Audiobook narration services
Real narrators for your audiobook. You choose the voice.
Academy Voices offers audiobook narration services performed entirely by real people. Post your book free, hear auditions from professional audiobook narrators, and pick the one who sounds like your story. We handle production, quality checks and distribution.
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- 888audiobooks since 2023
- 392narrators
- ~50stores, libraries and apps
- $0to post your book
Meet the voices
392 audiobook narrators, all real people.
Every narrator on Academy Voices is a person with their own studio and demos, approved by Anthony Pica before they can be cast. Tap a face to hear them. When you post your book, narrators like these audition for it, and you choose.
How it works
From manuscript to finished audiobook
- 1
Post your book
Tell us about it and add a short audition script. Posting is free.
- 2
Hear auditions
Narrators who fit your book record your script, so you hear your own words in their voice.
- 3
Choose your narrator
Pick the voice you love and sign the contract on the site.
- 4
Approve a sample
You hear the first 15 minutes before the full recording goes ahead.
- 5
Approve the audiobook
Our team checks every file against retailer specs before it's published.
- 6
It goes on sale
On nearly 50 retailers, libraries and streaming services, and in our own store.
Voice over for audiobooks
Voice over for audiobooks is its own craft
Audiobook narration isn't a commercial read. A narrator holds a listener for six, ten, twenty hours: steady pacing, clear characters, the right emotion on every page, and clean audio from start to finish. That's what our narrators do.
Every finished file meets the technical rules retailers require, from levels to room tone to noise floor, and we check it before your book is published, so it isn't turned away after release.
Every audiobook carries our Certified Human Voice™ promise: performed by a real person, in their own voice, with their consent.
Narrators by genre
Audiobook narrators for every kind of book
Tap a genre to hear the narrators who record it.
Children's Story
40 narrators
Romance
35 narrators
Historical
33 narrators
Sci-Fi
33 narrators
Mystery
29 narrators
Literary
27 narrators
Biography & Autobiography
26 narrators
Self-Help
26 narrators
Fantasy
26 narrators
Classics
24 narrators
Adventure
21 narrators
Business & Finance
19 narrators
Accents and voices
Need a particular accent?
Your options
Ways to get your audiobook narrated
| Academy Voices | Hire a narrator yourself | ACX royalty share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finding the narrator | Narrators audition with your script | You search and contact them | You post and hope narrators audition |
| Narrator cost up front | None with royalty share, or a rate you set | Usually paid per finished hour | None |
| Checking and fixing files | We check every file before release | Up to you | Up to you; rejected files come back to you |
| Where it's sold | Nearly 50 stores and libraries, plus our store | Wherever you publish it | Audible only, for 7 years |
| Every narrator a real person | Yes, Certified Human Voice™ | Up to you to check | Not promised |
It costs a one-time $350 production fee, plus the narrator's rate per finished hour (from $50) or a royalty share instead. See the three ways to pay →
In their words
What authors say
“As an Indie Author, I highly recommend using Academy Voices for any writer wants their book recorded as an audiobook. Meghan Duran did an excellent job recording my contemporary romance, "The Two of Me" and Anthony Pica was awesome to work with. It was an easy, pleasant experience that I will definitely do again.”
“Academy Voices made creating the audiobook easy. The website was easy to understand. Anthony Pica was available to answer questions. He clearly told potential narrators what we were looking for, and we had several candidates to listen to and choose from. The narrator we chose was Judd Bonham, and he was entirely professional and the right fit for this project. I highly recommend Academy Voices!”
Everywhere people listen
Your audiobook, on nearly 50 retailers, libraries and streaming services.
Stores, subscription apps, library platforms and music services around the world.
Academy Voices Store Listeners buy direct on our own website and app.
Audible 
Amazon 
Apple Books 
Spotify 
Google Play 
Kobo 
YouTube Music 
Deezer 
Napster Plus 35 more, including OverDrive, Storytel, Everand, Libro.fm and Bibliotheca.See every partner
Stores
Libro.fm · Audiobooks.com · Downpour · The Audiobook Store · Audiobooks Now · Books-A-Million · Rahva RaamatSubscription apps
Storytel · Everand · BookBeat · Nextory · BookMate · Audioteka · 24Symbols · UBook · YouScribe · Anyplay · Speechify · Instaread · Kids.Radio · Behear · Bookwalker · Globook · Cliq DigitalLibraries
OverDrive · Bibliotheca · Follett · Mackin · Odilo · Wheelers · 3 Leaf Group · Ulverscroft · LibraryOne · DivibibMusic services
Calm RadioNot every title qualifies for every platform; some have content, genre or age requirements.
Questions
Audiobook narration: common questions
The things authors ask us most.
A $350 production fee, plus the narrator's per-finished-hour rate you set (from $50), or nothing more if you share royalties instead. A 60,000-word book is about 6.5 finished hours. You can pay your narrator over time with Klarna or Affirm, or in parts.
About 4 to 6 weeks after you approve the sample, for books under 50,000 words. Longer books get a timeline agreed up front.
Post your book and let narrators audition with your own script. You can also browse our narrators, listen to their demos, and send one a direct offer.
Yes. You own your audiobook whichever way you pay.
Nearly 50 retailers, libraries and streaming services, including Audible, Apple Books, Spotify and Libby, plus our own store.
Yes. Choose narration only: a real narrator records your audiobook and you keep every file.
Yes. Every Academy Voices audiobook is performed by a real, vetted narrator. Certified Human Voice™.
Hear your book in a real voice
Posting is free, and you don't pay anything until you've chosen your narrator.
Post your book free