Enter your word count to see how long the audiobook will run and what it costs to produce with a narrator, on royalty share, or with AI narration.
Finished length
6 h 27 min
6.5 finished hours at ~9,300 words an hour
Lower rate
$1,290
6.5 h × $200 PFH
Mid rate
$1,935
6.5 h × $300 PFH
Higher rate
$2,581
6.5 h × $400 PFH
What you would earn per copy before any split. Check your retailer’s current rates.
Break-even sales
774
Copies at which giving the narrator half your royalty (for 7 years on ACX) costs as much as paying the mid rate up front
Estimated credits
1,368
About 342,000 characters at 4 credits per 1,000
Approximate cost
$136.80
At a reference rate of about $0.10 a credit. The per-credit price depends on the pack.
Narration is charged per chapter on the real text, so the final figure can be a little higher than this estimate. See pricing for current credit packs. AI narration exports are yours to sell where AI audio is accepted; it is not a route onto ACX or Audible.
Almost everything comes back to one number: finished hours. Narrators, producers and studios quote per finished hour (PFH), meaning an hour of final, edited audio. Producing it takes several hours of work: recording, retakes, editing, proofing against the text, and mastering to retailer standards.
ACX’s own guidance puts a rough industry standard at about $200 PFH for narration and another $200 PFH for post-production, though many narrators quote one all-in rate. Rates rise with experience, union membership and demand; accents, multiple character voices and technical nonfiction can cost more. Add audiobook cover art in the square format audio stores use, and any music you want.
For a full breakdown, read how much it costs to make an audiobook.
Using 9,300 words per finished hour, a $300 all-in PFH rate for a human narrator, and Anthra’s narration price for AI:
A picture book is a special case: at 500 to 1,000 words it runs only a few minutes, and many narrators charge a minimum fee rather than a strict PFH rate.
Paying a PFH rate means a bigger bill now and every royalty afterwards is yours. Royalty share on ACX means no bill, but the narrator receives half of your royalty on every sale for seven years, and the book must be distributed exclusively through ACX for that time. ACX’s royalty rates are changing in 2026; see its how royalties work page for the current numbers.
The break-even figure in the calculator is the number of copies at which half your royalties add up to the mid-rate upfront cost. If you expect to sell well past it, paying up front is cheaper over time. If you are unsure the book will sell, royalty share moves the risk to the narrator, which is also why experienced narrators accept fewer royalty-share projects.
AI narration costs far less and takes hours instead of weeks. In Anthra it costs 4 credits per 1,000 characters, charged per chapter on the actual text, so a 60,000-word book comes to roughly 1,368 credits. The calculator also shows an approximate dollar figure at a reference rate of about $0.10 a credit; what you actually pay per credit depends on the pack, so check pricing.
Be clear about the trade-offs. A skilled human narrator still gives the strongest performance, especially for literary fiction and character-heavy novels. ACX requires human narration, so an AI-narrated audiobook made elsewhere isn’t a route onto Audible; you can sell it directly or through retailers that accept AI-narrated audio. It suits testing whether a book has an audio audience, reaching readers who already have your ebook, and formats where performance matters less, such as nonfiction, study guides and children’s read-alongs.
Anthra narrates from the same manuscript as your ebook and print files, with a library of ElevenLabs voices and per-character casting, and exports an M4B with chapter markers plus an MP3 per chapter. See the AI audiobook generator, or check how long your book will be first with the book page count calculator.
With a professional narrator, usually $200 to $400 per finished hour, all in. A 60,000-word novel is about 6.5 finished hours, so roughly $1,290 to $2,581. Newer narrators often charge less and well-known ones more.
Per finished hour: the rate for one hour of final, edited audio. It covers the narrator’s recording time plus editing and mastering, which together take several hours of work for each finished hour.
About 9,300 words, an industry rule of thumb that ACX uses for its estimates. Pace varies with the narrator and the material, so treat it as a planning figure.
On ACX you can pay a narrator nothing up front and split your royalties with them instead, 50/50, for seven years. It requires exclusive distribution through Audible. The calculator shows how many sales it takes before royalty share costs more than paying up front.
Narration costs 4 credits per 1,000 characters of text. A 60,000-word book is about 342,000 characters, or roughly 1,368 credits. Credits never expire and there is no subscription; see the pricing page for current pack prices.
Not through ACX, which requires human narration. Some other stores and distributors accept AI-narrated audiobooks under their own rules, and you can sell the files directly. Check each retailer’s current policy before you publish.
Anthra’s AI agent plans the outline, writes every chapter, illustrates it from your locked character details, narrates the audiobook and exports EPUB, PDF and a print-ready paperback. Start with free welcome credits, no card required.