Introduction
If you’re a Rights Holder (RH) new to audiobook production, either as a publisher or an independent author, this brief introduction will outline the process of bringing your manuscript to the audiobook marketplace.
Rule of Thumb
Approximately 9000 words = 1 “finished hour” of audiobook narration.
What is a “finished hour”?
A “finished hour” is an hour of the final, market-ready audio product. Narrators and production companies price their services based on a “per finished hour” (PFH) rate. Since the amount of time required to produce a finished hour of audio varies depending on the difficulty of the material, the RH pays for the “finished hours”, not the many hours which go into creating a finished hour.
What goes into a finished hour?
It’s important to have perspective on what audiobook production involves. Though simplified for our purposes here, below is a typical process. Additional steps may be involved if a production company is taking auditions for the material.
Material Prep: First read through, mark-up, research for clarification and pronunciation, character choices (if applicable), industry standard adjustments for certain non-fiction to fit audio format (if applicable), performance sample to the RH for approval.
Booth Recording: The fastest narrators require two hours of booth time to record one hour of audio (2:1), but the average is closer to 3:1. The more challenging the material, the more booth hours may be required.
Proofing & Editing: Proofing the material for mistakes (“pickups”), tightening, timing, preparing performance references for pickups.
Pickups: The editor provides the narrator with a list of pickups, or anything requiring a re-record. The narrator corrects the pickups, which are then sent back to the editor for final edit.
Mastering: After the final pickups are edited, the material is mastered for market according to the standard specifications provided by the distribution platform.
Second Proofing: The product is listened to again for anything that has been missed. If the production is utilizing a distribution platform (see below), the RH (or designee) does this personally while following along with the text. Otherwise a second proofing will be worked into the production’s PFH rate.
Upload: The product is submitted to the relevant distribution platform.
Quality Control: The distribution platform runs QC to assure all the specs for market release have been met.
Escrow: The distribution platform holds the final audio in escrow until the producer confirms payment for the production has been received from the RH.
Market: The title is release and available for sale!
As you can see, by the time an audiobook reaches market, the hours involved to create each finished hour are considerable. This is enumerated to inform the RH what goes into a producer’s PFH rate.
Who owns the rights?
Unless specific arrangements have been made to the contrary, it is likely that the publisher of a book owns the audiobook rights, as well.
Authors, if your publisher has intentions to produce your title in audiobook format, all the better. But if not, you may be able to negotiate buying your rights back, or, depending on the nature of your relationship, they may simply be given back to you. Regardless, whatever arrangement is made for you to retain your rights should be secured in writing with legally-binding language.
If your publisher once owned your audiobook rights but no longer does, they’ve been bought by a third party, like an independent narrator or audiobook publisher. In this case, the rights are likely out of your hands.
Going forward, it’s advised that audiobook production be discussed during your initial conversation with your publisher, so if there is no known intention for them to produce the audio, you can negotiate to retain your audiobook rights from the get-go.
If you are a self-published author, you are the RH.
But I write non-fiction! It has lots of spells, recipes and rituals in it!
Not a problem. Anything can be converted to audio using industry standard conversions which make the material audiobook appropriate. An example of this is audio cookbooks. Yes, cookbooks, in which a narrator may add something to the effect of:
“Now I'm going to list the ingredients you need for this recipe. It’s a good time to pause the audio, grab a pen and paper, and when you're ready to write, press 'play' again.
(5-6 seconds of silence)
Welcome back! After I list each ingredient, I'll pause so you can stop the audio and write it down. When you're ready for the next ingredient, press 'play' again. Ready? Let’s go!”
If audio cookbooks can exist, your manuscript, with all its incredible spells, recipes, crafts and rituals can, too.
Distribution
There are several avenues of distribution to the marketplace, offering various models and royalty percentage on sales. These options can be considered while preparing to produce your audio content, or afterwards.
The RH can arrange for the audio content to be created before deciding on a distribution platform. However, if the finished audio is not being held in escrow by a distribution platform, the producer will require an deposit on the production, include a second proofing in the rate, and the remaining payment in full before the release of the mastered files.
For links to distribution platforms, please click here.
Rates
Howl at the Moon Audio’s PFH rate is discussed per project, based on the anticipated needs of the production. However there are some industry standards a RH can generally anticipate.
If I am personally narrating a project:
The Union minimum PFH rate for narration is $250.
Proofing, editing and mastering PFH averages $100.
Second proofing PFH runs an average of $25.
Though unusual, if the manuscript requires an excessive amount of research to prepare, an additional flat fee for this prep may be included and would be discussed prior to.
Therefore a RH should anticipate $375/PFH.
If Howl is project managing another narrator:
An additional $75PFH to the above for the following management services…
manuscript prep for auditions
sending out casting notices
accepting submissions and culling through auditions
presenting the RH with a handful of contenders
handling contracts with talent and post
conducting any necessary production meetings or specialized coaching for content
reviewing and approving the performance sample
organizing file transfers
deadline management
post production coordination
invoicing
Therefore a RH should anticipate $450PFH, from which Howl compensates talent and post.
So Why Audiobooks?
Devices are the future, they are the now. As a culture, we consume more media on our hand-held devices than any other form of entertainment. The time to sit and read an actual book, though it will never go out of style, has become a luxury. We are in our cars on long commutes, attending to household tasks, exercising in the great outdoors… The ability to “read” with our ears while doing other things is becoming increasingly important in our relentlessly-paced modern society.
Downsizing is a thing. Kindle wasn’t the death of the printed word. Audiobooks aren’t either. But both are game-changers when it comes to the amount of stuff we have, or decide not to have. Someone who has vowed off buying more books until the ones on the shelf have been read may still buy and enjoy an audiobook as it takes up zero physical space.
Our community deserves the accessibility audiobooks provide. To say we’re an “aging” population might be inaccurate… But we need to look to the future, regardless. For some of us, reading is, or might become, challenging for a myriad of reasons. Consider, also, the younger generation! The young broom-closeted, or nascent, pagan may not be comfortable having an exposed book on the shelf, may not have the safety or freedom of expression to own a pagan book. But our phones are our world… And a world of content can be contained in our phones.
Magick is at our fingertips, in the palm of our hand, metaphorically and literally. If working our Will in the world to effect positive change is the definition of Magick, I believe it’s our obligation to leverage the tools we have to direct that Will. Audio is another tool to direct you Will.
Let’s give them something to listen to. AHWOOOOOOOOO! So mote it be.