Cost
What Does SelfPublishing Cost?
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost? A Preview
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One of the first questions people ask when they think they may want to self-publish is: What’s it going to cost? It doesn’t matter if the author is producing a cookbook for a fundraiser, or plans to end up on Oprah’s couch, we need to know how much we’ll have to spend to get our book into print. I’ve found it difficult to answer this question without a fairly involved conversation with an author first. I need to find out the author’s goals for her book, get a sense of what kind of marketer she will be, judge as best I can whether her goals are realistic given the budget available. Then, and only then, can I put together an estimate. But wouldn’t it be great to have a way to categorize the different costs involved in self-publishing? That’s what I’ve tried to do here. And by looking at three distinct paths authors can take to publication, I can create a set of cost factors you can use in planning for your own book’s publication. Here’s how I’ve broken down the costs:
9 Cost Categories for Self-Publishing Company setup—Most self-publishers are doing this for the first time, and most don’t have a company structure in place. Although you can’t assign these costs directly © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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to the individual book you’re starting with, you still have to pay or you won’t have a publishing company at all. ISBNs—Although years ago this was an insignificant cost, the new reality is that Bowker, who administers the ISBN program in the United States, has decided this will be a cost factor that penalizes one-book publishers. But hey, you can’t fight city hall, can you? Manuscript preparation—Are there costs to get the manuscript to the point where it can be handed over to an editor? Fact checking, adding a bibliography, rounding up artwork or illustrations are examples of the kinds of costs in this category. I don’t include here developmental editing, which is a manuscript development cost, not so much a publishing cost. Editing—The editing process on any book might be long and involved, or it may be a read-through for grammar and usage, for typographical errors. It’s a truism that every book needs editing, and editing can be a major cost in getting ready for print. Design—Someone will have to design the cover for your book, and someone will have to at least do a layout for the interior. There are many ways to go about this step, and most of them cost something. Review program—For authors who intend to sell into the retail book channel, book reviews are critical. They also come at a cost. Platform building—Most self-publishers are relying on the internet for both customers and sales. This effort needs to start with an author’s platform, and there are costs there too.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
3
Proofing and Reproduction—Whether using offset printing or digital printing with print on demand distribution, this may be the single largest cost in your plan. We have to nail it down. Fulfillment—In some of the models we’ll look at, storing, invoicing and shipping your books are costs that have to be taken into account.
Three Paths to Publication In looking over the 9 Cost Categories above, I can see that different authors will approach these tasks differently depending on the path they’ve chosen. I’ve separated these into three approaches: The hobbyist, do-it-yourself, lowest-cost path to publication The online bookseller, seeking to maximize profits with minimal cost The fully competitive publisher, who intends to compete agressively in their niche in all parts of the distribution chain Each of these publishers will approach the cost categories differently. That’s as it should be, because different goals animate their different strategies. In the series of articles to follow, I’ll look at how each category impacts the cost of your publishing project in each of the three publishing scenarios. We’ll look at actual costs and attempt to come up with a bottom line number for a “typical” book going through each process. I think this will be a useful exercise. Times change, options multiply, aims get more focused. With the information we’ll develop, any author ought to be able to calculate for themselves the costs for their book. They will be able to answer the question: What will it cost? Takeaway—Although every book is different, costs for the three paths to publication can be calculated in advance. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: DIY
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In my earlier article I looked at a framework to determine what it costs to self-publish. I described 9 cost categories and three paths to publication as a way to organize the costs for different kinds of self-publishers. After all, not everyone wants the same kind of book, nor do people publish for all the same reasons. It seems practical to help people decide which category they’re in and look at the costs for each approach. Today I’m going to collect the kinds of costs a self-publisher might encounter if they want to keep their cash outlay to the absolute minimum, doing much if not all of the work themselves. These are the DIY self-publishers.
