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About this tool
Turn a manuscript word count into finished audiobook hours, studio time, editing time and ACX-spec file size.
An audiobook reading rate calculator converts a manuscript word count into finished audio hours by dividing words by narration pace — at the standard 155 words per minute, one finished hour holds 9,300 words. It then applies production multipliers to show prep, booth and editing time, how many sessions that means, and the delivery size at the ACX spec of 192 kbps MP3. Useful for authors budgeting a self-published title, narrators quoting per finished hour, and producers scheduling studio days.
Open Audiobook Reading Rate Calculator on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Upload or drag in the file you want to work with.
Adjust the settings and preview the result.
Download the finished file to your device.
Results are expressed in the per-finished-hour unit that narrators and studios actually quote in.
Prep, recording, editing and proof time are separated so the schedule is realistic, not just the runtime.
Change the booth and edit ratios to match your own workflow rather than a fixed industry average.
About 9,300 words at the standard narration pace of 155 words per minute, which is the figure ACX publishes as the average. A slower, more deliberate read at 130 wpm gives about 7,800 words per hour, and a brisk 175 wpm read gives about 10,500.
Plan on roughly 2 hours at the microphone for every finished hour when recording punch-and-roll, plus another 2 to 3 hours for editing, mastering and proof-listening, and about half an hour of prep per finished hour. A 10-hour title therefore takes 40 to 55 working hours end to end.
One hour of fully edited, mastered audio as the listener hears it. Narrators and studios price per finished hour (PFH) rather than per hour worked, because the amount of raw recording and editing behind each finished hour varies by narrator and material.
About 82 MB per hour at the ACX delivery spec of 192 kbps constant-bitrate MP3, since 192 kbps equals 24,000 bytes of audio per second. A 10-hour title is roughly 820 MB across all chapter files.
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