The rule of thumb for most audiobooks is each finished hour requires 6-8 labor hours to complete. To do this, I needed to know how many labour hours I put into each finished hour. This way, I can be sure I don’t burn out from setting too high a goal. Instead of using an income figure for my ideal goal, however, I decided to calculate how many hours I could comfortably produce in a month so I could maintain the lifestyle I want. Like I mentioned in step 2, that $2,500 figure allows for no fun spending (I miss you, fancy bakery scones!), or room for savings goals. Step 4: Setting my finished hour/month ideal goal 4a: Determine my labour to output ratio Next, I determined how many finished hours I can realistically achieve in a month.
#AUDIO BOOK PRODUCTION FULL#
To call myself a full time audiobook narrator, my goal is to record a minimum of 17 finished hours per month. At $150PFH (my $250PFH rate less the outsourced editing and proofing costs), I need: In order to be sure I had enough funds to cover my business and personal expenses every month, I needed to bring in about $2,500 per month. Step 3: Setting my finished hour/month minimum goal This totals $100PFH, meaning I earn $150PFH for my audiobook work after outsourcing costs.
#AUDIO BOOK PRODUCTION HOW TO#
I’ll make a post in the future about how to find editors and proofers). I pay my editor $75PFH for editing and mastering, and I pay someone $25PFH to proof listen to the audio and send me a report of the errors I need to correct (an absolute must in my opinion. I also calculated the cost of outsourcing some of my audiobook production work - the proofing and editing. Website hosting costs, membership fees, coaching, and other business expenses were gathered up and summed into a monthly budget of about $500 per month. In addition to my personal bills, I needed to know my business’ bills as well. If you live in a city that doesn’t have a crazy high cost of living (*cough cough* anywhere other than Vancouver *cough cough*), this number will likely be smaller. It’s not comfortable and provides absolutely no discretionary spending, but I won’t miss rent payments or not have enough for groceries.
I gathered together all my bills for personal expenses (including saving for taxes!) and determined the absolute minimum I needed to earn a month to cover them. Since I decided I wanted audiobook narration to be my full time job, I knew I needed to earn enough to cover my bills. Also, you’re trying to market yourself as a professional, right? Charge like one! Step 2: Calculate my monthly expenses It’s far better to work on Royalty Share projects (or volunteering through Learning Ally) for practice, since accepting lower rates undercuts the market and gives all narrators a disadvantage when negotiating their rates. Several audiobook producer Facebook groups have had lengthy conversations about standard rates for audiobook producers, and the consensus seems to have landed on charging a minimum of $250 per finished hour (PFH) for audiobook work, which is the rate I charge.ĭon’t charge less than $250PFH, even when you’re just starting out. For commercial and short work, the “Indie Rate Guide” from is a fantastic reference. Thousands of independent voice over artists have spent years creating market rates for many kinds of VO work. Now, let’s get into how I set my production goals and limits. For every finished hour of audio, I recommend planning for 2 hours of administrative tasks on top of regular audiobook production. Producing audiobooks isn’t just sitting in front of your mic reading a book, it’s also auditioning for your next book, updating samples and resumes, bookkeeping, managing your email inbox, research, and various other small things. Something else to keep in mind when deciding on the amount of time you can dedicate to audiobook production is the administrative tasks involved. For example, you can complete one 13 hour book in a month, or three 4 hour books. Books vary wildly in length, but the number of finished hours you can produce per month is relatively static. A finished hour is an hour of audio that’s ready for publication, meaning it’s been prepped, recorded, edited, proofed, and mastered. When setting your audiobook production goals and limits, you want to use finished hours rather than a number of books per month.
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