When people discover that I'm a freelance audiobook narrator, the question that usually follows is, “How much do you make doing that?”

In this post, I'm going to show you how much I made as a brand-new audiobook narrator with no experience because I think that information is helpful (and interesting) to people who are just getting started.  

Related Post: How I Made $2,597 in My 2nd Month Publishing Short Books on Amazon KDP

These are my personal earnings. I can't promise or guarantee that you will earn the same amount. Your results will depend on a variety of factors including but not limited to your background, experience, work ethic, etc.***  

I started working from home as a freelance audiobook narrator on ACX.com a couple of years ago. ACX is owned by Amazon and Audible and helps match narrators with authors/book publishers by allowing anyone to submit auditions for open audiobook projects.

I think ACX is the best place to get started if you don’t have any experience yet (and no, I do not work for them, nor do I get paid to promote them.)

While you do need to live in the US, UK, Canada, or Ireland to sign up for ACX, they don’t have a formal application process and it is 100% free to sign up and start auditioning for paid audiobook projects on the site.

They also won’t take a cut of your earnings like a lot of other “voice over jobs” sites do.

How do you get paid?

On ACX there are 3 ways that you can get paid for work as a narrator:

1. Per-finished-hour (one flat rate payment for the entire book)

2. Royalty share (you split royalties 50/50 with the author or “rights holder”)

3. Royalty share plus (a combination of royalty share and PFH).

Royalty Share

Flat rate payments are pretty self-explanatory, so let's cover royalty share deals first.

Since I get all of my royalty share book projects through ACX, I get paid 50% of whatever the author makes as his or her royalty from audiobook sales on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. 

For example, if the author gets $8 for every audiobook sold, I would get $4 (or 50% of their royalty).

This is a great deal IF the book sells well.

For example, if my share is $4 per book (average for 5-6 hour audiobooks) and the book sells 100 copies in a month, that one book would make me $400 per month.

To be clear, this is a hypothetical scenario, but it's not unattainable. You can see how recording multiple royalty share audiobooks can start to add up over time.

However, not every book that you record as a royalty share is guaranteed to sell well. Some might do better or worse depending on their Amazon sales rank, reviews, and the author’s promotional efforts.

Recording royalty share audiobooks is a great way to build up a source of passive income. It can be a slow build when you’re first starting out, but in my my experience, I can end up making more from royalty share audiobooks over time than if I took a one-time PFH payment.

For this reason, I do a mix of royalty share and PFH projects.

PFH let’s you earn money right away.

Royalty share keeps paying you over time, so even if I stopped recording audiobooks someday, I’d still continue to get royalty payments every month.

Per-Finished-Hour (PFH)

Next, let’s talk about flat rate or “PFH” audiobook deals.

A “PFH” deal is one where you get paid "X" number of dollars for every hour of “finished audio” that you produce.

For example, if your rate is $100 per hour (PFH) and the book ends up being 8 hours of audio, you would get paid $800 for the completed audiobook.

How much can realistically expect to make as a beginner with no experience?

Here’s a screen shot of one of my very first flat rate (PFH) book offers that I got through ACX. 

Keep in mind that I had absolutely no experience or training when I started.

I simply recorded an audition for this book using Audacity (a free audio editing and recording program) and a few days later I got this offer to record the audiobook.

This book was 71,000 words which works out to about 7 hours of finished audio. 

The author was offering $80 PFH which works out to $610 for the completed audiobook.

This PFH rate is actually pretty low, but I think it was fair considering that I didn’t have any experience as a narrator prior to taking on this project and I was really just using it to learn to the process.

The average PFH rate for audiobook narrators (once they have some experience) is between $100 and $250 PFH.

Just to be clear — this is NOT a “get rich quick” sort of thing. It takes effort and persistence to be really successful at it. But at the same time, getting projects on ACX might not be as difficult as you may think.

So, if you are looking for an enjoyable way to make extra income from home (and you are willing to learn how to record audiobooks the right way) this could be a great option for you.

However, I don’t recommend jumping in full time until you have a good amount of experience and you have optimized your workflow.

How can you get started?

Right now there are more than 1855 books listed on ACX that are looking for someone to narrate them and new titles are added every single day. This volume of open projects has remained fairly consistent since I got started several years ago - so there is no shortage of work.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

• Gather equipment (see below)

• Create a free narrator profile on ACX

• Set up a quiet space in your home to record (closets work great)

• Create 1 to 3 audio samples to upload to your ACX profile.

  • You can create audio samples using Audacity (which is free) or the professional recording software of your choice. Samples make your profile look more complete and professional, so I highly recommend adding one or two to your profile before you start auditioning.