9 Cost Categories for DIY Self-Publishing Company setup—The choice here is to establish a sole proprietorship or to simply publish your book under your own name, without any company structure. The cost of establishing a company vary, but the minimum cost would be whatever you are required to pay to register a business name.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
5
Here it costs $42 plus about another $40 for the classified ads you need to run as a public notice. These costs aren’t strictly necessary, but if the self-publisher is treating her publication like a business at all, she will take this step. Total: $0 – 84 ISBNs—Another way to control costs is to print with one of the services that will supply you with an ISBN. For someone with a book project but a small budget, this can be a considerable expense at a minimum of $125. You only need an ISBN if you intend to sell your book through a book trade channel, such as Amazon.com. If you don’t plan to make your book available through those channels, or if the book is strictly for private or personal use—for instance a fundraiser—you can skip the ISBN completely. On the other hand, if you’re concerned about the future publishing possibilities for your book, and that you might someday want to take the book to another printer or service provider, you should think about buying the ISBN up front. Total: $0 – 125 Manuscript preparation—At the DIY end of self-publishing, the author will do all manuscript preparation, usually using their favorite word processor. Total: $0 Editing—If our DIY self-publisher can find someone to look over the manuscript for errors, it will likely be on a free or barter basis. There probably won’t be any editing except self-editing, so expenses here are pretty much eliminated. Total: $0
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Design—The DIY self-publisher is the designer of the book as well. Some publisher services companies provide templates that authors can download and use with programs like Microsoft Word. And some have cover generators to help create a decent-looking cover. But the principle here is that the author completes all these tasks on his own, with or without the help of customer service staffers. Total: $0 Review program—Reviews for the DIY self-publisher will probably be limited to online reviewers, where a PDF of the book can be submitted at no fee. In my experience, most of these books are not submitted to reviewers with any regularity, saving more money. Total: $0 Platform building—The DIY self-publisher who wants to spread her work, find new readers and sell some books will look to online resources to do her author platform building. Typically this will involve a blog at one of the free blog hosting sites, and a lot of time spent online. Total: $0 Proofing and Reproduction—Virtually all DIY self-publishers will use digital printing through print on demand suppliers to manufacture their book. A copy of the book essentially acts as the proof if one is considered necessary. Since these services— like Lulu—only charge for the books you actually buy, you could say that there is no cost here. But let’s assume our self-publisher orders 5 copies of her 200-page book, and that we consider this part of the expense of getting into print. Total: $27.50
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Fulfillment—Books sold will be by hand, through the self-publisher’s website, or on retailer websites. The first two options could encounter costs for packing and shipping, but they are transaction costs, not included in getting into print. Total: $0
Let’s Add It All Up Each publisher has different goals for their book, but for many getting into print at the lowest possible cost is a major consideration. Adding our nine categories, we have a range of $27.50 (plus shipping, of course) to $236.50 if you go for the ISBN and company set up. This plan is completely reasonable, and shows just how far we’ve gone to eliminate the obstacles to publishing your book. Keep in mind that a book coming out of this process will be an amateur production. It wasn’t editing, designed or produced by publishing professionals, and it’s very likely to show it. But you will be in print, the proud owner of 5 copies of your book, with the possibility that many more people will discover you. Total DIY Self-Publishing Cost: $27.50 – 236.50 Takeaway—It’s entirely possible to get a book into print for almost nothing. The effort, ingenuity, and talent of the author-publisher are what will determine the final quality of the book.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: Online Self-Publisher
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Let’s look at the next level of ambition, the author who decides to publish and seriously attempt to sell books in an economical way. Let’s call this publisher the Online Self-Publisher.
9 Cost Categories for Online Self-Publishing Company setup—It’s more likely this self-publisher will formally organize her company, probably as a sole proprietorship. She’ll pay attention to costs and have some way of accounting for sales and expenses, doing it herself. Taxes are getting complicated so it’s probable our publisher will need tax help at the end of the year too. All these costs are due to the added complexity of selling book wholesale and retail and the effect on your personal income and tax liabilities. At the beginning you may have an offsetting loss on your taxes since your business will likely spend more than it takes in just to get your book ready for publication. Total: $100 – 300 ISBNs—You’ll definitely need ISBNs since you can’t sell through online merchants like Amazon.com or BN.com without one. The question now becomes: how many ISBNs to buy? © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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One ISBN will cost you $125 at the myidentifiers website run by Bowker to sell these oh-so-precious numbers. But if you plan on ebook editions and, in the back of your mind you’re thinking that if this book sells, you’ve got another one you could follow up with, you need more. Ten ISBNs will cost you $250, but you’ll be prepared for a couple of years of publishing to get you going. Total: $250 Manuscript preparation—The Online Self-Publisher will likely do as the DIY self publisher did, and do all manuscript preparation themselves. Total: $0 Editing—The Online Self-Publisher knows that editing is important, and will try to find an editor to help organize, or to “polish up” their manuscript. Although some authors will use a fuller range of editorial talent, starting with developmental editing, typically the limited budget of the Online Self-Publisher will dictate a light but thorough review of the manuscript by someone who has at least has professional editing experience Nothing is more difficult to estimate in the book process than editing. Recent books I’ve worked on have ranged from 45,000 to 227,000 words. Some are challenging in their language and aspirations, others are intended to be casual and conversational. Each author brings different communications skills to their books. Some books need a lot of fact checking, or have copious notes sections that have to be painstakingly formatted. Each of these factors influences the time it takes to edit the book, and therefore the expense. Let’s say our self-publisher finds an editor on a writing forum, or through a writer’s group, or through a service like elance.com. And let’s also stay with my model
