How Do I Set My Audiobook Production Schedule?

Apr 15

If you’re a voice actor looking to get into audiobook narration, either part time or full time, you need to know the workload you can manage lest you end up feeling like this:

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Producing an audiobook is a lot of work, and for those who are still learning their workflow, it can become overwhelming quickly. With this post, I’ll explain how I set my audiobook production goals and limits. You can follow these steps yourself to learn how to set your own goals, limits, and deadlines so you don’t bite off more than you can chew.

You can also download this worksheet to guide you through the math of setting your monthly audiobook production goals!

Download the worksheet!

When setting your audiobook production goals and limits, you want to use finished hours rather than a number of books per month. A finished hour is an hour of audio that’s ready for publication, meaning it’s been prepped, recorded, edited, proofed, and mastered. Books vary wildly in length, but the number of finished hours you can produce per month is relatively static. For example, you can complete one 13 hour book in a month, or three 4 hour books.

Something else to keep in mind when deciding on the amount of time you can dedicate to audiobook production is the administrative tasks involved. Producing audiobooks isn’t just sitting in front of your mic reading a book, it’s also auditioning for your next book, updating samples and resumes, bookkeeping, managing your email inbox, research, and various other small things. For every finished hour of audio, I recommend planning for 2 hours of administrative tasks on top of regular audiobook production.

Now, let’s get into how I set my production goals and limits.

Step 1: Setting my rate

Thousands of independent voice over artists have spent years creating market rates for many kinds of VO work. For commercial and short work, the “Indie Rate Guide” from voiceactingclub.com is a fantastic reference. Several audiobook producer Facebook groups have had lengthy conversations about standard rates for audiobook producers, and the consensus seems to have landed on charging a minimum of $250 per finished hour (PFH) for audiobook work, which is the rate I charge.

Don’t charge less than $250PFH, even when you’re just starting out. It’s far better to work on Royalty Share projects (or volunteering through Learning Ally) for practice, since accepting lower rates undercuts the market and gives all narrators a disadvantage when negotiating their rates. Also, you’re trying to market yourself as a professional, right? Charge like one!

Step 2: Calculate my monthly expenses

Since I decided I wanted audiobook narration to be my full time job, I knew I needed to earn enough to cover my bills. I gathered together all my bills for personal expenses (including saving for taxes!) and determined the absolute minimum I needed to earn a month to cover them. For my current situation, that’s $2,000. It’s not comfortable and provides absolutely no discretionary spending, but I won’t miss rent payments or not have enough for groceries. If you live in a city that doesn’t have a crazy high cost of living (*cough cough* anywhere other than Vancouver *cough cough*), this number will likely be smaller.

In addition to my personal bills, I needed to know my business’ bills as well. Website hosting costs, membership fees, coaching, and other business expenses were gathered up and summed into a monthly budget of about $500 per month. I also calculated the cost of outsourcing some of my audiobook production work - the proofing and editing. I pay my editor $75PFH for editing and mastering, and I pay someone $25PFH to proof listen to the audio and send me a report of the errors I need to correct (an absolute must in my opinion. I’ll make a post in the future about how to find editors and proofers). This totals $100PFH, meaning I earn $150PFH for my audiobook work after outsourcing costs.

Step 3: Setting my finished hour/month minimum goal

In order to be sure I had enough funds to cover my business and personal expenses every month, I needed to bring in about $2,500 per month. At $150PFH (my $250PFH rate less the outsourced editing and proofing costs), I need:

$2,500 / $150 = 16.67 finished hours per month.

To call myself a full time audiobook narrator, my goal is to record a minimum of 17 finished hours per month.

Next, I determined how many finished hours I can realistically achieve in a month.

Step 4: Setting my finished hour/month ideal goal

4a: Determine my labour to output ratio

Like I mentioned in step 2, that $2,500 figure allows for no fun spending (I miss you, fancy bakery scones!), or room for savings goals. Instead of using an income figure for my ideal goal, however, I decided to calculate how many hours I could comfortably produce in a month so I could maintain the lifestyle I want. This way, I can be sure I don’t burn out from setting too high a goal.

To do this, I needed to know how many labour hours I put into each finished hour. The rule of thumb for most audiobooks is each finished hour requires 6-8 labor hours to complete. This 6:1 or 8:1 ratio includes manuscript prep, recording, editing, proofing, mastering, and exporting the final product. If you’re brand new to audiobook producing, narrating, or editing, then your labour:output ratio may be larger.

Since I outsource my editing and proofing, I only needed to determine my labour hours for prep and narration. I use the app Clockify to track the time I spend on each stage of the audiobook production process. I highly recommend using a time tracking tool, especially at the beginning of your journey, as it can help you determine the actual amount of time you need to complete a project, which will help you set realistic deadlines for yourself. I’ll dedicate a future post to how to use a time tracker effectively.

After tracking the time I spend on audiobook production, I’ve calculated that my average labour:output ratio for audiobooks is 3.5:1. Again, I outsource my editing and proofing, so those hours are not included in my ratio. For every finished hour I produce, I need 3.5 hours to prep and record it.

4b: Determine the number of hours per month I can work on audiobooks

Since I don’t have a fully soundproof booth yet, I have to compete with my neighbours and fiancé for silence. I figured that I can spend about 2 hours in my booth on audiobooks every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with options to shift my schedule as need be. I spend another 1.5 hours every work day on prep. (Note that I also do about 1-2 hours of admin work every work day, but this is not part of my labour:output calculation). This equals about 3.5 labour hours a day, or 1 finished hour per day.

At 4 days a week and 4 weeks in a month, I work about 16 days per month. This means I produce 16 finished hours per month.

Once I install a proper sound isolation booth, I’ll increase my recording time from 2 hours per work day to 4 hours, keeping prep and admin work at around 4 hours per work day.

(8 hours / 3.5 = 2.2 finished hours per day) x 16 days = 35.2 finished hours/month.

Now that I know my ideal limit for audiobook work, I can use that to decide which projects are worth putting into my schedule and which I should pass on. In a future post, I’ll show you three questions you can ask yourself to determine if a project is worth your time.

I know this process involves a lot of math, but trust me, once you’ve run the numbers you’ll feel more in control of your business. If you’re still struggling to get your head around this process and these numbers, you can book a one-on-one session with me and I can help you determine your ideal workload.

So, to summarize:

Use finished hours to set goals, not books. Audiobooks can vary in length, and narrators are paid per finished hour, not per book.
Your minimum per finished hour (PFH) rate should be $250 for audiobooks. If you need more experience, volunteer at Learning Ally or find good Royalty Share projects on ACX.
Set a minimum earnings goal for each month. If you want audiobook narration to be your full time job, this should be the amount you need to survive every month. If you want it to be a side hustle, determine how much extra money you need/want.
Divide this monthly earnings goal by your rate (less outsourcing costs) to determine your minimum finished hour goal.
Good proofers cost between $25-$35 PFH, and editors usually cost around $75 PFH
Over time, you’ll develop an idea for how much time you need to produce 1 hour of finished audio. For beginners, assume an 8:1 ratio of labor to output.
Determine how many hours per week you can devote to audiobook work. Don’t forget to include reading, prep, editing, and administration time in this calculation, not just recording time.
Use your labor:output ratio to calculate how many finished hours you can produce in a month.
Knowing the number of hours you produce in a month can help you decide which projects are worth accepting.

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About Me

Larissa is a professional audiobook narrator, voice over artist, and actor. With her home recording studio in Vancouver, B.C., she is able to spend her time doing what she loves most - becoming a conduit for stories that resonate with us.