How Much Does Self-Publishing Your Book Cost?

Speaking with a variety of authors we know the cost self-publishing can vary dramatically. We wanted to put together an article that explains the cost. We will explain the services required and what you should expect to pay. There will of course always be variation in the quality so it is important you do your research. 1. Proofreading and Copy Editing This is of paramount importance and a must when considering your self-publishing costs. We regularly receive books from authors who haven’t made an investment in proof reading. It is crucial to have this done by a professional . It is very hard to proof your own work. It is also a huge turn off for potentially reviewers if a book contains too many errors. We see it time and time again where authors don’t invest in proofreading and end up being turned down for review. First impressions are everything. If you haven’t invested in your work why should a reader or reviewer? We have seen costs for proofreading ranging from £6 per thousand words to as much as £17 per thousand words. Be wary about paying much less than this or too much higher than that amount. We feel a fair price for proofreading is around £7 to £9 per thousand words. However, each book needs to be assessed on its own merits. Click To Tweet: Too many authors don’t invest in proofreading and end up being turned down for review. Don’t make the same mistake! #authors #selfpublishing 2. Book Cover This echoes the first impression point raised above. People see your book cover long before they read anything you have written. People do judge books by their covers. It is how they decided whether or not they should invest more time reading the blurb, author bio and then hopefully your book. We have already written a piece on this which can be viewed here. We have seen prices for book covers start as low as £99 and go as high as £700. A determining factor is of course whether you require an eBook only file or a print cover as well. A quality well designed cover shouldn’t cost the earth. If you are looking for something with highly specific requirements then yes you may see the price rise dramatically. When considering publishing costs do consider that a book cover is now also a product thumbnail, image on a blog post or social media profile. Essentially it will be an integral part of your self-published book campaign. Our prices start at £195 for an eBook cover and print cover with ISBN. We also offer unlimited revisions.  Click To Tweet: A recent survey of writers found that 25% of them had self-published a work, and 86% of them said they would self-publish again. #authors 3. Professional Editor An editor will address your writing in great detail. They will help you improve everything from voice and tone to the plot itself. An editor is crucial for preparing the story. As you have written the story there are many aspects that you will take for granted. This is because you know the story and the characters intimately. You brought them to life but an editor is key in making sure the reader is clear on all aspects of the story and the characters. Think of them as a friend just occasionally asking clarification on where the story is going. Editors are expensive because they have a hard job. They have to understand your story and then help you improve it. This takes a great deal of time and involves constantly rewriting sections till they are perfect. Data puts the average cost for content and developmental editing at an average of £19.60 per thousand words. So based on our example of a 70,000 word novel you would be looking at £1,372. That is for a professional editor to help you with rewrites. Not all authors opt for this as it is expensive. It all comes down to how much you are willing to invest in your novel. As with anything the more you put in the more you will get out. 4. Formatting And Upload Again hiring a professional formatter is so important. Unless you have a design background it is a tough job. That is because there are so many different devices now that readers will use to access your book. You have to ensure that it looks excellent across all devices for a great reader experience. The last thing you want to do is annoy your readers with poor formatting. We charge £295 for formatting, uploading and publishing digitally in print on demand via CreateSpace and digitally with Kindle for Amazon. There are situations where the cost will be higher. Particularly for books with a large number of graphics.  5. Print On Demand If you are a new author we would urge you to choose print on demand. Many authors approach us wanting to produce a batch of print books. You really only want to incur this expense once your digital and print on demand books are selling well. Then yes calculate how many you are selling per week on average and order a print run. This will ensure you are optimising the print order to improve your profit margin. 6. Summary We will base this final figure on a 70,000 word fiction novel. If you are just looking to have a 70,000 word novel formatted and uploaded then the cost is just £295GBP If you also add on proofreading and a cover then the cost would be estimated at around £980GBP

“A recent survey of writers found that 25% of them had self-published a work, and 86% of them said they would self-publish again. They suggested a typical return on their investment of 40%, the research for the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society found.” – BBC News Article

Click To Tweet: A recent survey of writers found that 25% of them had self-published a work, and 86% of them said they would self-publish again. #authors Decided you would like to self-publish? Read more about how we can help you here. Articles used for reference purposes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28268014