Frequently asked questions

Auditiono is an audiobook casting platform. Authors and publishers post books seeking narration; verified narrators audition; the author casts the narrator they want and we hand off the contact details so the deal happens directly between the two parties.

We're built by Royal Wave Media, an independent studio that builds software for working audiobook people.

Yes. There's no fee to sign up, post a listing, audition, or be cast. No subscription, no per-listing charge, no commission on the deal.

Royal Wave Media's revenue comes from our other products, chiefly Royaltally (our royalty-tracking software) and a small catalogue of audiobook contract templates. Auditiono is the casting front door, not the revenue product.

Two things, mainly. First, we don't sit in the middle of the deal — once the match is made, the contract and payment happen between author and narrator directly, with no relay and no commission. Second, the deal structure is visible on the listing from the start, not negotiated through a back-and-forth thread. Narrators can see whether a project is PFH or Royalty Share, what the rate band is, whether it's exclusive or wide, and what the project deadline looks like, before they decide whether to audition.

No, and that's by design. Auditiono is the casting step: it connects narrators with authors and hands off the deal. Producing the audiobook (recording, editing, mastering, assembling the chapter files) is the narrator's work, the same as on any other platform. Distributing, selling, and marketing the finished title are the author's to arrange, through whatever retail or direct channels they choose.

We're deliberately one clear step rather than an all-in-one suite. If you're weighing how to sell a title direct or protect it against copying, those are good questions for your chosen distributor or audio delivery service; they sit outside what the casting platform handles.

Anyone over 18 — narrators looking for work, and authors or publishers looking to commission narration. Publishers and imprints can sign up as authors on behalf of the writers they represent.

Anyone can create a narrator account, but to be verified — which is what makes the profile publicly visible and allows you to audition for listings — narrators need at least one audio sample and at least three professional audiobook credits with verifiable URLs (so we can click through and confirm the books exist).

Email hello@auditiono.com. Replies usually arrive within a business day or two. There's no chat support, no phone line. Email is the channel.

If something on a narrator profile or a listing looks wrong — misrepresented credits, a misleading deal, content that doesn't belong — email hello@auditiono.com with a link to the page and a short note on what's off. Every public profile and listing also carries a “Report a concern” link that opens that same email with the page already filled in.

A person reads every report. We don't run automated takedowns and we won't act on a complaint without looking into it — but we will look.

We store what you give us — profile content, audition recordings, listing details — on Royal Wave Media's infrastructure. We don't sell it, we don't share it with advertisers, and we don't run third-party analytics on the site. See the Privacy Policy for the detailed version, including how to export your data (Download your data) or delete your account (Delete account).

An admin reviews your profile and confirms the samples sound like real narration work and the credits exist as claimed. You need at least one audio sample and at least three professional audiobook credits with verifiable URLs on file before submitting. We aim to respond within one to three business days. If something needs to be fixed before verification, we'll tell you (with specifics). You can keep editing your profile after verification; changes go live immediately, no re-review needed.

One to three minutes of representative narration. Conversation, character work, a passage with mood — whatever shows what you can do. Clean audio. Reasonable production quality (no background hum, no obvious clipping). We don't enforce a strict spec; the question we ask is whether an author hearing the sample would have a clear sense of your voice.

Yes. Once verified, your profile is publicly visible at auditiono.com/narrator/your-slug and appears in the author-side narrator browse, filtered by genre, accent, language, voice age, country, credit count, rate band, and other dimensions. Authors can also send you direct invitations to audition for specific listings, which land in your inbox.

Yes, while it's still in Submitted state. Once an author has shortlisted you, the withdraw button is removed — at that point they're seriously considering you, and pulling out without a conversation would be discourteous. If you genuinely need to withdraw after a shortlist, email hello@auditiono.com and we'll handle it.

