, and 30 minutes of QC listening. That's why finished-hour pricing isn't 'per-hour-of-work' — it's per delivered, broadcast-ready hour. The narrator's pay-per-finished-hour rate, the engineer's edit time, and platform compliance overhead are all baked in.
💡 Pro Tips
- All audiobook industry pricing is in finished hours, not raw record time
- The same number of finished hours costs the same whether the narrator nailed it on take 1 or take 20 — that's our risk, not yours
- If you've heard a £100/hour narrator rate quoted somewhere, that's likely PFH (per finished hour) — same unit
3How the Process Works — Step by Step
Every audiobook project follows the same five-step rhythm. Most projects take 3–6 weeks from green-light to delivery — driven primarily by narrator availability and your sample-approval turnaround.
You complete the audiobook intake form
Genre, target listener, sample chapter you want narrated for the audition, voice notes (gender, age range, accent, energy), and any pronunciation guides for unusual names or invented terms. Takes about 15 minutes.
We send you 3 narrator auditions
Each narrator records a 2–3 minute audition from your sample chapter. You hear the actual voice, the actual prose rhythm, the actual character work — not a generic demo reel. Pick the one that fits.
Sample chapter approval
Before recording the whole book, your chosen narrator records the first chapter (or 5–10 minutes, whichever is longer) and we send it for sign-off. This is your last chance to refine direction (pace, character voices, tone) — easy at this stage, expensive at the full-record stage.
We record, edit, master, and QC the full book
Narrator records in studio with a director listening for performance issues. Engineer cleans the audio, removes mouth noise and breath spikes, masters to ACX loudness specs (-23 to -18 dBFS RMS, ≤ -3 dBFS peak, 60 dBFS or quieter noise floor). QC pass against the manuscript catches dropped words and inconsistencies.
We deliver ACX-ready files
MP3, 192 kbps CBR, 44.1 kHz stereo, ID3 tags — exactly what Audible/ACX, Findaway Voices, Spotify Audiobooks, Apple Books, and Google Play Books require. One file per chapter, opening and retail-sample files included.
4Narrator Selection — The Single Biggest Decision
The narrator is your book for the listener. A great narrator can lift a decent manuscript; a wrong-genre narrator can sink a great one. Our auditions are deliberately specific — we cast against your sample chapter, not against a generic demo, because narrator fit is contextual to YOUR prose.
💡 Pro Tips
- Match genre register: a narrator who's brilliant for cosy mystery may be entirely wrong for hard sci-fi
- Match listener expectation: thriller listeners expect grit; romance listeners expect intimacy; business non-fiction expects authority
- Pay attention to how dialogue lands — character voices are where amateur narration cracks
- If you're choosing between two strong auditions, send both to a beta listener — listeners pick narrators emotionally, you'll over-think it analytically
⚠️ Important
- We don't recommend authors narrate their own books unless they have prior recording experience — author narration sounds amateur on Audible's compliance check more often than not
- If you have a specific outside-our-roster narrator in mind, we can engage them — but we'll quote it as a custom production rather than a packaged tier
5Recording, Editing, and Mastering
Production is where most authors get genuinely surprised. Raw narration is messy — breath sounds, mouth clicks, pickups for stumbles, ambient noise from the studio. The 4:1 to 7:1 ratio of post-production hours to recording hours is what turns a clean read into a polished audiobook. Every finished hour you receive has been through cleaning, mastering for loudness compliance, and a QC listen against the manuscript.
💡 Pro Tips
- Pickups are normal: even great narrators do 1-2 retakes per chapter for misreads or mouth noise
- We master to ACX loudness specs by default (-23 to -18 dBFS RMS, ≤ -3 dBFS peak)
- Noise floor is checked: ACX requires ≤ -60 dBFS — we deliver well under that
- Each chapter gets its own MP3 file with proper ID3 metadata — required for retail upload
6Delivery Formats and Platform Specs
Different audiobook retailers have different file specs and contractual requirements. We deliver a single master that satisfies the strictest requirement (ACX), and you can upload the same files to every other major platform without re-encoding.
ACX / Audible (Amazon's audiobook platform)
192 kbps CBR MP3, 44.1 kHz stereo, ≤ 120 min per file, retail sample 1-5 min, opening + closing credits formatted to ACX template. Authors choose between exclusive (40% royalty) or non-exclusive (25% royalty) when uploading.
Findaway Voices (wide distribution)
Same MP3 specs as ACX. Distributes to libraries (OverDrive, Hoopla), Apple Books, Google Play, Storytel, Kobo, and 40+ other retailers. Often the best choice if you want library presence.
Apple Books direct, Google Play direct
Both accept the same ACX-spec files. Direct upload for slightly higher royalty than via aggregators, at the cost of managing each retailer separately.
Spotify Audiobooks (newer, growing)
Accepted via Findaway Voices distribution. Same source files. Listener base growing fast through 2026.
💡 Pro Tips
- ACX exclusivity is a 7-year commitment — don't tick it casually if you have other distribution plans
- Findaway is the most flexible single integration: one upload, 40+ retailers, no exclusivity
- You retain full ownership of the master files regardless of which retailers you distribute through
7Author Approvals
There are three approval gates in every audiobook project. Each one is your chance to course-correct before the cost of changes goes up. Use them.
Audition approval
Pick which of the 3 narrators we sent records your book. Easy to refine — if none of the three feels right, we send 2 more.
Sample chapter approval
After hearing the narrator's full-chapter take, you sign off on direction (pace, character voices, tone). Changes here are free; the narrator records the rest of the book to this approved style.