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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book, a 65,000 word, 200 page 5.5” x 8.5” trade paperback. This will give us at least a framework for what the editorial cost might be, $700-1,500. We can add to this the cost of a basic proofreading. In many cases the Online SelfPublisher herself, or a friend, will proofread the book. In my experience it’s unwise to skip this step. $0 – $500 Total: $700-2,000 Design—Online Self-Publishers know that a book that looks decent will be more appealing than one that looks like your nephew did it in Apple Works. She will budget for a cover designer but will probably skip an interior design, preferring to stay with the DIY model in the interest of saving money. At a minimum, the publisher will have to learn to submit files to the Print on Demand provider, or pay someone to do it for her. Total: $200 – 500 Review program—Reviews for the Online self-publisher will typically be limited to online reviewers, where a PDF of the book can be submitted at no cost. But it’s also likely that he will run a small review campaign offline as well. Prepublication reviewers, specialty media, local newspapers and any trade associations are likely candidates for review copies and a DIY media kit. Due to the expense of packing, mailing and digitally-printed books, this can add up pretty quickly. Lets assume 24 books split between reviewers and authorities or other authors who might supply blurbs to help in promotion. Cost of one book: $3.50. Add a Jiffy bag: $1.79. Add media mail postage: $2.38. Oh, and something for the rest of the paperwork that gets sent with review copies: $1.00. That’s a total of $8.67, or $208 for 24 copies. Total: $200 – 300 © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Platform building—In addition to the free resources for building her author platform, our new internet marketer may also consult with a search-engine optimization expert to help with online visibility, or opt for custom work to be done on her website or blog. Remember, this will be the main hub of her business, and she may even install some ecommerce capabilities to be able to take orders directly on her website. Making excerpts available, capturing names and email addresses for mailing lists and other tasks are commonly outsourced to freelance technicians. Our budget should account for some mix of these tasks. Let’s make it an estimate, since the options are extremely broad. Total: $200 – 500 Proofing and Reproduction—Like our DIY self-publishers, Online self-publishers will use digital printing through print on demand suppliers to manufacture their book. However, some of these publishers will have moved from author services companies like Createspace to a more manufacturing-oriented and economical supplier like Lightning Source. There are setup costs associated with this move, and some fees you would not have to pay the author service companies. However, if you expect to sell any quantity of books you will quickly make up this expense in the savings on per-book prices. We’ll also include an initial order of 50 books to the publisher for direct sales and other promotional uses. Total: $300 – 400 Fulfillment—Book sales through online retailers require no fulfillment expense on the part of the Online self-publisher. Using a fulfillment service to pack and ship orders is far too expensive for the quantity of books sold, so the Online self-publisher will likely do her own fulfillment. Hey, she bought that big box of Jiffy bags for the review campaign, remember? Here’s where we use the rest of the box. Total: $0 © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Let’s Add It All Up The Online self-publisher is serious about putting out decent books and trying to sell them using lots of tools at her disposal. Adding our nine categories, we have a total of $1,950 – 4,250. This is a significant business expense but, considering that you are starting a new business and simultaneously developing a new product and the means to market it, I would come to a different conclusion. By far the largest investment of the Online self-publisher—or any of the other selfpublishers, for that matter—is the time and effort it takes to put this whole project together. The time to understand enough about the parts to have some idea of how they fit together. The time to research, meet and talk to people, to work on all the incidental projects that come up in the course of the publishing journey. This is truly what will make or break the publication of your book. The commitment you make and the actions that come from it are far more important than the money you will invest, and will go farther to determining the success of your book. Total Online self-publishing cost: $1,950 – 4,250 Takeaway—Online self-publishers can produce quite acceptable books at a reasonable cost. While there may be inconsistencies and a lack of finesse in the book interior, a diligent self-publisher should be able to turn out a book of decent quality to sell online.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: Competitive Self-Publisher
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Today we’ll look at the most ambitious self-publishers, the authors who set out to compete head to head with books from major publishers, to get reviews in the most prestigious newspapers and journals, and to eventually compete nationally in the marketplace. I’m calling these publishers Competitive Self-Publishers.
9 Cost Categories for Competitive Self-Publishing Company setup—Competitive self-publishers have a fully-formed business structure. It may be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. Many already have businesses when they enter publishing, and use that company to launch their new endeavor. Our publisher will have proper accounting and understands the tax implications of business decisions. Since the Competitive Self-Publisher intends to sell across the distribution spectrum, this publisher will have to handle record keeping, invoicing, banking and collections. It’s also more likely he will fully outfit his publishing company with branding and peripherals like a logo design, stationary and other accouterments of a small business. Total: $500 – 1,500
