When I first started writing one of my first questions was, “How much does it cost to publish a book?” There's no straightforward answer, but I will try to give you a quick and dirty rundown, just so you have a ballpark idea. Keep in mind that everyone's path into publishing is as different as each individual writer. I've chosen to self-publish, so this article will most likely be helpful to the indie crowd more so than traditional authors.
Editing
I don't care who you are, or how great your editing skills are, or what your GPA was in high school, you will not spot all of your own mistakes. There are a great many errors you are naturally inclined to notice, so your first round of self-edits should be a general sweep to fix those. As you read (you should definitely be reading if you're trying to write), write, and learn, you'll discover more common mistakes writers make that you were not previously aware of. If you're smart, you'll make a list that you can use when making a second round of self-edits. Even after that, you're not done yet.
Beta Readers/Critique Partners
While beta readers are not editors, these folks can help out tremendously when it comes to pointing out inconsistencies in your work. If your character's green eyes are suddenly brown three chapters later, chances are good your extra pairs of eyes will spot it.
Critique partners can also help you determine whether the point is coming across or not. You have the whole story in your head, and your job as a writer is to present it to the reader in such a way as it moves them the same way it does you. Knowing when you've given enough information to do so is incredibly difficult to ascertain.
Beta readers and critique partners are typically not monetarily reimbursed for their efforts, but instead aim to establish a give and take relationship with you. When someone has been kind and generous enough to critique your work, it pays to reciprocate when they need a beta reader, too. The trade-off helps both of you learn and improve while providing a friendship unlike any other.
Professional Editors
Just when you've had all the critical analyses you can take, and made all the edits and revisions you can stand to make, you're at the final step of editing. Still not done. And there's actually four final steps of editing. Sorry.
According to Elizabeth Darkley, “Developmental edits look at the big picture elements of your novel.” I chose her to quote out of millions of freelance editors for several reasons. I've been following her on Twitter for a while, I'm confident she's legitimate. I've seen some of her own writing in the form of a review, and I have a good idea of her level of comprehension in these matters- I'm confident she's competent. The page I linked to has not only very straightforward explanations of what each level of edits is comprised of, but how much each will cost. I like a no-nonsense, upfront approach when I'm paying someone else for anything.
When it comes time for me to choose a professional editor, she's at the top of my list. I've not done so yet because I'm still small beans. Very small beans. More like a seedling that's barely broken the soil loose around my first, tiny little leaves. Cliche, I know. My article, deal with it.
Ms. Darkley's services, just to offer an example of costs (as of the date of this article), start at $200 for proofreading, and up to $300 for copy editing, $400 for line editing, and $500 for developmental editing, for up to 80k (80,000) words of manuscript. She also offers a per word rate if you're not hiring her for a work consisting of eighty thousand words or fewer. Based on what I've learned in the last year or so since I started researching things such as how much does an editor cost, this seems like a fairly reasonable rate to pay an experienced editor. Editorial companies can cost much more. Determine the level of editing your book needs, and budget accordingly.
Creating a Cover
While you're playing ping-pong with your manuscript and an editor (or several, do shop around) talk to a professional designer about preparing your cover. You'll need, at minimum, a cover for e-book or print copy of your book, or both if you're going both routes. In many cases, it's best to have both designed at one time so you don't have to try to book the same artist again in the future. You could run into availability issues, or end up spending more than you would have had you gotten all you needed in one shot.
If you're doing your own marketing, (and you definitely should be, whether you're an indie author or not) then you would benefit from having your designer create social media cover images. Take your place within the writing community via Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ and proudly display your book's banner during promotions on your page. You could also use it when scheduling events to help readers remember your book. (Note: Social Media is not for advertising. More on that in an upcoming guest post.)
I've been following Mallory Rock, the same as I have Elizabeth Darkley, because I have my heart set on hiring her in the future. As I mentioned before, though, I'm still small beans. I like her for the same reasons I like Ms. Darkley.
Mallory offers package deals for savvy writers looking to make the biggest impact with the least cost. If you prefer to buy each piece as you need it, she lists the individual prices as well. She also does formatting, and that's something we'll talk about, too. But just to give you an idea, an e-book only cover will run you $350, while e-book and print cover together costs $425 as of the date of this article. For professional quality design, I believe her prices are fair.
Formatting
Just as you can edit your own work and make your own cover, you can format your own book for digital and print distribution. Unless you're an artist, you can't do these things at the same level a professional can. There's a lot more to it than you might imagine. So much so that the aforementioned Mallory Rock charges $300-$500 for interior print formatting, and $100-$250 for Digital eBook formatting.
If you don't think the cost is worth the effort, try formatting a book yourself. Just once. All the effort you put into it will net you legible results, if you're lucky. Not that there's anything wrong with doing the bare minimum, but if you want a custom title page, custom scene split graphics, and custom chapter heading graphics (and who wouldn't), then those prices aren't really so unreasonable after all.
Advertising
Even if you're going the traditional route, don't depend on your publisher to do all the legwork for you. No one cares about your book as much as you do. I've recently written a guest post that delves into this and the above subjects, so I won't go into too much detail here. I will say this, advertising costs largely depend on your budget and goals.
Many ads are priced as a cost-per-click type deal, and you get to determine how much you'll pay for each click. For example, you may set a daily budget of $20 with a cpc (cost-per-click) rate of 50¢. What this means is that your ad will run until forty readers have clicked through and you run out of money.
(0.50 x 40 clicks = $20)
If you hope to draw more than 40 clicks per day, you'll either have to increase your daily budget or decrease the cost-per-click amount. Be aware, though, that the higher that cost-per-click amount is, the more people the advertiser (Goodreads, GoogleAds, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) will show your ad to in the first place. A higher cost-per-click rate ensures your ad is made available to more people, but not that they will bother to click on it. Even if they do, of the 40 people who click through, not all of them will buy your book (or do whatever it is your ad directs them to do).The quality of your ad, the quality of your book's description, and the quality of any excerpt made available to potential readers makes a much bigger difference when it comes to the actual click through and purchase rate of these ads. They can lead the readers to your water, but can't make 'em drink.
I hope I've given you a general idea of the bare bones costs of publishing your own books. This list is by no means exhaustive. I don't even cover swag, blog tours (not too big on those, myself), or paying for reviews (do not, I repeat, DO NOT do that).
Basically, the cost of publishing your book all depends on you. Make a list of everything you want, then prioritize that list into the barest essentials of what you need, and go from there. Understand that the return of your investment is not guaranteed, and try not to get too discouraged when you don't hit it big overnight. No one ever actually has, not even Patrick Rothfuss or Stephen King. Just keep going.
Jessica West lives in Central Louisiana with three daughters still young enough to think she's cool and a husband who knows better, but likes her anyway. She leaves a trail of pixie dust or blood in her wake, but such is the life of a Fantasy and Horror writer. Jess is the Pro Domme (see also; Madame Editor) at Prose Before Ho Hos, an irreverent humor blog that specializes in Reviews of All the Things, Articles on the Manly Art of Writing, and Stories of Dubious Literary Merit. Her weird west novelette, Red River Rangers, is available via Kindle at Amazon.
