Why nobody can quote you a single number

Any studio promising a fixed number of weeks before seeing the manuscript is quoting its own convenience, not your book. Length, cast size, pickups and the storefront queue all move the date.

What you can fix is the order of the work and who holds each date. Once those are named, the schedule stops being a guess and becomes a runway.

What holds each date

Manuscript lock holds everything. No date behind it is real while the words can still change.

Casting holds recording. Recording holds editing. Editing holds mastering. None of them can overlap the way authors hope they will.

Retail filing holds the release. Storefronts review and process on their own schedule after you deliver, so a release date must sit behind delivery with room to spare.

What length actually adds

Finished runtime is about one minute per thousand words. A 50,000-word book is roughly 50 minutes finished; 150,000 words is roughly two and a half hours.

Longer books do not only take longer to record; they take longer to edit, and pickups multiply. Cast size adds scheduling, because every additional voice is another person's calendar.

Count it backwards, on paper

Name your release date in the Herald's Calendar and the whole runway is counted backwards for you, with who holds each date and what a slip costs. That single sheet is what turns a hope into a plan.

The order of the work

1. 01Name the release dateStart from the day you want the book live and work backwards. Every other date is derived from it.
2. 02Reserve the retail queueSet delivery well before the release date so storefront review and processing sit inside the runway rather than on top of it.
3. 03Place mastering and editingWork back from delivery through mastering and editing, allowing for pickups, which every book has.
4. 04Place recording and castingRecording sits behind editing, and casting behind recording, because every added voice is another calendar to match.
5. 05Lock the manuscript last of all, first in timeThe earliest date on the runway is manuscript lock. Set it, and stop revising when it arrives.

Asked and answered

What is the first thing that has to be finished?

The manuscript. Nothing behind manuscript lock is a real date, because one revised chapter re-opens casting, recording and mastering together.

How long is a 90,000-word audiobook when finished?

Roughly 90 minutes of finished listening, at about one minute per thousand words.

What slips schedules most often?

Late manuscript changes, then retail filing. The first re-opens finished work; the second is a queue you do not control.