Out of curiosity, why does it take 5-12 hours to record one finished hour?
Getting this right for every paragraph will usually take multiple takes. Then there is additional audio editing and what not.
Just for reference, as a prof, just creating a 30 min video that students can watch on their own time, easily takes 2 hours of work. This is where you just remove the worst errors, to get a just-good-enough product.
Obviously this will vary per person but I’m not very good at videos and that’s how long it takes.
I don’t get paid for videos it’s just part of my course. If I was a professional video maker, I think it would take me much less time.
But if someone is really slow at a task, perhaps it’s not economical for them to do that task.
I’m an amazing car washer. I wash a car like no other. But I take three hours and no one will pay my hourly rate. That doesn’t mean that my employer who pays me by the wash is bad, it means I shouldn’t wash cars for them.
I think he's ignoring the chance of recording a really popular audiobook though. I'd guess that's why people take royalty deals that they probably know will likely not pay well. Basically gambling.