You Can Self Publish for Free, But it Will Cost You
As someone with several books, and several babies, I can say with a wee bit of authority that finishing your book is a lot like bringing a baby about the world. You’ve carried that thing around for months, gone through all of the exhaustion and the sleepless nights and labor and then, Congrats! You’ve given birth to…
A lot more work.
As a self-publisher, the creative side of you, the you that just wants to do the work, that just wants to get your thoughts down on paper and out into the world, can celebrate when your manuscript is complete. And you should, because you have to start there. If you don’t put in the work and get through the creation part, you won’t have what you need to get to the second part: the publishing.
If you’re self-publishing your book, once you get past being the content creator, you have to become the publisher. Contrary to popular belief, becoming a self-publisher does not consist of simply uploading your completed Microsoft Word document to Amazon and hitting submit.
Creating is creating. But publishing is a business. If you just want a book for your friends and family to read, or are doing this strictly as a hobby and don’t care at all to earn anything from it, or it’s not positioning you in any kind of way, then, yes you can probably publish your book for little to no cost.
But if you’re like most self-published authors you want to earn at least some money from your book. After all, you’ve put in a lot of work; it would be nice to at least be able to buy a sandwich. And if you want your book to be seen in this world by people other than you and the handful of folks who will love you no matter what you do, you want your work to represent you well. If this sounds like you, then you will have to spend some money.
Publishing a book is both a time investment and a money investment. Once it goes from the creative process to something that you want to list for sale, it becomes a “product.” There aren’t too many quality products in this world released entirely for free and your book is no exception.
How much of an investment you make into the book is going to depend on your budget and your ultimate goals.
Your goals will consist of a few aspects that I talk about down the line, like being realistic about your genre, the size of your author platform, etc. Regardless of your goals, however, there are three things that need to be built into your book publishing budget no matter what:
Editing
Recently, a popular filmmaker was dragged a little (or a lot) for a movie he released. Among the criticism for the gaps in continuity and on-screen gaffes was that the film’s creator had boasted prior to the movie release that he works sans team and is the only one in his “writers’ room.” No shade to him, because it takes quite a bit of effort to go at it alone, but the moral of the story is that as awesome and even experienced as you are, an extra set of eyes is essential to you avoiding mistakes, big and small. An editor is vital to helping you fill in all the holes.
Editing costs can vary greatly based on manuscript length, your editor's experience level and how much work is needed to get your manuscript in publishable condition, but don't skimp on this step! A thorough edit will make all the difference in creating a book that can compete with the pros.
Depending on what your book needs, you should factor in between $500-$2500+ for a book edit.
Cover Design
Do not DIY your book cover. I repeat. Do not DIY your cover. The only exception I will give is if you are a professional book cover designer. Otherwise..Do. Not. DIY. Your. Book Cover.
Your book cover is the “face” of your entire work. Everyone judges a book by its cover. If you’re Beyonce, you can probably get away with writing a book with a crappy cover and everyone will still buy. I’m assuming you’re not (and if so, hey girl, hey!), so if the first impression of you and your book is that it’s amateur-ish, and homemade, everyone who isn’t familiar with you, which is most people in the world, is scrolling by.
Cover prices vary greatly based on what you desire. A pre-made or template book cover could cost as little as $50 while a cover with custom artwork could cost you a couple thousand depending on your illustrator. Choose what works but in case you didn’t hear me before-- do not DIY your book cover.
Because of such a wide range of costs for cover design, you should factor in at least $50 on up to $2000 or more for a book cover.
Formatting and Layout
Publishing your book straight from Microsoft Word *might* save you some money upfront, but it will also cost you in the form of several headaches and giving your book the professional look it deserves. Different printers have different specs, getting your books to meet those specs is a hassle you don’t want to cause yourself. Not to mention, e-books have their own set of specs, so if you’re publishing in multiple formats, you’ll have multiple formatting needs.
Hiring a pro for your book’s formatting and layout can be the difference between a book that looks like you did it yourself and one that reflects all of the hard work you put it. The good thing is that you don’t need to spend a lot to get your book formatted correctly. You could spend as little as $50 up to $250 for book formatting and layout.
To find other expenses you’ll want to factor in, a work timeline and where to find the services you’ll need, download the Self-Publisher’s Budget and Timeline to develop your own timeline and budget for your book!