What is audiobook production, and who does each step?
Audiobook production turns a manuscript into retail-ready audio through prep, narration, editing, proofing and mastering. Your route decides who does each step.
Audiobook production is the work of turning a manuscript into retail-ready audio: preparing the script, narrating it, editing out mistakes, proofing against the text and mastering the files to a store's technical standard. Who does each step depends on the route you choose: you, a hired narrator, a production service or an AI production tool.
AudioForge is a production tool that turns a manuscript into a multi-voice audiobook, with a distinct voice for every character. It covers some of these steps differently from a studio, and this guide says where.
Below: the stages of audiobook production, the standard finished audio must meet, who does each step on each route, and how long it takes.
What are the stages of audiobook production?
Audiobook production has six stages: preparation, narration, editing, proofing, mastering and delivery.
- Preparation. Read the manuscript for the ear, settle how every name is pronounced and decide who voices whom.
- Narration. Record or generate every line, chapter by chapter.
- Editing. Remove mistakes, breaths and noise, and record pickups, the short re-recordings that fix a misread line.
- Proofing. Listen against the text to catch skipped words and misreads.
- Mastering. Bring every file to consistent levels that meet the store's specification.
- Delivery. Add opening and closing credits and a retail sample, then upload one file per chapter.
Author's Republic lists the same work inside a narrator's per-finished-hour rate: reading the script, recording, pickups and revisions, editing, proofing, mastering and uploading retail-ready files.
What standard does finished audio have to meet?
Finished audio has to meet the technical standard of the store you deliver to, and ACX publishes a detailed one.
ACX's audio submission requirements, dated April 15, 2026, set eight checks, from volume and peaks to credits and a retail sample, and every file must pass all of them:
| Requirement | ACX standard |
|---|---|
| Volume | Between -23 dB and -18 dB RMS |
| Peaks | Below -3 dB |
| Noise floor | Below -60 dB RMS |
| File format | 192 kbps or higher constant bit rate MP3 at 44.1 kHz |
| File length | One chapter per file, 120 minutes at most |
| Room tone | 1 to 5 seconds at the start and end of each file |
| Credits | Opening and closing credits naming title, author and narrator |
| Retail sample | Five minutes or less |
ACX also requires human narration unless otherwise authorized, so AI-narrated audio goes to other stores. Which ones accept it is in where you can publish an AI-narrated audiobook.
Who does each step on each route?
Narrating it yourself puts every stage on you, a hired narrator usually covers editing, proofing and mastering in the PFH rate, and AI production with AudioForge leaves you checking the script and listening; the deciding factor is how much of the work you want to pay for.
| Stage | Narrate it yourself | Hire a narrator | AI production with AudioForge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation | You | You and the narrator | You check the parsed script and keep a pronunciation glossary |
| Narration | You record | The narrator records | AI voices read each line, one voice per character |
| Editing | You | Included in most PFH rates | You fix a line and regenerate only that line |
| Proofing | You | The narrator, then your listen | You listen to each chapter |
| Mastering | You, to the store's spec | Included in most PFH rates | Check the exported MP3 against your store's spec |
| Delivery | You upload | Often included in the PFH rate | You download one MP3 per chapter and upload it |
PFH, short for per finished hour, is what a narrator charges for each hour of finished audio. Our ACX guide explains the deals you can strike with a narrator there.
If you want help with the production itself, AudioForge's Author Help Program offers a done-for-you option where our team produces the audiobook and you review and approve it. Places are limited.
How long does audiobook production take?
Audiobook production takes several hours of work for every finished hour of audio, and estimates range from three to six or more hours.
A finished hour is one hour of polished, edited audio, and Author's Republic uses an average narration pace of about 9,300 words per finished hour. For a 90,000-word novel of about 9.7 finished hours:
- A hired narrator needs six or more hours per finished hour, according to Author's Republic's guide, revised October 2025: about 58 hours or more, at $100 to $1,000 or more per finished hour, so roughly $970 to $9,700 or more.
- Narrating it yourself takes three to five hours per finished hour, according to ScribeCount's July 2026 guide: about 29 to 48 hours, plus $300 to $700 of equipment.
- AI production moves the hours from recording to review. You still listen to every chapter, roughly 9.7 hours of listening for this book, plus the time to fix lines.
The full cost comparison by route is in how to create an audiobook.
The bottom line
Audiobook production is six stages of work, from preparation to delivery, and the route you pick decides how many of them land on you. A hired narrator usually covers editing, proofing and mastering in the per-finished-hour rate, while narrating it yourself or producing with AI puts the review in your hands. To see the AI route on your own book, produce one chapter in AudioForge, free during early access, following the steps in the help center.
FAQ
How much does it cost to get an audiobook produced?
Getting an audiobook produced costs from nothing upfront to nearly $10,000 or more for a novel. A hired narrator charges about $100 to $1,000 or more per finished hour, according to Author's Republic's guide revised in October 2025, so a 90,000-word novel of about 9.7 hours runs roughly $970 to $9,700 or more. Royalty Share deals and AI production tools avoid a narrator's upfront fee.
What does an audiobook producer do?
An audiobook producer is the narrator or studio that records, edits and masters the audio. On ACX the term covers narrators and studios, and a per-finished-hour rate usually includes reading the script, recording, pickups, editing, proofing, mastering and uploading retail-ready files.
How long does audiobook production take?
Audiobook production takes several hours of work for every finished hour of audio. Author's Republic puts it at six or more hours per finished hour for a narrator, and ScribeCount estimates three to five hours for authors narrating their own book, so a 9.7-hour novel needs roughly 29 to 58 hours or more.
Do I need a production company to make an audiobook?
A production company is not required to make an audiobook. You can narrate it yourself, hire an individual narrator who handles editing and mastering, or use an AI production tool. A managed service suits authors who want someone else to run every step, at an added fee.
