Production Costs and Earning

There are various arrangements of how an audiobook is produced in terms of distribution of costs and earnings in terms of share of sales or royalties.

In the production of any audiobook, the following are the main costs of production

1. Recording Studio Cost
2. Editing and Proof Listening Cost
3. Narrator’s Cost
4. Distribution Channel Cost
5. Margins of the Content Integrators.

There are means and ways to eliminate some of these costs. Like for example, an author who is also a good narrator can save the narrator’s cost. Or, Author may choose to record the material in his /her own voice in a quiet place or a specifically designed booth for audiobooks. This way the recording studio costs are eliminated.

But you have to keep in mind that sometimes there are trade-offs in quality when you choose to try these cost-saving alternative. It is ultimately the producer, whether its author himself or a separate sponsor or producer of the audiobook, who has to take the decision of these trade-offs and be responsible and accountable for the final outcome of the audiobook.

You have the following models that you can work with;

Option 1 ;

Author invests into the production of the audiobook by incurring all the costs.

Advantages

Full control over audio rights which gives the author flexibility to choose the marketplace to promote and distribute the book. The author is not bound to one channel only.

Disadvantages

The author needs to pay all cost upfront in coming out with the audiobook which could be a substantial investment given the length of the book and popularity of the genre.

Option 2 ;

The Royalty Share option gives the author the flexibility to forego upfront payment in exchange for your agreement to share your royalty earnings with the narrator of your book and with your chosen producer for the life of your audiobook.

Advantages

The Author does not have to pay a substantial amount out of pocket to have audiobook produced and distributed. The risk is shared.

Disadvantages

The author may not have full control over the audio rights and could be shared between various entities depending on the understanding of the entities involved and what’s documented in the contract.

The Author may not get full royalty as the risk is shared the rewards are shared as well.

Option 3 ; 

Do It Yourself

If the author/producer has finished audio files already then the author /producer uploads them directly to iPustak HUB, and take advantage of our audiobook distribution network. Distribute exclusively or non-exclusively, and the author receives regular royalty payments.

There are different types of Royalty arrangements that iPustak HUB does with the Authors. These are;

Exclusive Royalty

Earn up to 80% in royalty ( After the cut in the payment of the distribution channels as Google Playstore and Apple AppStore)  on sales on distribution channels of iPustak HUB which includes the Android and iOS apps and our partner network all over the world.

Non-Exclusive Royalty

In this arrangement, the Authors retains the right to distribute its audio contents with the other distribution networks and channels as well. In that case iPustak offers the royalty up to 50% ( After the cut in the payment of the distribution channels as Google Playstore and Apple AppStore) on sales on distribution channels of iPustak HUB which includes the Android and iOS apps and our partner network all over the world.