The costs people forget about
The narrator fee is the biggest line item, but it is not the only one. Depending on your setup, you may also need to budget for:
Studio time. If the narrator records remotely from a professional home studio, this is usually included in the PFH rate. If you want a managed studio session in London or Birmingham, there is an additional facility cost.
Editing and mastering. If your narrator delivers raw recordings, someone needs to edit them. That means removing mouth clicks, normalising levels, adding chapter markers and ensuring the whole thing meets platform technical requirements.
Proofing. Someone needs to listen to the finished audio against the manuscript to catch mispronunciations, skipped lines and inconsistencies. On a 10-hour book, this is a full day of work.
Retakes and pickups. Most projects need at least one round of corrections. How these are handled and charged varies by narrator and agency.
How to budget for an audiobook project
A rough method: take your manuscript word count, divide by 9,300 (the average words per finished hour for most narration), and multiply by the PFH rate that matches your project scope.
For example, a 75,000-word novel is roughly 8 finished hours. At £250 PFH with full production included, that is around £2,000.
This is an estimate, not a quote. Genre, pacing and production scope all affect the final number. But it gives you a starting point for budget conversations.
Audiobook pricing looks confusing until you know what you’re paying for. This guide explains UK audiobook narration costs, how per finished hour pricing works, what affects the quote, and how we can manage the entire project end-to-end if you want one team handling everything.
The short answer
UK audiobook narration typically costs £100 to £400+ per finished hour depending on narrator experience, so a 10-hour audiobook may cost anywhere from roughly £1,000 to £4,000+ once production requirements are counted.
How audiobook narration is priced
Most audiobooks are priced using per finished hour (PFH). A finished hour is one hour of completed, edited audio ready for delivery.
A key point: one finished hour usually takes several hours to produce once recording, retakes, proofing, editing, mastering and quality control are included. That’s why audiobook pricing can’t be compared to short-form voiceover work on a “minutes in the booth” basis.
Important distinction
Recording vs finished audio
Always confirm whether your quote includes editing and mastering. Raw recordings and platform-ready audiobook files are not the same thing.
Typical audiobook narration costs in the UK
- New or emerging narrators: £100-£200 per finished hour
- Experienced narrators: £200-£400 per finished hour
- Specialist or high-demand voices: £400+ per finished hour
As an example, a 10-hour audiobook may cost anywhere from roughly £1,000 to £4,000+, depending on narrator experience and production requirements.
What affects audiobook pricing?
- Book length: longer books increase total cost, though longer projects may benefit from smoother PFH rates
- Genre and performance: fiction, character work and dialogue-heavy material require more performance time
- Editing and mastering: some quotes include full post-production, others are recording-only
- Rights model: some projects use royalty share arrangements instead of flat PFH rates
If you’re comparing quotes, make sure you’re comparing like-for-like: the same scope, the same deliverables, and the same quality expectations.
Useful for budgeting
A simple estimate method
If you know your word count, you can estimate runtime, then multiply by a PFH range. We can help you validate the estimate before you commit.
Full audiobook production and project management
If you don’t want to manage multiple freelancers or production stages, we can handle the entire audiobook process for you from start to finish.
Our end-to-end audiobook production service can include:
- Helping define scope, runtime and budget
- Voice casting and narrator selection
- Studio recording and session management
- Editing, mastering and quality control
- Delivery to platform-ready specifications
This suits authors, publishers and organisations who want a single point of contact and a predictable outcome without having to oversee every technical detail.
Why this helps
One team, one timeline
Splitting narration, editing and delivery across different suppliers can slow projects down and introduce inconsistencies. End-to-end production keeps everything aligned and on schedule.
Why quality matters for audiobooks
Listeners notice pacing, clarity and consistency. Poor narration often leads to negative reviews and refunds on audiobook platforms. Professional narration improves engagement and protects your book’s reputation.
Choosing the right narrator
Beyond the voice itself, consider:
- Consistency across long recording sessions
- Stamina and pacing over extended material
- Experience with your genre
- Ability to take direction and deliver revisions cleanly
Get an audiobook quote
If you have a manuscript, word count or target runtime, we can recommend suitable voices and advise on the right production approach.
Narrators: join the Easy Tiger roster
We cast audiobook narrators for UK and international publishers. If you narrate audiobooks and have demos, send them through and we will add you to our voice bank. Non-exclusive, you keep your own clients.
