If you want to self-publish an audiobook in 2026, here is where you need to start:

1. How are you going to produce it?
2. How are you going to pay for that production?
3. And finally, where will your readers and listeners be able to purchase or listen to the audiobook on demand? 

Production:

When it comes to audiobook production, there have never been more options and more confusion on it. 

So normally, you have had the option to work with a professional voice actor to narrate your book. Or you, the author, can narrate, which gives the audience a chance to feel more connected with you. This can be great for non-fiction or if you already have a podcast and people know your voice. 

The third option is… im just waiting for the people to roast me in the comments… is AI. Autonarration, AI voice, voice clone,s these are all AI. Up until last year, this was very limited because it was a one-for-one option. So if you used Google’s auto narration, you could only sell that audiobook on Google. Same for Apple. Same for Amazon. 11labs has been around for a while and has offered voice clones and AI narration but it took a long time for it be uploadable to self-publishing platforms. So, still not ideal in my opinion because the free options lock you in, the paid options don’t have great distribution, they don’t sound as good as the real thing. AND many readers and audiobook listeners will specifically refuse to listen to an AI audiobook. They don’t say that about human-narrated ones. 

Cost:

Audiobooks are expensive to produce. Time cost is a real thing. Even for the audiobooks I narrated and mastered myself, it took a lot of time. That’s why when you pay another person, it is so expensive. The standard rate for a narrator is to be paid based on the finished production hours of the book. So they may spend 100 hours recording and mastering, but the book itself is only 15 hours when all is said and done. The pros can estimate this based on your word count and the number of voices they may have to do. 

As an indie author, you have some options;

1. One route is to sell the audio rights. Have someone else front the production costs and make the distribution decisions. I think we get lost in this binary of indie author does absolutely everything all by themselves (which isnt true because you need editors and designers) or your a traditionally published and never lift a finger (also not true.) Some of the really successful indie authors are working with Podium or with sub-rights agents who specialize in audiobooks to sell the rights. The author makes an advance. Usually, they want to see strong sales and potential audience for the audiobook based on the existing sales for the ebook and print books. 
2. Two is to hire a narrator. On Amazon ACX you can audition and hire a narrator and either pay them up front (for the finished hour rate) or do a royalty split. Authors and narrators usually don’t love the royalty split – but for different reasons. With the royalty split the author pays nothing up front, the narrator makes nothing up front, but they both receive an equal share of all royalties. The ceiling is pretty high here if the book takes off. But, the narrator is effectively working on spec. This is why you may see more novice or beginner narrators doing this to build credentials. And the author is now locked into only having their audiobook on that platform so that ACX can ensure payments happen. This can be coordinated so the audiobook launches with the other formats. But if you plan to hire a narrator and pay them up front, you may not have the funds to do that just yet. Some authors wait until they earn back what they invested on the eBook and print sales before doing an audiobook. Some authors will crowdfund this in a kickstarter and have this as a funding level to ensure it is paid for. Some will challenge themselves to learn how to use the fancy recording equipment they just ordered on Amazon and self-produce it. So, where there is a will there is a way to fund your audiobook. 

Distribution

Before you take action on the first two, you need to know WHERE your audience finds and listens to their audiobooks. Are they all Audible members? But do some have Spotify Premium now? Or what if they listen to audiobooks through Libby and their library?

Here’s what you need to know about the big players in the space:

ACX (audiobook creation exchange), which is owned by Amazon, can get your audiobook to Audible and Amazon.com (Regardless of what you decide – make an account and claim your title so a pirate doesn’t do that.)

Spotify for Authors – owned by Spotify gets your audiobook to… Spotify

Google Books for Authors – owned by Google, gets your audiobook to… Google

InAudio (previously Findaway Voices) is an aggregator and can get your audiobook to all of the above places as well as Libby, Audiobooks.com, Everand, Nook Audio, etc.

So can Author’s Republic. 

You have options. I like owning the audio files outright (either you pay a narrator up front or you self-produce) so you have the flexibility to take them to different platforms. I like having human-narrated audio – because you have the flexibility to take them to different platforms. 

Hold up… MK, didn’t you make an AI audiobook version of Interview with a Vanlifer? And now you’re hating on AI Audiobooks. I sure did. I’m not going to be a talking head to rips on something without having learned about it. I did a test on this channel to see what version people liked better the AI Audiobook or the Human narrated one… the humon one won. The humon one got sales, not the AI one. The AI version existed and became much more of a liability than an asset. I see my job with this channel to test things out and report back to you with my honest findings to save you the time of having to test it out yourself. I don’t think AI Audiobooks are worth it. 

I have further deep dive videos on each of these topics. Narration. Production. The different platforms and upload tutorials for each.

What other questions do you have for me before you dive into self-publishing an audiobook in 2026? Drop the question in the comments. It keeps the conversation going and is quite literally where I mine ideas for my next videos.