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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ISBNs—Costs here are pretty much the same as for the Online Self-Publisher. You still need ISBNs for all your editions, and the question remains of how many to buy, but the single ISBN is no longer an option. Considering the different formats this publisher will use, and the possibility of additional products, figure on at least ten ISBNs at a cost of $250 at myidentifiers. com. But in many cases, publishers will opt for the 100 ISBN plan, to fully prepare for a successful publishing future. Total: $250 – 575 Manuscript preparation—The Competitive Self-Publisher may use office staff available to her in her business, or outsource the details of manuscript preparation, although many will do all manuscript preparation themselves. Total: $0 – 150 Editing—The Competitive Self-Publisher approaches editing as a critical and necessary part of the publishing process. They find editors through other industry professionals, and may survey a variety of editors for prices and sample edits. Competitive Self-Publishers often get editors involved early in the process to help shape the manuscript as it develops. They will use most if not all of the editorial services that are so important to creating a really high quality book: developmental editing, copyediting and proofreading. For scientific, technical, historical or similar books, they will use editorial help for fact checking, bibliographic help, and other tasks in book creation. Nothing is more difficult to estimate in the book process than editing. Recent books I’ve worked on have ranged from 45,000 to 227,000 words. Some are challenging in their language and aspirations, others are intended to be casual and conversational. Each author brings different communications skills to their books. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Some books need a lot of fact checking, or have copious notes sections that have to be painstakingly formatted. Each of these factors influences the time it takes to edit the book, and therefore the expense. Here we’ll assume our self-publisher understands that a well-edited book is essential to reaching the wide audience she desires. She engages the services of an experienced book editor for her 65,000 word, 200 page 5.5” x 8.5” trade paperback, and brings in other editorial professionals as the book develops. Developmental editing: $1,500 – 6,000 Copyediting: $2,500 – 5,000 Proofreading: $750 – 1,500 Indexing: $500 – 1,000 Total: $5,250 – 13,500 Design—Competitive Self-Publishers make a big leap in this category. They realize that competing toe-to-toe with books from major publishers requires them to turn the design of their book over to professionals. Both the product—the book’s interior—and it’s packaging—the cover—will receive the attention they deserve to fulfill the Competitive Self-Publisher’s aspirations for their book. He will rely on these professionals to take care of the myriad tasks in book production such as dealing with printers and preparing files for reproduction. Total: $1,500 – 5,000 Review program—Make no mistake, Competitive Self-publishers will mount a vigorous review campaign for a book with potential review sources. From Prepublication reviewers, to national and local newspapers, magazines, specialty media, and trade associations are likely candidates for review copies. A media kit created with help from professionals will accompany the review books. It’s not unusual to see review mailings of 200-300 copies in an attempt to drive traffic and © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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sales for a self-publisher who has their book in national distribution. Add to this an Advance Reader program for peer review or “blurb fishing” and you can see that the costs here add up quickly. Let’s plan on digital review or reader copies, too. Books: $700 – 1,000 Packaging and shipping: $800 – 1,200 Media kit: $250 – 1,500 Total: $1,750 – 3,700 Platform building—Our Competitive Self-Publisher will use as many methods of promotion and marketing as feasible for their budget, and platform-building will receive a lot of attention. An e-commerce enabled website, a blog around the topics of the book, as well as offline efforts like organizing seminars and workshops come into play. Using internet book marketing is a given, and web professionals will design the online properties needed by the self-publisher. Running autoresponders, opt-in programs, newsletters, seminars, workshops and speaking engagements are activities that can make a powerful difference to the success of a book. Here’s where the author’s reputation and authority in their niche contribute to spreading the word. Since this is such a big cateogry, let’s make it an estimate. Total: $1,500 – 7,500 Proofing and Reproduction—Competitive Self-Publishers make another move away from the pack by much more frequently relying on offset book printing instead of digital. To fill the distribution chain and have books available in just the major metropolitan areas of the U.S. our publisher is going to print 2,000 books minimum. This will allow her to get a better-looking book, to use special finishes or unique trim sizes, to have a wider choice of materials, and to get a much lower production cost. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Suppose we find a good deal among the abundance of high-quality short-run book printers, and we can get the unit cost down to $2.25, about 40% less than what the same book would cost in digital print-on-demand production. However, these cost savings come at the price of a steep upfront investment. Total: $5,000 – 7,500 Fulfillment—The Competitive Self-Publisher may concentrate on digital sales, or driving buyers to online retailers like Amazon.com, but to truly compete, she knows she needs distribution. Since it’s virtually impossible at the moment for single-book self-publishers to get distribution, she will have to settle for setting up accounts with whatever wholesalers might take her book, and either do her own fulfillment, packing, shipping and invoicing bookstores, libraries and institutional buyers herself. It’s no longer enough to just buy the big box of Jiffy bags. The costs here are for storage and insurance on her inventory. Even if she puts the books with a fulfillment company, the costs are transactional, and don’t come into play in our financial planning. Total: $500 – 1,000
Let’s Add It All Up The Competitive Self-Publisher is establishing a business. More than the others we’ve looked at in this series, this is a business proposition, and the expectation is to make a profit. Our publisher will make her decisions in consultation with editorial, design and marketing professionals, and the resulting book is intended more as a product or professional lever than as an act of creative self-expression. Adding our nine categories, we have a total of $16,000 – 40,425. At this point it’s easy to see why you need to make a profit. Self-publishing at this level isn’t a hobby, it’s a business enterprise. Our Competitive Self-Publisher may be looking to establish her book as an authority with a long shelf life. This will help amortize the investment by © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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returning profits for years to come. Or she might be rolling the dice, convinced she can attract enough media attention to make it into the spotlight for a rush of sales. The commitment by any self-publisher is immense, but for the Competitive SelfPublisher it’s combined with a serious business investment.
