Royalty Share vs Per Finished Hour: Which to Choose

Pay per finished hour if you expect your audiobook to sell well and you want to keep the most money from every sale. Choose royalty share if you want to start with the least money up front and you're happy to split what the book earns with your narrator for a set number of years.

That is the whole decision in two sentences. Below is what each option really costs on a real book, how many sales it takes for paying up front to come out ahead, how ACX's royalty share differs from ours, and how to choose.

What does "per finished hour" mean?

Per finished hour (often written PFH) is how narrators price their work. A finished hour is one hour of the final, edited audiobook, not one hour in the booth. Narrators often spend several hours recording, editing and fixing for every finished hour you hear, which is why the rate looks high next to an hourly wage.

To estimate your finished hours, divide your word count by 9,300, the rule of thumb Author's Republic uses in its production budget guide. A 60,000-word novel is about 6.5 finished hours. A 90,000-word novel is close to 10.

When you pay per finished hour, the narrator is paid once and has no claim on your sales. Market rates run from about $150 to $400 or more per finished hour, depending on the narrator's experience. On Academy Voices you set the rate yourself, starting at $50 per finished hour, and narrators audition knowing what you're offering.

What does "royalty share" mean?

With royalty share, you pay the narrator nothing up front. Instead, the narrator takes part of what the audiobook earns, for a fixed number of years. You save money now and give up part of every sale later.

On Academy Voices, royalty share splits what we receive from stores 40% to you, 40% to your narrator and 20% to Academy Voices, for 10 years from publication. After that, the narrator's share comes to you. You pay a one-time $350 production fee, the same fee as with per finished hour.

On ACX, Audible's audiobook marketplace, royalty share is a 50/50 split of your royalties with the narrator for seven years, and the book has to stay exclusive to Audible, Amazon and Apple Books for that whole time (see ACX's page on exclusive and non-exclusive distribution).

Royalty share vs per finished hour at a glance

What each option costs on a real book

Take a 60,000-word novel, about 6.5 finished hours, and a narrator at $100 per finished hour.

• Per finished hour: $650 to the narrator plus the $350 production fee, so $1,000 up front. You then keep 80% of what the book earns.
• Royalty share: $350 up front. You keep 40% of what the book earns for 10 years, then 80%.

The difference up front is the narrator's fee: $650. At $150 an hour it would be $975, and at $250 an hour, about $1,625. Try your own word count and rate here:

When does paying up front come out ahead?

Paying per finished hour costs more today but earns you an extra 40% of every sale for 10 years. So the real question is how much the book has to earn before that extra 40% covers the narrator's fee.

With a $650 fee, you break even once the audiobook brings in about $1,625 in royalties ($650 divided by 40%). How many copies that takes depends on where people listen, because every store pays differently. These are real averages from our own catalog, October 2024 to August 2026, for what reached us per copy after the store and distributor took their share:

Most books sell through a mix of all of these. Across our catalog, Audible and Amazon brought in 34% of royalties, hoopla 32% and Spotify 21%. If you already sell well in ebook or print and have readers asking for audio, the break-even is very reachable and paying per finished hour keeps more money with you. If this is your first book or you have no idea how it will sell, royalty share keeps your risk at $350.

You can see what each store pays, and why Audible pays less per copy, on our royalties page.

Two authors, two answers

Maria, first novel, 70,000 words. Her ebook has been out three months and sells a handful of copies a week. Her audiobook will be about 7.5 finished hours. At $150 an hour, paying per finished hour would cost her $1,125 plus the $350 fee, and she would need the audiobook to bring in about $2,800 before that choice paid off. She has no sales history to point to, so she picks royalty share, pays $350, and keeps the rest of her budget for promotion. If the book takes off, she still earns 40% of every sale, and 80% after 10 years.

James, book four in a mystery series, 85,000 words. His earlier books sell a few hundred ebooks a month and his readers have been asking for audio. His audiobook will be about 9 finished hours. At $200 an hour, the narrator's fee is $1,800. He needs about $4,500 in audio royalties to come out ahead, which his readership can reach in the first year or two. He pays per finished hour, keeps 80% of every sale, and books the same narrator for the next book so the series sounds the same.

Neither choice is wrong. Maria is protecting her cash. James is betting on readers he already has.

What happens when the 10 years end?

On an Academy Voices royalty-share title, the narrator's 40% comes to you after 10 years from publication, so you receive 80% from then on, the same as a per finished hour title. Nothing needs to be renegotiated and the audiobook stays on sale. Our royalties are paid quarterly with a sales report, so you can watch the book's earnings the whole time.

How ACX royalty share is different

Many authors first hear about royalty share on ACX. The idea is the same, but the terms are not.

The exclusivity matters more than the split. On our catalog, hoopla alone brought in 32% of all royalties, and libraries also buy copies through Libby. An ACX royalty-share title can't be in those libraries for seven years. Per finished hour on ACX is different: you can switch to non-exclusive after 90 days.

What narrators think about royalty share

It helps to see the deal from the other side. A narrator on royalty share does all the work up front and is paid only if the book sells. Experienced narrators often turn down royalty share on a book with no sales history, because a book that sells a few dozen copies pays them very little for weeks of work.

That doesn't make royalty share a bad deal. It means you'll usually get more and stronger auditions if you show narrators why the book can sell: your ebook sales, your reviews, your mailing list, a series with readers waiting. On Academy Voices, royalty-share narrators also see quarterly sales reports, so they know exactly what the book earns.

Which should you choose?

Choose per finished hour if:

• Your ebook or print edition already sells steadily.
• You're writing a series and plan to keep the same narrator.
• You want every future dollar from the audiobook to stay with you.
• You can cover the narrator's fee without stretching.

Choose royalty share if:

• It's your first book, or your first in a new genre.
• Keeping the up-front cost to $350 is what makes the audiobook possible.
• You'd like a narrator who shares in the book's success.
• You're happy to share sales for 10 years in exchange for the lower start.

Either way, you own the audiobook, you choose your narrator from real auditions, and you hear a 15-minute sample before the full book is recorded.

Questions authors ask

Is royalty share free?

No. You pay nothing to the narrator up front, but you give them part of every sale for years. On Academy Voices there is also a one-time $350 production fee.

How much does it cost to hire an audiobook narrator per finished hour?

Market rates run from about $150 to $400 or more per finished hour. On Academy Voices you set your own rate, starting at $50. Divide your word count by 9,300 to estimate finished hours.

Can I switch from royalty share to per finished hour later?

Not on the same contract. The split is part of the agreement you sign with your narrator. Choose before you post your book.

Do I own my audiobook with royalty share?

Yes. On Academy Voices you own the audiobook either way. Royalty share only decides how sales are split for 10 years.

Why is ACX royalty share only seven years?

That is ACX's term. The narrator is paid for seven years, and the title must stay exclusive to Audible, Amazon and Apple Books for that time.

Start with the option that fits your book

Every audiobook on Academy Voices is Certified Human Voice™: performed by a real person, start to finish. See how posting your book, auditions and both ways to pay work on How It Works, or browse audiobooks our narrators have made in the catalog. If you're still deciding whether to hire a narrator at all, our guide on how to hire an audiobook narrator walks through it step by step.

Rates and terms are from ACX (help.acx.com) and Academy Voices royalty reports as of October 2026. We'll update this post if they change.