Free ACX / Audible audiobook royalty calculator. Enter distribution model, retail price, monthly sales, and narrator royalty-share percentage; outputs royalty per sale and monthly/annual earnings split between author and narrator.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last verified · Sources
Use when deciding between exclusive and non-exclusive ACX distribution, or when negotiating a royalty-share percentage with a narrator before signing a production agreement.
ACX's own royalty documentation explains the percentages, but this tool does the author/narrator split and monthly projection math for you in one place.
At 10 sales/month you'd earn about $39.90/mo (~$478.80/yr), with the narrator earning $39.90/mo from the same sales.
Royalty per sale = retail price × 40% (exclusive/Audible-only distribution) or × 25% (non-exclusive, multi-platform distribution).
That royalty is then split between author and narrator using the narrator royalty-share percentage you enter (default 50/50).
Monthly and annual totals multiply the per-sale author and narrator shares by your estimated monthly unit sales.
Exclusive distribution through ACX/Audible pays a 40% royalty share but locks you into Audible-only sales for the term of the agreement. Non-exclusive distribution pays only 25% but lets you also sell through other platforms like Apple Books and Spotify, which can add up to more total sales.
A royalty-share deal pays no upfront fee but splits ongoing royalties (often 50/50) with the narrator for the life of the audiobook. Paying per-finished-hour costs money upfront but lets you keep 100% of the royalty afterward — this calculator models the royalty-share arrangement.
Many authors can't afford a narrator's per-finished-hour rate (often $200–$400+/hour) upfront, especially for a first audiobook. A royalty-share deal shifts that risk onto the narrator in exchange for a long-term cut of sales, which is why 50/50 is a common default split.
Input
Exclusive distribution, $19.95 retail price, 10 sales/mo, 50% narrator share.
Output
Royalty $7.98/sale → $3.99 to you, $3.99 to narrator → ~$39.90/mo your share, ~$478.80/yr.
$19.95 × 0.40 = $7.98 total royalty per sale; split 50/50 with the narrator gives each party $3.99 per sale, times 10 monthly sales for the monthly totals.
The choice is between 40% royalty for distributing exclusively through Audible, Amazon and iTunes, and 25% for retaining the right to sell elsewhere. Those are the two rates this tool applies.
The arithmetic is straightforward and the decision is not. Exclusivity pays 60% more per sale on the dominant platform. Going wide means every other retailer, library distribution and direct sales — where margins can be far better — but it means giving up that uplift on the platform where most audiobook buying happens.
For most first-time authors without an existing audience elsewhere, exclusive earns more in practice. For an author with a direct-sales channel, it frequently does not.
Under a royalty-share deal the narrator takes a percentage of the royalty rather than a fee up front — the tool defaults to a 50% split. That turns a large fixed production cost into an ongoing revenue share for the life of the contract, which is typically seven years.
The comparison worth running is total cost over that term, not cost today. Paying a narrator per finished hour costs more immediately and keeps the whole royalty; royalty share costs nothing up front and, on a book that sells well, costs considerably more in total. On a book that sells poorly it is much the better deal. Which applies depends on a sales forecast, which is the part no calculator supplies.
This calculator applies rates set by someone else, and they change. Check them against the source below before pricing anything that matters.
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