You will get an email with the author's contact details, a note on where to distribute the finished audiobook, and optional resources that might help you work through the contract and royalty side. The author gets a parallel email with your contact details. From there, the deal happens directly between you and the author. We don't relay messages or sit in the middle.

Email hello@auditiono.com and we'll reach out on your behalf. If the author has gone silent, we can release the match and remove the listing from the public archive so you can audition for other projects without the casting record getting in your way.

Auditiono never handles money. Payment terms are between you and the author — agreed in the contract you negotiate after the handoff. Common patterns we see: PFH (per-finished-hour) paid in stages tied to delivery milestones, Royalty Share paid out by the distribution platform as sales come in, or a hybrid of the two with a smaller PFH up-front against a smaller royalty allocation. Whichever model you and the author agree to, the deal is yours.

Every narrator on Auditiono has been through manual verification by an admin. We check that the profile reflects an actual working narrator: audio samples sound like genuine narration, listed credits exist as claimed (we click through and verify), and the basic profile information makes sense. We don't verify subjective claims like "expert in noir fiction" — you can make those judgments based on the samples and credits.

We aim for one to three business days. The review is brief; we're checking for spam, obvious scope problems, missing rights verification, and unrealistic terms. Most listings are approved on the first pass. If something needs adjusting, we'll tell you that, with specifics.

The listing requires one. The simplest approach is to paste 500-800 words from your manuscript — typically a passage with character dialogue and another with descriptive action so narrators can demonstrate range. If you genuinely don't have a manuscript yet (a pre-writing-stage commission, for example), you're probably too early to be casting; consider waiting until you have material to offer for auditions.

PFH (per-finished-hour), Royalty Share, Hybrid (a smaller PFH plus a smaller royalty share), or Custom (a free-form description for anything that doesn't fit the standard shapes). For Royalty Share and Hybrid you'll specify the allocation (50/50 is the longstanding industry-standard format), the start and end dates of the royalty term, and whether distribution is handled by you or by the narrator.

Shortlisting means you're seriously considering a narrator. The narrator is notified, but nothing else happens automatically. You can have multiple narrators shortlisted at once and compare auditions before deciding.

Casting (the Select this narrator button) is the final move. It writes the match record, fires the handoff packet emails to both sides, closes the listing (for single-cast projects), and politely declines the other auditions. Casting is intentionally final in the current version. If you change your mind, contact us and we'll unwind it manually.

Three rolling listings per 30 days. The window slides as older listings age out. The cap exists to keep the listings page meaningful; an author with twenty simultaneous listings is unlikely to give any single audition the attention it deserves. If your real workflow needs more, email hello@auditiono.com to discuss.

Yes — nothing stops you from posting the same casting call on Auditiono and elsewhere. What you should not do is hold a narrator on Auditiono while you've already cast the book elsewhere; that's discourteous and may affect your standing on the platform. Close the Auditiono listing as soon as you've decided, even if the decision happened off-platform.

Yes. From your audition inbox for a listing, Share these auditions creates a private link you can send to anyone whose ear you want on the decision: a co-author, your publisher, an agent. They don't need an Auditiono account.

For privacy, they confirm their email (the address you sent the invite to) before the page opens, and what they see is read-only and listen-only: the narrator's name, the role they auditioned for, and the audio. No rate details, no private notes, and no way to change your casting. You choose whether they see all received auditions or just your shortlist, and on a dual, duet, or multi-cast listing you can narrow the share to a single role. You can revoke any link at any time, and set it to expire.

Yes. When you create a listing, tick Unlisted under Visibility. An unlisted listing stays off the public browse page, the sitemap, and saved-search alerts: it's reachable only by the direct link you choose to share.

It still goes through the normal approval step, and anyone who opens the link needs a verified narrator account to view it and audition (they'll be prompted to sign up or verify first, exactly as on a public listing). It's useful for a private casting where you're approaching specific narrators, or for keeping a project quiet until you're ready to open it up. Untick the box any time to make it public.