Variations and a Final Thought My range of figures is only meant to be representative. I think it’s entirely possible to produce a competitive book and get it into print closer to $10,000. On the other hand, I know that some people spend in excess of $50,000 to launch a book. When dealing with investments like this that are tied to the success or failure of a single product, it just seems prudent to get the best help you can afford. Beyond the costs involved and the risks and rewards of playing in a big marketplace, this is also how the best books come into being. Book publishing, in its most developed form, seems to me to be a collaborative effort. Many talented and experienced people bringing their knowledge and creativity into play to produce something that no one person could achieve by themselves. When an author makes the decision to publish their own book they are—wittingly or not—jumping into just such a collaboration. When it works, it can produce really outstanding contributions to our cultural life. There’s just nothing else quite like it. Total Competitive Self-Publishing cost: $16,000 – 40,425 Takeaway—Competitive Self-Publishers invest in professionally-produced books and spend the money to compete on a national scale. They often produce superior books, making a lasting impact on society.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost? A Preview
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squeakymarmot/379443016/
One of the first questions people ask when they think they may want to self-publish is: What’s it going to cost? It doesn’t matter if the author is producing a cookbook for a fundraiser, or plans to end up on Oprah’s couch, we need to know how much we’ll have to spend to get our book into print. I’ve found it difficult to answer this question without a fairly involved conversation with an author first. I need to find out the author’s goals for her book, get a sense of what kind of marketer she will be, judge as best I can whether her goals are realistic given the budget available. Then, and only then, can I put together an estimate. But wouldn’t it be great to have a way to categorize the different costs involved in self-publishing? That’s what I’ve tried to do here. And by looking at three distinct paths authors can take to publication, I can create a set of cost factors you can use in planning for your own book’s publication. Here’s how I’ve broken down the costs:
9 Cost Categories for Self-Publishing Company setup—Most self-publishers are doing this for the first time, and most don’t have a company structure in place. Although you can’t assign these costs directly © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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to the individual book you’re starting with, you still have to pay or you won’t have a publishing company at all. ISBNs—Although years ago this was an insignificant cost, the new reality is that Bowker, who administers the ISBN program in the United States, has decided this will be a cost factor that penalizes one-book publishers. But hey, you can’t fight city hall, can you? Manuscript preparation—Are there costs to get the manuscript to the point where it can be handed over to an editor? Fact checking, adding a bibliography, rounding up artwork or illustrations are examples of the kinds of costs in this category. I don’t include here developmental editing, which is a manuscript development cost, not so much a publishing cost. Editing—The editing process on any book might be long and involved, or it may be a read-through for grammar and usage, for typographical errors. It’s a truism that every book needs editing, and editing can be a major cost in getting ready for print. Design—Someone will have to design the cover for your book, and someone will have to at least do a layout for the interior. There are many ways to go about this step, and most of them cost something. Review program—For authors who intend to sell into the retail book channel, book reviews are critical. They also come at a cost. Platform building—Most self-publishers are relying on the internet for both customers and sales. This effort needs to start with an author’s platform, and there are costs there too.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
3
Proofing and Reproduction—Whether using offset printing or digital printing with print on demand distribution, this may be the single largest cost in your plan. We have to nail it down. Fulfillment—In some of the models we’ll look at, storing, invoicing and shipping your books are costs that have to be taken into account.
Three Paths to Publication In looking over the 9 Cost Categories above, I can see that different authors will approach these tasks differently depending on the path they’ve chosen. I’ve separated these into three approaches: The hobbyist, do-it-yourself, lowest-cost path to publication The online bookseller, seeking to maximize profits with minimal cost The fully competitive publisher, who intends to compete agressively in their niche in all parts of the distribution chain Each of these publishers will approach the cost categories differently. That’s as it should be, because different goals animate their different strategies. In the series of articles to follow, I’ll look at how each category impacts the cost of your publishing project in each of the three publishing scenarios. We’ll look at actual costs and attempt to come up with a bottom line number for a “typical” book going through each process. I think this will be a useful exercise. Times change, options multiply, aims get more focused. With the information we’ll develop, any author ought to be able to calculate for themselves the costs for their book. They will be able to answer the question: What will it cost? Takeaway—Although every book is different, costs for the three paths to publication can be calculated in advance. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: DIY
http://www.Flickr.com/photos8.com
In my earlier article I looked at a framework to determine what it costs to self-publish. I described 9 cost categories and three paths to publication as a way to organize the costs for different kinds of self-publishers. After all, not everyone wants the same kind of book, nor do people publish for all the same reasons. It seems practical to help people decide which category they’re in and look at the costs for each approach. Today I’m going to collect the kinds of costs a self-publisher might encounter if they want to keep their cash outlay to the absolute minimum, doing much if not all of the work themselves. These are the DIY self-publishers.
