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Audiobook production
Readers keep asking if there is an audio version. We cast a professional narrator to your genre, master every file to Audible’s technical standards, and publish it to Audible, Spotify, Apple Books and library apps. You pay once and keep every royalty.
Tell us your word count and how you want it narrated. A specialist replies within one business day with a fixed price for your book. Nothing is charged until you approve it.
The short answer
Columbia Publication produces audiobooks for $350 per finished hour with one narrator and $550 with two, with a $1,500 minimum per title. A finished hour is about 9,300 words, so a 70,000-word book runs about 7.5 hours: roughly $2,630 with one narrator or $4,140 with two. The price covers narration, editing, mastering, proof-listening and distribution, and you keep 100% of your rights and royalties.
Prices checked October 25, 2026 · Reviewed by Gia Kahn, Lead Editor · Next review November 2026 · How we check
Is this you?
A cheap narration is the most expensive audiobook you can make.
Listeners decide in the free sample. A flat read, uneven levels or a narrator wrong for the genre loses the sale in the first two minutes, and ACX rejects files that miss its technical specs. Authors who hire a freelancer directly often end up managing the casting, re-recording errors and fixing uploads themselves.
We cast the narrator to your genre and you approve the audition before recording. Every file is edited, proof-listened and mastered to ACX specifications, then submitted to Audible and wide platforms for you. One fee, fixed before we start.
Price by length
Narration is priced by the finished hour, so length is the biggest factor. Find your word count below.
| Words | Finished hours | One narrator ($350/hr) | Two narrators ($550/hr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30,000 | About 3.2 | $1,500 (title minimum) | About $1,770 |
| 50,000 | About 5.4 | About $1,880 | About $2,960 |
| 70,000 | About 7.5 | About $2,630 | About $4,140 |
| 90,000 | About 9.7 | About $3,390 | About $5,320 |
| 120,000 | About 12.9 | About $4,520 | About $7,100 |
Finished hours use ACX’s estimate of 9,300 words per hour. The $1,500 minimum covers casting, the square audiobook cover and distribution setup. Your price is fixed once we measure your manuscript; a full cast is quoted separately. For comparison, ACX estimates about $400 per finished hour for narration and post-production when authors hire freelancers themselves.
Get a Fixed Price for My BookWhy audio
For a book that is already finding readers, usually yes. Audio reaches people in hours print cannot: the commute, the gym, the kitchen. Many listeners borrow through library apps or listen by subscription, channels your print edition never touches.
American adults who have listened to an audiobook, and US audiobook sales reached $2.43 billion in 2025, up 9% (Audio Publishers Association, June 2026).
AI-narrated titles made up a tiny share of 2025 sales. Human narration, cast to the book, is what listeners buy.
For non-fiction and memoir, hours in a listener’s ear build trust. Narrating it yourself is an option we fully support.
If a book has not found readers in print or ebook yet, start there. Audio amplifies a book that sells.
Narration
| Professional narrator | Author narration | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Fiction, self-help, business, most memoir | Memoir, personal development, expert non-fiction |
| How it works | Cast to your genre; you approve the audition first | You record with our guidance, in a studio or at home |
| Dialogue and characters | Character voices, or two narrators at $550 per hour | Suits straight first-person narration |
| What we do | Casting, editing, mastering, proof-listening, distribution | Editing, clean-up, mastering, checks and submission |
Non-fiction with specialist terms, foreign words or names gets a pronunciation guide before recording, so they are read correctly the first time.
Not sure which suits your book? Tell us the genre and we will recommend one.
Get My Audiobook QuoteWhat you earn
More than it used to. Since May 26, 2026, ACX pays rights holders 50% of sales for exclusive distribution through Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, and 30% for non-exclusive distribution, which leaves you free to sell through Spotify, Kobo and library platforms as well. The older 40% and 25% rates end with 2026.
Because we charge a one-time production fee, the royalty is all yours. We take no share of sales on any platform, and you choose exclusive or wide distribution.
When it is done
You press play on the retail sample and it sounds like the books you listen to yourself: clean, warm, paced for the genre. The listing shows three editions side by side. A reader who never had time to sit down with your book downloads it for the drive home.
Royalties from every platform arrive in your account, not ours, for as long as the book sells.
“It turned out better than I could have imagined when I first started.”
Jason Patterson, whose City of the Gods was released with us in ebook, paperback, hardcover and audiobook. Read the case study
Prices
Every option includes editing, mastering, proof-listening, a square audiobook cover and distribution. Your price is fixed once we measure the manuscript.
Your own voice
Quoted per book
You record; we handle clean-up, editing, mastering, technical checks and submission to every platform.
Your voice in listeners’ ears on Audible, Spotify and Apple, with the editing, mastering and platform checks handled so the recording passes first time.
Recording guidance included · studio or home
Price This for My BookMost chosen
$350 per finished hour
A professional voice cast to your genre, with an audition you approve before recording starts.
A trained narrator matched to your genre, chosen by you from auditions, and a finished audiobook live on Audible, Spotify, Apple Books and the other major audio stores.
Fiction, business, self-help, memoir
Price This for My BookDialogue-led
$550 per finished hour
For alternating viewpoints, dual-voice memoir and fiction carried by its dialogue.
Two cast voices that keep alternating viewpoints clear to the ear, produced as one audiobook and priced per finished hour.
Two cast voices, one production
Price This for My BookBefore a single chapter is recorded
A $1,500 minimum applies per title. Audiobook production is also included in Authority Plus, from $7,500, with one narrator for books up to 80,000 words. Paid in full upfront once you approve the written quote.
What you can count on
How it runs
We’ve started with Audiobook. Add anything else your manuscript needs, and a specialist sends an itemised quote within one business day. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Written quote within one business day. Nothing is charged until you approve it. 100% of your rights stay yours.
Questions
Columbia Publication charges $350 per finished hour with one narrator and $550 with two, with a $1,500 minimum per title. A finished hour is about 9,300 words, so a 70,000-word book costs about $2,630 with one narrator. The price covers narration, editing, mastering, proof-listening and distribution.
Divide your word count by about 9,300, the figure ACX uses. A 50,000-word book runs about 5.4 hours, 70,000 words about 7.5 hours and 90,000 words about 9.7 hours. Pace and dialogue move it slightly.
Recording, editing and mastering usually take one to four weeks after casting. ACX review for Audible takes about two weeks, and wide platforms follow over two to four weeks: about four to eight weeks in total.
Audible and Amazon through ACX, plus Spotify, Apple Books, Google Play, Kobo, Scribd, OverDrive, Hoopla, Libro.fm, Storytel and more through Voices by INaudio.
Yes, at any time, as long as you hold the audio rights. It becomes a separate listing with its own royalties.
Yes. It is often the strongest choice for memoir and expert non-fiction. We provide recording guidance and handle the editing, mastering, checks and submission.
Yes, completely. You pay a one-time fee and receive 100% of net royalties from every platform. We take no share of sales.
Under the ACX model in effect since May 26, 2026, rights holders earn 50% for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive. The older 40% and 25% rates end with 2026.
Send the word count. A specialist replies within one business day with a fixed price and a narrator plan.
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