Audiobook Length Calculator

Industry standard is typically 150 – 160 WPM.

Estimated Length

How to Estimate Audiobook Length

Whether you are an author planning a production or a narrator preparing for a gig, knowing the final runtime of an audiobook is crucial. The industry standard for professional narration usually falls between 150 and 160 words per minute (WPM). This accounts for natural pauses, breathing, and character emphasis.

The Basic Formula

The math behind the calculation is straightforward:

• Total Minutes = Total Word Count / Words Per Minute
• Total Hours = Total Minutes / 60

Standard Reading Speeds

Adjust the WPM based on the content type:

Style	WPM Range
Fast (Action/Thriller)	160 – 170 WPM
Standard (Fiction/Non-Fiction)	150 – 155 WPM
Slow (Academic/Technical)	130 – 140 WPM

Examples of Common Book Lengths

Using the average speed of 155 WPM, here is what common book lengths look like in audio format:

• Short Story (10,000 words): Approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes.
• Standard Novel (80,000 words): Approximately 8 hours and 36 minutes.
• Epic Fantasy (120,000 words): Approximately 12 hours and 54 minutes.

Factors That Affect Runtime

While word count is the primary driver, other factors influence the finished hours:

1. Dialogue vs. Narrative: Extensive dialogue often takes longer to perform than straight descriptive narrative.
2. Complexity: Scientific or technical terms require slower enunciating.
3. Editing: The amount of "room to breathe" left between sentences by the audio editor.

function calculateAudioLength() { var wordCount = document.getElementById("wordCount").value; var wpm = document.getElementById("readingSpeed").value; var resultArea = document.getElementById("audioResult"); var finalDuration = document.getElementById("finalDuration"); var minutesDisplay = document.getElementById("totalMinutesDisplay"); if (wordCount === "" || wordCount <= 0 || wpm === "" || wpm 0) { timeString += displayHours + (displayHours === 1 ? " hour " : " hours "); } timeString += displayMinutes + (displayMinutes === 1 ? " minute" : " minutes"); finalDuration.innerText = timeString; minutesDisplay.innerText = "Total raw time: " + Math.round(totalMinutes) + " minutes"; resultArea.style.display = "block"; }