9 Cost Categories for DIY Self-Publishing Company setup—The choice here is to establish a sole proprietorship or to simply publish your book under your own name, without any company structure. The cost of establishing a company vary, but the minimum cost would be whatever you are required to pay to register a business name.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
5
Here it costs $42 plus about another $40 for the classified ads you need to run as a public notice. These costs aren’t strictly necessary, but if the self-publisher is treating her publication like a business at all, she will take this step. Total: $0 – 84 ISBNs—Another way to control costs is to print with one of the services that will supply you with an ISBN. For someone with a book project but a small budget, this can be a considerable expense at a minimum of $125. You only need an ISBN if you intend to sell your book through a book trade channel, such as Amazon.com. If you don’t plan to make your book available through those channels, or if the book is strictly for private or personal use—for instance a fundraiser—you can skip the ISBN completely. On the other hand, if you’re concerned about the future publishing possibilities for your book, and that you might someday want to take the book to another printer or service provider, you should think about buying the ISBN up front. Total: $0 – 125 Manuscript preparation—At the DIY end of self-publishing, the author will do all manuscript preparation, usually using their favorite word processor. Total: $0 Editing—If our DIY self-publisher can find someone to look over the manuscript for errors, it will likely be on a free or barter basis. There probably won’t be any editing except self-editing, so expenses here are pretty much eliminated. Total: $0
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Design—The DIY self-publisher is the designer of the book as well. Some publisher services companies provide templates that authors can download and use with programs like Microsoft Word. And some have cover generators to help create a decent-looking cover. But the principle here is that the author completes all these tasks on his own, with or without the help of customer service staffers. Total: $0 Review program—Reviews for the DIY self-publisher will probably be limited to online reviewers, where a PDF of the book can be submitted at no fee. In my experience, most of these books are not submitted to reviewers with any regularity, saving more money. Total: $0 Platform building—The DIY self-publisher who wants to spread her work, find new readers and sell some books will look to online resources to do her author platform building. Typically this will involve a blog at one of the free blog hosting sites, and a lot of time spent online. Total: $0 Proofing and Reproduction—Virtually all DIY self-publishers will use digital printing through print on demand suppliers to manufacture their book. A copy of the book essentially acts as the proof if one is considered necessary. Since these services— like Lulu—only charge for the books you actually buy, you could say that there is no cost here. But let’s assume our self-publisher orders 5 copies of her 200-page book, and that we consider this part of the expense of getting into print. Total: $27.50
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Fulfillment—Books sold will be by hand, through the self-publisher’s website, or on retailer websites. The first two options could encounter costs for packing and shipping, but they are transaction costs, not included in getting into print. Total: $0
Let’s Add It All Up Each publisher has different goals for their book, but for many getting into print at the lowest possible cost is a major consideration. Adding our nine categories, we have a range of $27.50 (plus shipping, of course) to $236.50 if you go for the ISBN and company set up. This plan is completely reasonable, and shows just how far we’ve gone to eliminate the obstacles to publishing your book. Keep in mind that a book coming out of this process will be an amateur production. It wasn’t editing, designed or produced by publishing professionals, and it’s very likely to show it. But you will be in print, the proud owner of 5 copies of your book, with the possibility that many more people will discover you. Total DIY Self-Publishing Cost: $27.50 – 236.50 Takeaway—It’s entirely possible to get a book into print for almost nothing. The effort, ingenuity, and talent of the author-publisher are what will determine the final quality of the book.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: Online Self-Publisher
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Let’s look at the next level of ambition, the author who decides to publish and seriously attempt to sell books in an economical way. Let’s call this publisher the Online Self-Publisher.
9 Cost Categories for Online Self-Publishing Company setup—It’s more likely this self-publisher will formally organize her company, probably as a sole proprietorship. She’ll pay attention to costs and have some way of accounting for sales and expenses, doing it herself. Taxes are getting complicated so it’s probable our publisher will need tax help at the end of the year too. All these costs are due to the added complexity of selling book wholesale and retail and the effect on your personal income and tax liabilities. At the beginning you may have an offsetting loss on your taxes since your business will likely spend more than it takes in just to get your book ready for publication. Total: $100 – 300 ISBNs—You’ll definitely need ISBNs since you can’t sell through online merchants like Amazon.com or BN.com without one. The question now becomes: how many ISBNs to buy? © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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One ISBN will cost you $125 at the myidentifiers website run by Bowker to sell these oh-so-precious numbers. But if you plan on ebook editions and, in the back of your mind you’re thinking that if this book sells, you’ve got another one you could follow up with, you need more. Ten ISBNs will cost you $250, but you’ll be prepared for a couple of years of publishing to get you going. Total: $250 Manuscript preparation—The Online Self-Publisher will likely do as the DIY self publisher did, and do all manuscript preparation themselves. Total: $0 Editing—The Online Self-Publisher knows that editing is important, and will try to find an editor to help organize, or to “polish up” their manuscript. Although some authors will use a fuller range of editorial talent, starting with developmental editing, typically the limited budget of the Online Self-Publisher will dictate a light but thorough review of the manuscript by someone who has at least has professional editing experience Nothing is more difficult to estimate in the book process than editing. Recent books I’ve worked on have ranged from 45,000 to 227,000 words. Some are challenging in their language and aspirations, others are intended to be casual and conversational. Each author brings different communications skills to their books. Some books need a lot of fact checking, or have copious notes sections that have to be painstakingly formatted. Each of these factors influences the time it takes to edit the book, and therefore the expense. Let’s say our self-publisher finds an editor on a writing forum, or through a writer’s group, or through a service like elance.com. And let’s also stay with my model
