Audio Books: Royalty Share or Per-Finished Hour?

Getting started in audio books is a great idea for a side-hustle that can help you build a sustainable side-income that you can start to rely on. Building a reliable income, no matter how small the amount, is a huge step towards building a sustainable life in the arts. If you can build that income into an amount that covers one of your bills, then you've now given yourself one less bill to worry about when you decide on taking gigs.

I use ACX for the majority of my voice work gigs, and on ACX, there are two ways in which you can be compensated for your work: Royalty Share and Per-Finished-Hour. I've been paid both ways, and both have their advantage. Which you choose ultimately depends on your goals.

Royalty Share: For Consistent Income

Take this example: if you use Uber to pay your bills, and you typically count on making approximately $12 per hour, and you get yourself started in audio books and build yourself to monthly royalty payments of $100 per month, that's a full 8 hours per month you no longer have to drive Uber.

(Learn about using ride-share to support your life as an artist)

Yes, it is true that you're going to need to be spending time recording audio books, but for my money, there is a greater advantage to you working on audio books than there is to be sitting behind the wheel of your car. Essentially, you're able to shift that time into getting paid to read. Depending on what niche you select (Target a Niche for Voice Work Success), you can be getting paid to learn about topics that are highly valuable to you.

Now, the amount of money that you earn up front from royalty share projects is probably going to be small. I have it calculated that one royalty share project will net you an average of $2.50 per month. That's an average and is certainly by no means a guarantee. Books also tend to sell better in their first 6 months, so that number might initially be higher and then land lower. But that is $2.50 per month that you can start to rely on. That doesn't sound like a lot of money, and it isn't. But building up that amount of money can be a great boon for you and your income, and you'll be surprised at how quickly it adds just a little bit of breathing room to your monthly finances.

Per-Finished-Hour

This certainly seems like it doesn't require much explanation, as the name implies exactly how you'll get paid: you'll get a one time fee that is based on the length of the audio book. These projects can be really nice for your monthly bottom line, and depending on the rate you charge (can be as little as $20 per finished hour up to several hundred dollars), it can be a very nice check for you at the end of the project.

These are really nice projects to get - when you can get them. The majority of the projects on platforms like ACX are royalty share projects - authors that have pretty decent followings, but don't have a lot of money to invest up front in an audio book. However, some authors want to retain as much of the royalty money as they can for themselves, so they work out a deal ahead of time to pay the narrator for the book.

As implied in the previous paragraph, these projects aren't easy to get. They certainly exist on ACX, but there are fewer of them. They are also a little more competitive because the risk for the rights holder is a little bit higher, so they're looking for better, more experienced narrators and producers. This is not the kind of gig you should be looking for if you're just getting started in voice work.

Conclusion

If you're just breaking in to audio books, then you should begin your search with royalty share projects. As you gain more experience, start to mix in the per-finished-hour projects to balance out your monthly balance sheet, but don't lose focus on the royalty share projects out there. Like money management, a balanced approach is the best way to build a sustainable income, and life, as an artist.