• Start auditioning for available books on ACX and continue doing so until you land your first offer.

What equipment will you need to Get Started?

1. Professional quality microphone

Condenser microphones are strongly recommended for recording audiobooks.

I use the AT 2020 Condenser Mic by Audio-Technica.

I use a Scarlett interface to connect this microphone to my computer because it does have an XLR connection (not a USB).

You can see all of the equipment I use in my home audiobook recording studio in my Audiobook Equipment Guide.

What not to use:

• Internal mic on your computer (sounds like you’re talking into a coffee can),

• Bluetooth mics (can pick up interference and static),

• Headset mics (low audio quality),

• Ultra cheap/budget mics (low audio quality and tend to break easily)

If you want your auditions to stand out and be competitive, you need to use a microphone that was designed for professional voice over work.

2. Pop Filter

This device helps to prevent too much air from entering your mic which can result in “popping” sounds — otherwise known as “plosives.”

I recommend this pop filter because it has two layers of mesh instead of just one.

3. Microphone Stand

This one might be obvious, but I thought I’d mention it because most condenser microphones don’t come with a stand. You want to have as much flexibility as possible so that you can move your mic around and position it so that it’s comfortable for you to read into for long periods of time.

I recommend either a desktop stand like this or a “boom stand” like this that clamps onto your desk or table top and comes with a pop filter. The stands are fairly universal, meaning that they will work with most microphones.

4. Headphones

A good pair of over the ear “studio monitor” headphones are essential for recording audiobooks. Many narrators where these while recording so that they can hear everything that their microphone is picking up. Headphones are also mandatory when you are editing your auditions and audiobook chapters.

I recommend these Sony MDR7506 Professional Headphones. These are the same headphones that I use. They are highly recommended by most audio professionals because they are comfortable to wear for long periods of time and you’ll hear every detail of your audio crystal clear.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20x headphones and the Sennheiser HD280 PRO headphones are also good options.

***Avoid using noise canceling headphones*** when doing any kind of professional audio work. Noise canceling headphones distort your audio from it’s original form, so you won’t hear exactly what your listener will end up hearing when they buy your audiobook.

5. Recording/Editing Software

You will need a program to record and edit your audio for samples, auditions, and your audiobook chapters.

I have always used Audacity (I’m still using it today!) It’s a free program that works with almost every type of computer. It’s very easy to learn how to use. So, if you aren’t a big “tech” person, I’d recommend getting started with Audacity.

There are other programs out there like Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Reaper, and others. Those are all paid programs that were designed for music production, so they are a lot more complicated to learn how to use.

6. Computer (laptop or desktop) or Recording Device (Zoom H5)

The last piece of equipment that you’ll need is a computer that is in good working condition. You can use either a laptop or a desktop.

One thing to watch out for is noisy computer fans. If your computer has a loud fan that kicks on whenever your computer starts to overheat, you may need to move your computer away from your mic and use a tablet, iPad, or other device to read your scripts from.

Alternatively, you could record into a separate device, such as a Zoom H5 recorder, and then transfer the audio to your computer for editing.

Also, most audio recording/editing programs CANNOT be downloaded on tablets, iPads, or Chromebooks because processing audio requires a good amount of computing power and these devices just aren’t built to handle that.

7. Recording Space

The last thing that you will need to start recording is a quiet space that is free from echo (audio reflections).

You do not have to go to a professional recording studio to record audiobooks for ACX, but you should spend some time finding or setting up a quiet space in your home that you can record in.

A lot of freelance narrators will record in walk in closets since these spaces are usually fairly isolated from external noise, and if they have clothes hanging in them, they will help absorb echo.

I turned a small coat closet into a recording booth by lining the walls with 2” acoustic foam tiles. But you could also use blankets, towels, rugs, or any soft material that will absorb audio reflections to line the walls.

Here’s my first recording space (with blankets and materials I had lying around my house).

Here’s my “improved” recording space with the acoustic panels. But it’s the same small closet as the image above (approx. 3 ft. by 4ft.)

Here is my latest attempt at building a home recording studio for myself below. It’s basically the same equipment, just in a bigger closet (approx. 4ft. by 8ft.) with an IKEA desk instead of a laptop stand.

ACX Submission Requirements

The last thing that you need to know about before you get started on ACX is the ACX Submission Requirements.

This is a short list of technical requirements that your audio files must meet BEFORE your audiobook can be sold on Audible. Most of these requirements are pretty simple. However, if you get stuck, I recommend searching YouTube for tutorials.