Full audiobook approval
After mastering, you receive the complete file set. You listen for misreads, missed character distinctions, anything that needs a pickup. Pickups for our errors are free; pickups for changed-mind script edits are billed at a flat per-pickup rate.
8Revisions and Pickups
Audiobook 'revisions' are different from a written-edit revision round. Once narrated, re-recording is expensive — narrator's studio time, engineer's re-edit, re-master, re-QC. We minimise this by getting sample-chapter approval right; what gets through after that splits into two clear categories.
💡 Pro Tips
- Our pickups (narrator misreads, mouth noise we missed, ACX compliance failures): always free, always our cost
- Pronunciation corrections in the first 2 weeks after delivery: free (we expect a few)
- Author-driven script changes after sample approval: £75 / $97 per pickup of less than 30 seconds; longer changes quoted
- Substantial re-records (more than 5 minutes of new audio): quoted as a fresh micro-production
⚠️ Important
- If you change a character name across the book mid-record, that's a re-record of every line that mentions them — quoted hourly, not per-pickup
- Audible's QA can reject files for technical reasons we sometimes can't predict; we re-master and resubmit at our cost
9Turnaround Expectations
Most projects take 3–6 weeks from order to delivery. The variable is narrator scheduling — top-tier narrators are often booked 2–3 weeks out, and that wait is what makes "order today, ready next week" not a thing in audiobook production.
💡 Pro Tips
- Auditions land within 5 business days of order
- Sample chapter takes ~3 business days after audition pick
- Full record + post-production: roughly 5 business days per finished hour for a Standard-tier project
- Need it faster? Rush narrator scheduling is sometimes available; ask at intake — but the post-production timeline is fixed by audio engineering reality, not by money
10A Small Note on Collaboration
Audiobook production is the most collaborative HMD service in many ways — narrator selection, sample direction, pickup decisions all genuinely benefit from your authorial input. Trust your gut on what your characters should sound like; we'll bring the technical engineering and platform compliance. The audiobooks that do best on Audible are the ones where the author was actively engaged at audition, sample, and final-listen stages.
Ready to commission your audiobook?
If you've got a finalised manuscript and you know roughly what you want from the narrator, pick a tier on the audiobook service page — we'll send your first three auditions within 5 business days. Not sure about narrator direction yet? Book a free consultation and we'll talk through genre fit before you commit.
Common Questions
Can I hear narrator auditions before choosing a voice?
Yes — every project starts with three narrator auditions cast specifically against your sample chapter. You hear the actual voice on your actual prose, not a generic demo reel. If none of the three feels right, we send two more at no charge. Picking the right narrator is the single biggest decision in audiobook production; we'd rather audition deeply than guess.
How do I know how many finished hours my book will be?
The industry rule of thumb is ~9,300 words per finished hour. So a 60,000-word manuscript is roughly 6.5 finished hours — a Standard tier (6 finished hours) plus one extra-hour add-on at £350 / $445. Use our free Word Count Calculator to confirm your manuscript total, then send it to us at intake — we'll cross-check and quote the right tier (and flag if extra-hour add-ons would be cheaper than upgrading to Premium).
Can I hire my own narrator (not from your roster)?
Yes — we can engage an outside narrator on your behalf. We'll handle their contracting, studio coordination, post-production, and ACX delivery. Pricing in this case is custom-quoted (your narrator sets their PFH rate; we add our production overhead) rather than packaged. Useful if you have an established author-narrator relationship from a previous book or you've fallen in love with someone's voice from another title.
Will the final files be ready for Audible and ACX?
Yes — every audiobook we produce is mastered to ACX specs by default: 192 kbps CBR MP3, 44.1 kHz stereo, RMS between -23 and -18 dBFS, peaks ≤ -3 dBFS, noise floor ≤ -60 dBFS, one file per chapter, retail sample formatted, opening and closing credits per ACX template. The same files work on Findaway Voices, Apple Books, Google Play, Spotify Audiobooks, and every other major retailer without re-encoding.
Who owns the master files — me or the narrator?
You. The audiobook is a work-for-hire commission; the narrator is paid for their performance and signs a release confirming you own the master recording and have the right to distribute it on any platform, in perpetuity, worldwide. You can switch retailers, withdraw from ACX exclusivity (after the term ends), or relicense the audiobook for translations or other formats without going back to the narrator.
Can I narrate the audiobook myself?
Technically yes, but we don't recommend it unless you have prior recording experience. ACX has technical requirements (consistent loudness, low noise floor, no reverb, no proximity-effect bass build-up) that home recordings often fail. Most author-narrated audiobooks fail ACX QC at least once. If you're committed to author narration, we can run a 5-minute compliance test on a self-recorded sample before you commit; if it passes, we'll engineer your full self-recording rather than book a studio narrator.
Ready to start? Head to our Audiobook service page to pick a tier — 3, 6, or 10 finished hours — or book a free consultation if you want to talk through narrator fit and platform strategy first. Either way, we'll come back within 5 business days with three audition options for your sample chapter.
What's your next move?
If your manuscript is finalised and you know roughly what you want from the narrator, order an audiobook tier and we'll send three audition options within 5 business days. Not sure about narrator direction or platform strategy? Book a free consultation first — narrator fit is the single biggest decision in audiobook production, and it's worth talking through.
Or contact support if you have questions before ordering.
Free Tools
Word Count Calculator
Confirm your manuscript word count, then divide by 9,300 to estimate finished hours and pick the right tier.
KDP & Audiobook Royalty Calculator
Model audiobook royalties under ACX exclusive (40%) vs non-exclusive (25%) and Findaway distribution.
Audiobook Cover Mockup Generator
Generate 3D mockup imagery of your audiobook cover for marketing, social, and ad campaigns.