You've already done the hard part - writing your book! Here is how the process works: 1. You share the manuscript with me (preferably as a PDF or Word document). This will let me find the word count, which I use to give you an accurate quote for the cost and time for delivery. 2. I will ask you some questions about your book, such as the tone or style you'd like. 3. If you agree on the quote for the cost and time for delivery, I'll record a short sample from your book so you can make sure that I'm a good fit as your narrator. 4. Once we start, I'll send you the first 15 minutes of completed audio so that you have another chance to give me feedback before I begin recording the rest of the book. 5. After that, I'll send you the audio files for each chapter as I complete them. By the end, you'll have all the audio files for each chapter or section, including opening and closing credits and a five-minute retail audio sample, all mastered and ready to upload to whichever platform you choose (such as Findaway, ACX/Audible or Apple Books). 6. You upload the audio files to the platform of choice (I can help you with that!), and once they perform a final check (typically around two weeks), your audiobook is published! 7. I keep copies of all of the files, so if you ever need them again in the future, or you find something that you need to change, I'll be ready to help you out! You don't need to worry about any of the technical details - leave that to me!

The first step to figuring out how long it takes is to determine how long, in hours, your book will be. The normal rate of reading aloud is 9,300 words per hour, so once we know the word count of your book, we divide that by 9,300 to get the number of hours the audiobook will be. For example, a 30,000-word book would be 3.2 hours (30,000 words divided by 9,300 words per hour). Next, we can figure out how many days it will take for me to complete your book. I can complete one hour of finished audio per day, so using the above example, it would take me 3.2 days to complete the narration. However, I also add in a few days for weekends and to have a little flexibility to give your audiobook the time and attention it deserves. So for a 30,000-word book that would be 3.2 hours in length, the time for completion would be 5 to 7 days. I will always be up front with you about the length of time it will take me to complete your audiobook. Once you have all of the audio files uploaded to your service of choice (ACX/Audible, Findaway, etc.), it typically takes about two weeks for them to do their final check before your audiobook is available.

The primary factor for determining the cost of creating an audiobook is the length of the book. We use the word count to find the time length of the book using the typical reading rate of 9,300 words per hour. For example, a 30,000-word book would be 3.2 hours (30,000 words divided by 9,300 words per hour). In order to create an audiobook, it takes between 5 to 6 hours of work to produce one finished hour of audio. In the example above, a 3.2 hour book would take between 15 to 18 hours of total work by the narrator. That includes preparing the script, the actual recording time, editing the audio, proofing the narration (making sure all the words on the page are in the narration, meaning listening back to what was recorded to confirm it matches the text), making any revisions and mastering the file to the audio standards. The cost of an audiobook is based on how you arrange the payment with your narrator. One of the methods is using a per-finished-hour (PFH) cost, where we multiply the number of hours of the finished audiobook by the per-finished-hour rate to find the cost. Once the project is completed, you do not share any of the royalties with the narrator; you keep all profits from the audiobook sales. Other methods of payment are royalty share and royalty share plus. Royalty share means that you split a percentage of the royalties from the sale of your book with the author, and royalty share plus means you pay a smaller per-finished-hour fee and then also share in the royalties from the sale of the audiobook. I work with per-finished-hour contracts. My rate for narration is between $200 - $300 per finished hour, depending on the difficulty, length or challenge involved in narrating the book. Some factors that can affect this include how many pauses/bullet points/short chapters are in the book (making it take longer to narrate than usual), lots of technical terms or unfamiliar vocabulary, lots of unfamiliar names of people or places, etc. Once I have a chance to see your book, I'll be able to give you an accurate quote for the cost and time for delivery.

Yes, I am happy to do that! If you share your manuscript with me, that will let me see the word count as well as scan the text to see if there are any other factors that might affect the difficulty of narrating your book. Some factors that might affect that are a book with lots of bullet points, pauses, very short chapters/sections, etc., that make it take longer to narrate; lots of technical terms; many characters to keep track of for their voices; or lots of names of people or places that are unfamiliar. I work on a per-finished-hour basis, so I use the word count to help me figure out how long (in hours) your book will be. The average rate of narration is 9,300 words per hour, so once I know the word count of your book, I will divide that by the average reading rate to determine the length of the final audiobook version. For example, a 30,000 word book would be 3.2 hours in length (30,000 words divided by 9,300 words per hour). I will then use that information to figure out the quote for the cost and time for delivery.

I will narrate, edit and master all of the audio files, including each chapter as its own file, opening and closing credits and a short retail audio sample, all mastered to ACX/Audible standards, which are the industry standards for audiobooks. As part of the process, I'll send you a sample of your book so that you can make sure that I am a good fit for your book before committing to the project. This is completely free, and there is no risk for you at all! Once we begin, I'll send you the first 15 minutes of completed audio so you can have a chance to give me feedback before I continue with the rest of the book. If you need any assistance uploading the files to your platform of choice (Findaway, ACX/Audible, Apple Books, etc.), I can help with that. After our project is complete, I keep copies of all of the files in case you ever need them again, or if you have something that needs to be revised.

Great question! You should hear your book narrated by the person you choose to be your narrator before agreeing to work with them! Since I want you to be completely sure that I am a good fit for your story, I am happy to offer a free sample reading of your book, which is typically about 2 to 3 minutes long. After you agree that I am the right voice for your project, I'll give you another chance to offer input at the 15-minute checkpoint. I'll send you the first 15 minutes of the completed audiobook, and after you've had a chance to review and offer feedback, only then will I proceed to narrate the rest of the book.

The most important thing is to make sure that your manuscript has been professionally edited. It makes it challenging to narrate your book when there are errors in grammar or punctuation, so it always helps when you've had someone else proofread your book before sharing it with me. For the file format, I prefer working with PDF or Word documents. It makes it easy for me to prepare the script before reading, such as highlighting different characters or identifying words or names that I am not familiar with so that I can find out how to say them correctly before recording. In fact, I will ask you for the pronunciation of any names or unfamiliar words in the text so that I can get going on your audiobook in a timely manner. So if you can include that when sharing the script after we agree to work together, that is always helpful!

Yes! I am available to help you upload your files onto your platform of choice (Findaway, ACX/Audible, Apple Books, etc.) Once all the files are uploaded, it typically takes about two weeks for them to do a final check on the files before your audiobook is published.

If you have anything that needs to be changed or updated, it's easy! I keep copies of all the files of your audiobook, and if you need to revise something, it is simple for me to make that change and send you the updated audio file. Depending on the amount of changes required, there might be a small fee to make the corrections.

Yes! Once we complete the audiobook production, you have all of the rights. If you work with a narrator under royalty share, you will still share some of the profits from the sale of your audiobook with them, but you will still retain the rights to the audiobook. As far as I am concerned as the narrator/producer, once I send you all of the audio files, my part in the project is complete, and all the rights are yours. Be sure to check with the platform where you are publishing your audiobook (ACX/Audible, Findaway, etc.) for their policies on the rights.