For publishers & audio imprints
Localisation for publishers and audiobook imprints
One title is a production. A list is a different problem: series that have to match, backlist that has to be found again, and editions in languages your rights team has already sold. We narrate, translate and produce audio in 110 languages, with your narrators kept on file.
110
Languages
9,300
Words per finished hour
2008
Doing this since
Why publishers come to us
A list is not a title, repeated
Producing one audiobook well is a solved problem. Producing forty a year, across a backlist and three series, in more than one language, is a continuity problem wearing a production problem's clothes. Book four has to sound like book one. The character whose name the narrator invented in 2022 has to keep that pronunciation. The rights your team sold in Germany need audio that matches the translation, not a new interpretation of the English.
So we keep the things that go missing: the cast per series, the pronunciation list per author, the glossary of invented terms. The next title starts from what the last one established, which is the only way a list stays coherent once more than one producer has touched it.
What we produce
The work that comes off a publishing schedule
Usually it arrives as a manuscript, a pub date and a question about whether the narrator from last time is still available.
Single titles
Cast, recorded, edited and mastered ready to deliver to retailers.
Series continuity
The same narrator across the run, or the closest match if they are gone.
Backlist conversion
Older titles brought into audio, in batches rather than one at a time.
Foreign-language editions
Translated and narrated where your rights team has already sold them.
Sample chapters and auditions
Short reads for acquisition, rights fairs or narrator selection.
Non-fiction and business
Where the author may want to read it and may need help doing so.
Children's and YA
Character work, and a register that does not talk down to the reader.
Academic and reference
Long, dense, full of terms that have to be said the same way throughout.
Corrections and pickups
New editions and errata dropped in seamlessly, not re-recorded from the top.
What a list needs that a single production does not
The things that only pay off across a catalogue
Your cast, kept on file
Per series and per author, so book four books the same voice.
Pronunciation lists that survive
Built once per author and reused, not rebuilt each title.
Rights that do not renew
A flat per-title fee rather than a territory and term to renegotiate.
Batches, not one-offs
Backlist scheduled together, which is where the economics improve.
Translation and narration split
Quoted separately, so you can see what moved when the budget does.
One PM, one invoice
However many titles and languages, one purchase order.
What a list runs into
The four things that catch publishers out
Audiobook rights are per title, not per territory. This is the one that surprises people who have bought voice over for advertising. A commercial licence scales with where it runs and for how long; an audiobook does not work that way. It is the narration fee — priced per finished hour — plus a flat per-title fee, in the region of £100–£600, and that is the licence. No renewal calendar, no territory bands to negotiate every time a retailer is added.
A name pronounced two ways is the complaint listeners actually make. Not the edit, not the room — the name. Before recording we build a pronunciation list from the manuscript, character names, places, invented terms, foreign words, and agree it with you or the author. For a series that list is an asset: it is what makes book four sound like book one three years later.
You can estimate a title before you commission it. A finished hour is roughly 9,300 words of manuscript and takes between two and three hours in the booth once retakes and breathing space are counted. Divide your word count and you have the runtime, the studio time and the budget, before anyone is booked. Our audiobook narrator page sets out how a single title is produced.
Translating the book and narrating the translation are two jobs. Literary translation is charged per word and takes as long as it takes; narration is charged per finished hour of the translated text, which will not be the same length as the English. Quoting them as one number hides which half moved when the budget does. We split them.
Costing a title or a season?
Send the word count and the languages. We will come back with the narration, any translation and the per-title fee shown separately, so you can see which half is which.
How it works
From manuscript to files you can deliver
Send the manuscript and the date
Word count gives us the runtime, the studio time and the quote.
Cast, or re-book last time's narrator
Auditions where you want a choice, the existing voice where you want continuity.
Agree the pronunciation list
Names, places and invented terms fixed before the first session, not during.
Record, proof-listen, deliver
Checked against the text, mastered, and handed over ready to upload.
Everything under one roof
What we can take on
Audiobook narration
Professional narrators, recorded and mastered to retail spec.
Translation
The book itself, by native linguists, before it is narrated.
Voice over
Promos, trailers and author content in 110 languages.
Transcription
Author interviews and recordings turned into usable text.
Subtitling & captions
For author films, launches and social promotion.
Every language
The full list, with what we do in each one.
Most common questions
How are audiobook rights priced?
Unlike advertising, audiobook usage does not scale with territory or licence term. It is the narration, priced per finished hour, plus a flat per-title fee, typically in the region of £100–£600. That covers the title rather than a set of markets for a set period, so there is no renewal calendar and no renegotiation when you add a retailer.
Can I work out the length and cost before commissioning?
Yes, from the word count alone. One finished hour is roughly 9,300 words of manuscript and takes between two and three hours in the booth once retakes and breathing space are counted. Divide your manuscript by 9,300 and you have the finished runtime, which is what audiobooks are priced on.
Can we keep the same narrator across a series?
That is the main reason publishers stay with us. Your cast is kept on file per series and per author, so book four re-books the voice from book one rather than starting a search. If a narrator is genuinely unavailable we say so early and shortlist the closest match rather than quietly substituting someone.
What happens to character names and invented terms?
They go on a pronunciation list built from the manuscript before recording starts and agreed with you or the author — names, places, invented terms, foreign words. A name pronounced two ways across nine hours is the single most common complaint listeners make, and for a series that list is what keeps later books consistent.
Do you translate the book as well as narrate it?
Yes, and we quote them separately because they are separate jobs. Literary translation is charged per source word, from £0.145; narration is charged per finished hour of the translated text, which will usually be a different length from the English. Keeping the two apart is what lets you see which half moved if the budget does.
Can you handle backlist in batches?
Yes, and it is usually the better way to do it. Scheduling a group of titles together lets us hold narrators, reuse the pronunciation work across an author's list and keep studio time contiguous, which is where the economics of a backlist conversion actually improve.
What about corrections after delivery?
Pickups are dropped in against the existing recording rather than re-recorded from the top, so a corrected line or a new edition does not mean a new production. We keep the session material on file to make that possible.
How quickly do you reply?
Over 50% of enquiries get a reply within 30 minutes during UK office hours, and an itemised quote normally comes back within four working hours. If a pub date has moved, call +44 207 095 5730 rather than emailing.
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Send the word count
The manuscript length, the languages and the pub date is enough for a quote showing narration, translation and the per-title fee separately.
Professional voice over services for your audio and video productions
Voice over
- State-of-the-art studios
- Neumann microphones
- On-hand sound engineers
- 1,000+ voice actors
Translation
- 100+ languages covered
- Tailored to your needs
- Stringent quality control
- Dedicated project managers
Subtitling
- Experienced subtitlers
- Industry-standard software
- Burn-in and graphic editing
- Open and closed captions
Transcription
- Improve accessibility
- Reach a wider audience
- Boost SEO and video views
- Maximise video engagement