These two indie platforms are partnering to help authors produce audiobooks at affordable prices

Indie authors who publish through platforms like Amazon or CreateSpace usually don’t have the resources to publish an audiobook, which can be an expensive endeavor with production costs that self-published or first-time authors cannot afford. Now, self-publishing platform and ebook distributor Smashwords has teamed up with production platform and audiobook distributor Findaway Voices to give these indie authors a cheaper way to make audiobooks.

In an announcement, Smashwords CEO Mark Coker said today the deal would give “greater control over pricing and distribution” to authors and publishers, making it more “economically feasible” to get into audiobook production even with short or cheaper books. By using Findaway, Smashwords’ authors and publishers can now find professional narrators more quickly and hear voice actor recommendations from an online casting support team. There will also be estimates of production costs and stated hourly rates for voice actors, ranging from $150 to $400 an hour.

There’s a lot of demand from indie authors interested in making audiobooks, and this new proposal from Smashwords and Findaway Voices would answer that demand. The news also comes at a time when the audiobook marketplace is booming. From 2016 to 2017, the audiobook industry grew 29 percent, adding 79,000 new audiobooks to the market, according to GoodReader.

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