Why specialist history audiobooks are difficult to finance

An audiobook budget has to account for narration and the work needed to turn recordings into a finished edition. Glynn Stewart estimates about 9,000 words per finished hour and a minimum of $200 per finished hour for a good narrator. That rate generally includes editing and audio cleanup. In his experience, roughly a thousand audiobook sales cover the cost, though he presents that as his own rule of thumb. Alex Clarke is considering audio editions of self-published histories if their Kindle performance supports the idea. A joke about paying a friend in burgers leaves the same practical problem: someone must still do the editing and cleanup.