Why a per-hour rate hides the total

A finished hour is not an hour of work. It is an hour of delivered audio, and producing one takes several hours of recording, editing and mastering — which is why the rate is high and why the total is opaque.

You cannot compute your own bill from a per-hour rate, because you do not yet know your runtime. Reckon roughly one minute of finished audio per thousand words: a 90,000-word novel is about ninety minutes, so a $250 per-hour narrator alone is around $375 before direction, editing, mastering or a second voice.

Royalty share replaces that cash with a permanent split of earnings. It is the cheapest way in and the most expensive way to succeed.

What a narrator does not include

Casting, direction, sound design, score and mastering are separate trades. A narrator hands you performances; a production hands you a finished, filing-ready book.

Multiple voices multiply the coordination, not just the recording. A full cast needs one person holding the character separations across every chapter.

The arithmetic here instead

Base production — casting, narration, direction, editing, mastering and delivery — is 7.000000000000001% of your word count. 90,000 words is $6,300.

Extra voices cost 1% of the word count for every 2 voices, rounding up, so a cast is priced before you commission it rather than after.

You may also narrate the book yourself, or clone your own voice with consent and use it in your own build at no charge.

Asked and answered

What is a normal per-finished-hour narration rate?

Published rates in the trade commonly run from about $100 to $500 per finished hour, rising with the narrator's standing. Direction, editing and mastering may or may not be inside that figure — ask before you sign.

How many finished hours will my book be?

Close to one minute per thousand words, so about 1.5 hours for a 90,000-word novel. The Reader's Clock will work out yours exactly.

Can I narrate my own audiobook to save the fee?

Yes, and many authors should — a memoir or a personal work is often better in the author's voice. Direction, editing and mastering are still required for a retail filing.