Hello, everybody. I hope you are well and thank you for checking out my website and showing your support.
First off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Ava West but don't let my lack of publication on this site fool you. I have been writing for twelve years. I started writing for fun on different online platforms like Dreame & Wattpad then gradually moved to publishing.
I have experience in graphic design, beta reading for others, and my day job is in the medical field.
I wanted my blog here to be a way to help others who aspire to do what I have been which is publishing my work for the masses. I will be discussing different topics but, if you have a topic you would like to hear about, feel free to email me or find me on Facebook. I have a reader group called Ava's Naughties where everyone is welcome.
Today, I wanted to discuss something that no one ever wants to talk about in the publishing industry, the scariest part of being an author (other than millions judging your work).
How much does it cost to publish one book?
It's frightening letting a complete stranger read your manuscript for the first time but allowing millions of people to do it is petrifying. It took me years to move past the fear and, once I had, I decided to publish my first book. I had no idea what I was doing going into it my first time. Do you know how much money I spent publishing my first book?
$16.99 USD
Go ahead. Do a comical double take. I spent less than twenty dollars on my first release. I didn't have a professional editor, professional designer, and I did all of the marketing and formatting myself. What do you think happened with my first book?
I sold all of seven eBooks on Amazon in the first month. Seven copies and my book was enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. As an aspiring author (or new author), you should know Kindle Unlimited is a wonderful tool to build your readership but it also means slim pickings for royalties. Once you develop your readership, you are losing buckets of cash by staying with Kindle Unlimited.
Why do you think I was selling so little? You're supposed to get a good amount of readers if you market yourself right and I was doing exactly what I was taught. I had a newsletter, a reader's group on Facebook, tons of people who loved my story (did you catch that I didn't say the book?) and yet my book wasn't selling.
Here's the answer. It costs hundreds, in some cases, thousands of dollars to publish one novel and I tried to take the cheap way out because I didn't have much money.
In this post, I will be outlining what it cost me to publish my latest book versus what the average cost is to publish a book and I will be listing the resources I have to cut down your costs without cutting down the quality of your book. I will be telling you how to get readers just by doing your book justice.
Number 1: Editing
First of all, there are many different types of editing and every last one is important and you cannot skimp on them. Readers judge a book not just by the cover but also by the content. It doesn't matter if you are the best editor in the world, you will miss things and make mistakes.
The first step in the editing process is the Critique Partner who is usually another author who agrees to read through your manuscript and gives suggestions to better your manuscript. This isn't a step of editing that you generally pay for unless you don't have an author buddy to look over your manuscript for you. It generally doesn't cost more than $100 if you have to pay someone. I was lucky enough to find my critique partner right after my first book was published and she has been a long-time fan since then.
Step two of the editing process is the Beta Readers who is a reader who goes through your manuscript. Generally, you will compile a list of questions for your beta readers to answer after every chapter so you know what parts of your manuscript still needs work. There are sites you can find beta readers for hire but you shouldn't need to pay for it. If you can't find beta readers who will do it for free, the most you should pay is $30 per beta reader. How many beta readers do you need? Some authors have as many as ten beta readers but I find two or three to be a good number. I don't pay my beta readers at all.
Step three is the developmental edit. Developmental editing is taking a look character and story development. They look for plot holes, inconsistencies in the story, character relationships, and character arcs. Again, I didn't have to pay for developmental edits since my editor has said that my manuscripts contain none of these things when they get to her. An editor will generally charge $.01 per word to $.12 per word. Romance novels are usually between 60,000 and 90,000 words so the price would end up being between $600 and $10,800. Again, these are the average and the developmental edit is the most expensive edit. Most of the editors self-published authors use would be around the $1,000 mark.
Step four is the line-edit. The line-edit is on a sentence level and addresses the creative content, language use, and writing style within the manuscript. Basically, this is the editing step that helps with captivating your reader. The line-edit is usually priced are $.01 per word which costs between $600 and $900.
Step five is the copyedit. This is the step that so many authors skip and it's the step that readers always notice when it's skipped. It's impossible to focus on a good book when you are being bugged by all of the grammar mistakes they missed. The copyedit is on a sentence basis and will cost less than the line-edit. Mostly, less than $400.
Step six is the proofread. A proofreader will read through your manuscript to make sure there are no other mistakes one of the previous editors missed. It shouldn't cost more than $100 per manuscript.
At this point, the average for editing is $2,100 per manuscript which is a ridiculous amount on money, right? It's scary just to think of putting that into something. The thing is I only paid $250 for my editing because I paid a monthly subscription service to my editor. She had payment plans based on what her clients need. That covered line-edits, copy-edits, and proofreading.
Number 2: Formatting
It is important that your book look professional inside as well as out but it can be really difficult to do yourself if you don't have the right tools. Most self-published authors who have a Mac will purchase the program Vellum. The program costs $250 and helps authors create beautiful formatting for theirs books and they never have to pay a formatter again. Otherwise, they have to pay a formatter between $20 and $100.
Number 3: Cover Art
Cover art is what it sounds like. It's the art of your cover. There is a common misconception about the book cover, that you buy one format and that is all you need. Wrong! You need a cover art package that reflects your book's needs. Audiobook, eBook, paperback, and hardback, but you don't necessarily need all of them. I only get the hardback cover on my books over 100,000 words. The cost is determined by the designer but you need to be careful. Some of the "designers" are what I call "dabblers". A dabbler is an author who works in other parts of the publishing industry so they can work in publishing full time. A few dabblers make wonderful, professional, high quality cover art, but there are still people who say they are designers but they haven't honed their skills well enough to make a professional looking book cover. The covers are generally pretty but the image quality will be severely lacking and the font won't meet with industry standards.
There is a reason there is a saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover". It exists because everyone does it. If a book cover isn't high quality and doesn't meet with industry standards, a good number of readers will overlook it which is the last thing an author wants to happen to their book.
Some authors will say that is the kind of book covers they like to use and that is their choice. I'm saying this to be informative instead of judgmental.
Cover art packages can range anywhere from $25 to $4,000 depending on the designer and the size of the package. For my latest release, my cover art was $68.57. My designer, Shower of Schmidt Designs, is a high-quality designer that meets industry standards but keeps her prices low because she is a dabbler. She is an author who taught herself graphic design and has created some of the best book covers I have ever seen, but that is my personal opinion. The general average for cover art designer is between $200 and $400 per package.
How much does it cost to publish a book? It can cost up to $15,000 to publish a book if you don't do your research and take recommendations from other authors in your genre. My editing cost $250. My formatting cost $250. My cover art cost $68.57. Tack on the cost for the copyright ($30) and publishing my book through IngramSpark ($45), I paid a total of $643.54. That is not including marketing, merchandise, and the giveaways to attract readers to my book.
Keep in mind, I paid way less than a lot of self-published authors do so if $643 sounds like too much money to commit to publishing your first book, save money or commit to one part of the publishing process at a time because you are worth it and your book baby is worth it, too!
Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter by clicking the link below. I post new content on Mondays and make sure to mark your calendar for Valentine's Day and join me in Ava's Naughties on Facebook to celebrate the release of Somethin' Kinda Wonderful.
