Audiobooks are expensive. Everybody says so. But why are audiobooks so expensive? What goes into making an audiobook that makes it pricier than a paperback? Let’s take a look at the costs involved in producing this specific book format and see why they sometimes cost you more than print or ebooks.
At the end of this blog post, we will also take a quick peek at why exactly some audiobooks are free and how that can work!
Why are Audiobooks so expensive?
A book has a certain baseline cost. The author wants to be paid for the many, many hours they have put into their work.
Then there are rounds of edits, cover design, and also marketing, so readers will actually find out about this new release. That’s already several people, including the original creator, who need to make a living.
When we are talking about audiobooks, there are even more professionals involved, and that’s at the core of why audiobook production costs are so high.
First, the voice actor needs to be paid. A good narrator can make or break an audiobook, and it’s crucial for indie authors as well as big publishers to pay for a narrator who can do the job well (because we all no that AI is no alternative).
For a 9-hour audiobook, a narrator will need 9 hours at a minimum, obviously, plus another 2, 3, 4 hours because they misread a line, there was a siren outside the recording booth, they used the wrong voice for a line of dialogue, or had to cough.
Established narrators usually get paid per finished hour, while newer narrators might be willing to work for a royalty share. But the less experienced a narrator is, the more time they will need to finish an hour of audiobook recording.
A well-known voice actor also has a built-in audience: They have fans who will take a chance on a new-to-them author to hear their favorite voice. This increases a narrator’s value and makes them more expensive to book.
Secondly, you will need a sound engineer and sound editor who work to ensure that the audio is of high quality and that there is no sneeze, cough, or wrong line in there anymore.
In some cases, this is done by the narrator themself, but either way, this is a lot of work that no one can afford to do for free!
Just think, when the finished audiobook is 9 hours long, a professional will need 9 hours plus many more to listen to the entire unfinished audiobook and cut out any unwanted bits and pieces.
So, we have a minimum of 20+ hours now for the narrator and for edits, but in reality, it’s many, many more to account for reading mistakes, editing, and perfecting the sound quality. And all of this is done by professionals who need expensive equipment and need to… you know… live off of their work!
And finally, there’s the proof listener, who makes sure that everything is correct before it goes out to the public. That’s another 9 hours at minimum and can lead to edits that also require time.
And this is only your run-of-the-mill audiobook with one or two narrators. When one of them is a well-known celebrity, or when the audiobook is done with a full cast of voice actors in a professional recording studio with a director and sound engineer present, maybe even with sound effects, things can get a whole lot pricier very, very quickly.
Plus, we didn’t even account here for an audiobook producer who is not the author themself. Casting voice actors, possibly renting a recording studio if the narrators don’t record in their booths at home… audiobook production takes a lot of coordination. And as you can see, it can always get more expensive!
The most commonly cited number is $300 to $400 per finished hour of an average audiobook which puts the production cost for our 9-hour example audiobook at $2000 minimum (which is low ball, I have seen many authors mention $5000).
For the publisher, there will be additional marketing costs, too, because the audiobook audience needs different advertisements in other places than the ebook and paperback crowd.
And after all that, Audible, Audiobooks.com, and other audiobook stores take their share for selling the audiobook on their platforms, which can be up to 75% in the case of Audible.
Yes, audiobook creators receive less than half of what you pay for the audiobook!
And with that, they have to pay for all the many professionals and all these hours of work before the author earns anything.
Related article: How do Audiobook Creators get Paid?
You might have wondered why paperbacks are cheaper than audiobooks. That’s because the whole process of turning a text into an ear-pleasing audio format requires a lot more professional hours than printing the text on paper and binding the book.
However, audiobooks are gaining more and more popularity and are losing the stigma of being “not real reading”. What that means is that an audiobook can sell a higher number of units. And whenever something is sold a lot, it’s possible to lower the price because the bottom line still looks good enough.
That means, these days, you can find many cheap deals or even free audiobooks. And the various audiobook services are in competition and try to outdo one another with better deals and subscriber benefits. So, let’s look into that…
Related article: Audiobooks vs Reading Ebooks/Print
Why are some Audiobooks free?
We just discussed how expensive it is to create an audiobook. So, how can audiobooks be free? Does this mean they have horrible quality and were produced on someone’s iPhone?
Well, there is LibriVox, which is a project by volunteers to turn books that are in the public domain into audio format. While the productions here aren’t done professionally, people are very passionate about their LibriVox contributions, and it’s a project worth checking out!
But you can also find professionally narrated and produced audiobooks for free.
In some cases, “free” means only that they are offered without any further cost for paying subscribers, and it’s part of a platform’s strategy, e.g., Audible offering audiobooks in Audible Plus, Amazon in Kindle Unlimited “Listen for Free”, or Spotify’s audiobook catalog.
But there are also many websites and communities that offer professional audiobooks for free in exchange for reviews. This falls broadly under the marketing umbrella.
An author is new to audiobooks and wants listeners to notice them. So, the author gives away free copies of their audiobook to listeners, who then go on to write reviews on Audible.
Related article: How to get Audiobook Review Copies
Other Audible customers are more likely to notice and buy a book if it has 20 or 30 ratings and if they can read reviews in which people honestly share what a listener can expect from this audiobook.
That makes this strategy so popular with many indie authors, and audiobook reviewers can choose from a great selection of titles to find hidden gems.
Why are some Audiobooks so cheap?
When audiobooks are cheap, this is again down to marketing. Either an author offers their audiobook in a time-limited deal, for example, on Chirp, so more listeners will take a chance on them.
Or in the case of Amazon Whispersync, the company wants to encourage more ebook readers to take a chance on audiobooks to grow the reach for Audible books.
You might have wondered how Audible can sell audiobooks so cheaply. It’s partly down to the sheer volume of units they sell. Audible is the biggest marketplace.
But they also use their influence to pressure publishers and indie authors to accept low royalty shares. You can read more about this topic in my blog post “Are Audible Exclusives bad?”
But, again, while audiobooks are expensive to produce, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a free or cheap audiobook is of bad quality.
It’s a popular marketing strategy for authors to offer the first book in a series for free or for a lower price.
And authors might be paid a royalty share per minute listened when you get audiobooks seemingly “for free” in Hoopla or Everand.
Personally, I’m happy to share deals and help authors reach a bigger audience. Just like I enjoy getting audiobooks for free in exchange for writing a review. This benefits both the audiobook producer / author as well as us listeners!
I hope I could answer your question why audiobooks are so expensive (and sometimes free). A lot goes into the creation of this wonderful book format!
And if you want to know more about how authors are paid for audiobooks, check out my blog post about audiobook royalties and how to best support your favorite audiobook creators.
Eline Blackman (pronouns: she/they) fell in love with books as a child – with being read to and reading herself. 10 years ago, she bought her first Audible book. It was love at first listen! An average of 250 audiobooks per year has become the new normal and you will rarely see Eline without a wireless earbud. Romance and Fantasy are the go-to genres for this audiobook fan.
I always wondered why audiobooks are so pricey, and this article explained it perfectly! The production costs, narrator fees, and market demand make a lot of sense. It’s great to know about library apps like Libby for free options. Definitely a helpful read for audiobook lovers—thanks for the insights!