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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book, a 65,000 word, 200 page 5.5” x 8.5” trade paperback. This will give us at least a framework for what the editorial cost might be, $700-1,500. We can add to this the cost of a basic proofreading. In many cases the Online SelfPublisher herself, or a friend, will proofread the book. In my experience it’s unwise to skip this step. $0 – $500 Total: $700-2,000 Design—Online Self-Publishers know that a book that looks decent will be more appealing than one that looks like your nephew did it in Apple Works. She will budget for a cover designer but will probably skip an interior design, preferring to stay with the DIY model in the interest of saving money. At a minimum, the publisher will have to learn to submit files to the Print on Demand provider, or pay someone to do it for her. Total: $200 – 500 Review program—Reviews for the Online self-publisher will typically be limited to online reviewers, where a PDF of the book can be submitted at no cost. But it’s also likely that he will run a small review campaign offline as well. Prepublication reviewers, specialty media, local newspapers and any trade associations are likely candidates for review copies and a DIY media kit. Due to the expense of packing, mailing and digitally-printed books, this can add up pretty quickly. Lets assume 24 books split between reviewers and authorities or other authors who might supply blurbs to help in promotion. Cost of one book: $3.50. Add a Jiffy bag: $1.79. Add media mail postage: $2.38. Oh, and something for the rest of the paperwork that gets sent with review copies: $1.00. That’s a total of $8.67, or $208 for 24 copies. Total: $200 – 300 © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Platform building—In addition to the free resources for building her author platform, our new internet marketer may also consult with a search-engine optimization expert to help with online visibility, or opt for custom work to be done on her website or blog. Remember, this will be the main hub of her business, and she may even install some ecommerce capabilities to be able to take orders directly on her website. Making excerpts available, capturing names and email addresses for mailing lists and other tasks are commonly outsourced to freelance technicians. Our budget should account for some mix of these tasks. Let’s make it an estimate, since the options are extremely broad. Total: $200 – 500 Proofing and Reproduction—Like our DIY self-publishers, Online self-publishers will use digital printing through print on demand suppliers to manufacture their book. However, some of these publishers will have moved from author services companies like Createspace to a more manufacturing-oriented and economical supplier like Lightning Source. There are setup costs associated with this move, and some fees you would not have to pay the author service companies. However, if you expect to sell any quantity of books you will quickly make up this expense in the savings on per-book prices. We’ll also include an initial order of 50 books to the publisher for direct sales and other promotional uses. Total: $300 – 400 Fulfillment—Book sales through online retailers require no fulfillment expense on the part of the Online self-publisher. Using a fulfillment service to pack and ship orders is far too expensive for the quantity of books sold, so the Online self-publisher will likely do her own fulfillment. Hey, she bought that big box of Jiffy bags for the review campaign, remember? Here’s where we use the rest of the box. Total: $0 © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Let’s Add It All Up The Online self-publisher is serious about putting out decent books and trying to sell them using lots of tools at her disposal. Adding our nine categories, we have a total of $1,950 – 4,250. This is a significant business expense but, considering that you are starting a new business and simultaneously developing a new product and the means to market it, I would come to a different conclusion. By far the largest investment of the Online self-publisher—or any of the other selfpublishers, for that matter—is the time and effort it takes to put this whole project together. The time to understand enough about the parts to have some idea of how they fit together. The time to research, meet and talk to people, to work on all the incidental projects that come up in the course of the publishing journey. This is truly what will make or break the publication of your book. The commitment you make and the actions that come from it are far more important than the money you will invest, and will go farther to determining the success of your book. Total Online self-publishing cost: $1,950 – 4,250 Takeaway—Online self-publishers can produce quite acceptable books at a reasonable cost. While there may be inconsistencies and a lack of finesse in the book interior, a diligent self-publisher should be able to turn out a book of decent quality to sell online.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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What Does Self-Publishing Cost: Competitive Self-Publisher
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Today we’ll look at the most ambitious self-publishers, the authors who set out to compete head to head with books from major publishers, to get reviews in the most prestigious newspapers and journals, and to eventually compete nationally in the marketplace. I’m calling these publishers Competitive Self-Publishers.
