Skip to main content
Academy Voices For authors Get Started
For authors and publishers

Narration only. Your audiobook, your files.

A real narrator records your book. You approve it, download every file, and publish it wherever you like.

  • Real narrators audition. You choose the voice.
  • You keep every file and every right.
  • We never publish it unless you ask us to.
  • $350one-time production fee
  • $50+an hour to your narrator, set by you
  • 805audiobooks since 2023
  • 100%read by real people
Meet the voices

Choose the voice. Keep the recording.

Every narrator is a real, vetted person. Tap a face to hear them. When you post your book, narrators like these audition for it, and you choose who records it.

341 narrators and counting.

Post your book free
How it works

From your book to your files in four steps

  1. 1

    Post your book free

    Choose pay per finished hour, set the narrator's rate, and untick Publish this audiobook through Academy Voices.

  2. 2

    Hear auditions

    Real narrators record a sample from your book. You pick the voice you want.

  3. 3

    Approve as it's made

    You approve a short sample first, then the finished audiobook. Every file is checked against the rules the big audiobook stores use.

  4. 4

    Download your files

    Pay your narrator and every finished file unlocks on your book's page. Publish them anywhere.

Who it's for

Anyone who already has a way to sell it.

Authors with a publisher

Your publisher keeps distribution

Your publisher holds the audio rights and wants to sell the audiobook through its own channels. We make it, and you or your publisher put it out.

Small presses

Your distributor sells it

You already send ebooks and audio to stores through your distributor. Upload our finished files there, the same way you do now.

Independent authors

You publish it yourself

You'd rather run your own audiobook account or sell it from your own site. The files are yours to take anywhere.

Listen

Hear what our narrators make.

Real books by our authors and publishers, read by our narrators. Press play on any of these.

The Coven

By Corvina Sweeney

Narrated by Eric A Grimes, Myra Shiraz

Sci-Fi
Spellbound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today's Kids cover
“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!”
L.L. Veinot Jr., President, MCOI Publishing, LLC
What it costs

One fee to us. The narrator's pay goes to the narrator.

Narration only

Pay per finished hour

$350 + from $50/hourOne-time production fee, plus the narrator's rate, which you set.

Example: a 60,000-word book is about 6.5 finished hours. At $100 an hour, that's about $650 to your narrator, plus $350.

No royalties to anyone. You keep everything the audiobook earns.

Post your book free
When you pay

Nothing up front

  • Posting your book and hearing auditions are free.
  • The $350 is due once your narrator signs.
  • The narrator's pay is due after you approve the finished audiobook. Your files unlock as soon as it's paid.
  • Recording a series? Later books with the same narrator: $250.

Want us to publish it for you instead? See the publishing options. We send it to nearly 50 stores, libraries and apps.

Real people only

Every word read by a real person.

  • Every narrator is a vetted, real person. We never use a computer-generated voice.
  • You hear your narrator before you commit, and approve the full book before the narrator is paid.
Certified Human Voice Every audiobook we make carries the Certified Human Voice™ badge.
Questions

Before you post

A press with several books? Email me and we'll plan them together. apica@academyvoices.com Anthony Pica, founder
You do. The narrator is paid for the recording and earns no royalties, so everything the audiobook earns is yours.
Every finished file of the audiobook, ready to download from your book's page. They're checked against the loudness, noise and format rules the big audiobook stores use.
Only if you ask. With publishing unticked we don't distribute it. You can choose to list it in our own store too, and that's off unless you turn it on.
Not with narration only. Royalty share pays the narrator out of sales we distribute, so it needs us to publish the audiobook. See that option.
You approve a short sample before the full book is recorded. If it isn't right, you can switch narrators at no cost before you approve.
About 4 to 6 weeks after you approve the sample, for books under 50,000 words. Longer books get a timeline agreed up front.

Hear your book read by a real person.

Post it free. Keep every file.

Post your book free
Narration only. Keep your files. Post your book free
0:00 –:––