A human voice, delivered to spec.
Single-narrator audiobook production for non-fiction, memoir, and practical philosophy. Recorded, edited, and mastered by the same person — an author who has taken his own book through the full ACX technical gauntlet and knows exactly where submissions fail.
The introduction to VirtueCoded, as delivered
| ACX requirement | This exact file |
|---|---|
| RMS between −23 dB and −18 dB | −19.6 dB |
| Peak no higher than −3 dBFS | −3.7 dBFS |
| 192 kbps or higher, constant bitrate | 192 kbps CBR |
| 44.1 kHz | 44.1 kHz mono |
Why most self-recorded audiobooks get rejected
ACX does not reject books for being boring. It rejects them for numbers — and authors almost always discover this after recording the whole thing.
Noise floor
A computer fan is typically the difference between a floor of −49 dB and −64 dB. The requirement is below −60 dB. No amount of noise reduction fixes that without flattening the voice, because HVAC rumble sits in the same 100–1000 Hz band a human voice lives in.
Bitrate method
Most export presets produce variable bitrate around 110–128 kbps. ACX requires constant bitrate at 192 kbps or better and will bounce the upload on that alone, with no comment on the performance at all.
Peaks and RMS
Loudness has to sit in a three-decibel window while peaks stay under −3 dBFS. Files that sound perfect can miss by fractions and come back rejected, chapter after chapter.
What $150 a finished hour buys
A finished hour means sixty minutes of completed, edited audio — not sixty minutes in the booth. The recording and editing time behind it is not billed to you.
- Narration and performance of the full manuscript.
- Editing — breaths, mouth noise, false starts, and retakes cleaned with punch-and-roll so the read stays continuous.
- Mastering to the technical spec above, chapter by chapter.
- One file per chapter, named and ordered for direct upload.
- Opening and closing credits plus the retail sample, prepared to the same standard.
- Corrections free of charge for misreads, mispronunciations, and anything that does not match your manuscript.
$150 minimum
- Anything under an hour of finished audio is billed at the $150 minimum.
- A typical 60,000-word non-fiction book runs about six to seven finished hours.
- Booked and paid through ACX, or directly by invoice for books distributed elsewhere.
- Royalty Share and Royalty Share Plus arrangements considered on ACX for the right project.
- A delivery date is agreed in writing before recording starts.
How a book gets made
- Send the manuscript and a sample passage. A short passage of your choosing comes back recorded, at no cost and with no obligation, so you hear your own words before anything is agreed.
- Scope and schedule. Finished-hour estimate, total cost, and a delivery date, all in writing before a word is recorded.
- Pronunciation pass. Names, places, technical terms, and anything you want stressed a particular way get settled up front rather than fixed in pickups.
- Recording and delivery in batches. Chapters arrive as they are finished, so a problem with the read surfaces in chapter two instead of chapter twenty.
- Corrections, then final files. Chapter files, credits, and retail sample, all inside spec and ready to upload.
Whether this is the right voice
An honest fit matters more than a booking. Listen to the sample above and judge the instrument itself — but the categories below are a fair guide.
- Non-fiction, memoir, and autobiography.
- Practical philosophy, faith, and personal development.
- Business, leadership, and craft books.
- Single-narrator work in a measured, grounded register.
- Authors who considered reading it themselves and would rather it were done right.
- Multi-cast fiction and full-cast dramatisation.
- Books that live or die on heavy character work and accents.
- Children’s books needing broad, animated character voices.
- Projects whose real requirement is the cheapest possible price — synthetic narration is free, and it will always win that contest.
Send a passage. Hear it back.
Email the manuscript, or just a chapter and the finished-hour estimate you are working from. A sample passage of your choosing comes back recorded, free, before anything is committed.