9 Cost Categories for Competitive Self-Publishing Company setup—Competitive self-publishers have a fully-formed business structure. It may be a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. Many already have businesses when they enter publishing, and use that company to launch their new endeavor. Our publisher will have proper accounting and understands the tax implications of business decisions. Since the Competitive Self-Publisher intends to sell across the distribution spectrum, this publisher will have to handle record keeping, invoicing, banking and collections. It’s also more likely he will fully outfit his publishing company with branding and peripherals like a logo design, stationary and other accouterments of a small business. Total: $500 – 1,500
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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ISBNs—Costs here are pretty much the same as for the Online Self-Publisher. You still need ISBNs for all your editions, and the question remains of how many to buy, but the single ISBN is no longer an option. Considering the different formats this publisher will use, and the possibility of additional products, figure on at least ten ISBNs at a cost of $250 at myidentifiers. com. But in many cases, publishers will opt for the 100 ISBN plan, to fully prepare for a successful publishing future. Total: $250 – 575 Manuscript preparation—The Competitive Self-Publisher may use office staff available to her in her business, or outsource the details of manuscript preparation, although many will do all manuscript preparation themselves. Total: $0 – 150 Editing—The Competitive Self-Publisher approaches editing as a critical and necessary part of the publishing process. They find editors through other industry professionals, and may survey a variety of editors for prices and sample edits. Competitive Self-Publishers often get editors involved early in the process to help shape the manuscript as it develops. They will use most if not all of the editorial services that are so important to creating a really high quality book: developmental editing, copyediting and proofreading. For scientific, technical, historical or similar books, they will use editorial help for fact checking, bibliographic help, and other tasks in book creation. Nothing is more difficult to estimate in the book process than editing. Recent books I’ve worked on have ranged from 45,000 to 227,000 words. Some are challenging in their language and aspirations, others are intended to be casual and conversational. Each author brings different communications skills to their books. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Some books need a lot of fact checking, or have copious notes sections that have to be painstakingly formatted. Each of these factors influences the time it takes to edit the book, and therefore the expense. Here we’ll assume our self-publisher understands that a well-edited book is essential to reaching the wide audience she desires. She engages the services of an experienced book editor for her 65,000 word, 200 page 5.5” x 8.5” trade paperback, and brings in other editorial professionals as the book develops. Developmental editing: $1,500 – 6,000 Copyediting: $2,500 – 5,000 Proofreading: $750 – 1,500 Indexing: $500 – 1,000 Total: $5,250 – 13,500 Design—Competitive Self-Publishers make a big leap in this category. They realize that competing toe-to-toe with books from major publishers requires them to turn the design of their book over to professionals. Both the product—the book’s interior—and it’s packaging—the cover—will receive the attention they deserve to fulfill the Competitive Self-Publisher’s aspirations for their book. He will rely on these professionals to take care of the myriad tasks in book production such as dealing with printers and preparing files for reproduction. Total: $1,500 – 5,000 Review program—Make no mistake, Competitive Self-publishers will mount a vigorous review campaign for a book with potential review sources. From Prepublication reviewers, to national and local newspapers, magazines, specialty media, and trade associations are likely candidates for review copies. A media kit created with help from professionals will accompany the review books. It’s not unusual to see review mailings of 200-300 copies in an attempt to drive traffic and © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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sales for a self-publisher who has their book in national distribution. Add to this an Advance Reader program for peer review or “blurb fishing” and you can see that the costs here add up quickly. Let’s plan on digital review or reader copies, too. Books: $700 – 1,000 Packaging and shipping: $800 – 1,200 Media kit: $250 – 1,500 Total: $1,750 – 3,700 Platform building—Our Competitive Self-Publisher will use as many methods of promotion and marketing as feasible for their budget, and platform-building will receive a lot of attention. An e-commerce enabled website, a blog around the topics of the book, as well as offline efforts like organizing seminars and workshops come into play. Using internet book marketing is a given, and web professionals will design the online properties needed by the self-publisher. Running autoresponders, opt-in programs, newsletters, seminars, workshops and speaking engagements are activities that can make a powerful difference to the success of a book. Here’s where the author’s reputation and authority in their niche contribute to spreading the word. Since this is such a big cateogry, let’s make it an estimate. Total: $1,500 – 7,500 Proofing and Reproduction—Competitive Self-Publishers make another move away from the pack by much more frequently relying on offset book printing instead of digital. To fill the distribution chain and have books available in just the major metropolitan areas of the U.S. our publisher is going to print 2,000 books minimum. This will allow her to get a better-looking book, to use special finishes or unique trim sizes, to have a wider choice of materials, and to get a much lower production cost. © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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Suppose we find a good deal among the abundance of high-quality short-run book printers, and we can get the unit cost down to $2.25, about 40% less than what the same book would cost in digital print-on-demand production. However, these cost savings come at the price of a steep upfront investment. Total: $5,000 – 7,500 Fulfillment—The Competitive Self-Publisher may concentrate on digital sales, or driving buyers to online retailers like Amazon.com, but to truly compete, she knows she needs distribution. Since it’s virtually impossible at the moment for single-book self-publishers to get distribution, she will have to settle for setting up accounts with whatever wholesalers might take her book, and either do her own fulfillment, packing, shipping and invoicing bookstores, libraries and institutional buyers herself. It’s no longer enough to just buy the big box of Jiffy bags. The costs here are for storage and insurance on her inventory. Even if she puts the books with a fulfillment company, the costs are transactional, and don’t come into play in our financial planning. Total: $500 – 1,000
Let’s Add It All Up The Competitive Self-Publisher is establishing a business. More than the others we’ve looked at in this series, this is a business proposition, and the expectation is to make a profit. Our publisher will make her decisions in consultation with editorial, design and marketing professionals, and the resulting book is intended more as a product or professional lever than as an act of creative self-expression. Adding our nine categories, we have a total of $16,000 – 40,425. At this point it’s easy to see why you need to make a profit. Self-publishing at this level isn’t a hobby, it’s a business enterprise. Our Competitive Self-Publisher may be looking to establish her book as an authority with a long shelf life. This will help amortize the investment by © 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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returning profits for years to come. Or she might be rolling the dice, convinced she can attract enough media attention to make it into the spotlight for a rush of sales. The commitment by any self-publisher is immense, but for the Competitive SelfPublisher it’s combined with a serious business investment.
Variations and a Final Thought My range of figures is only meant to be representative. I think it’s entirely possible to produce a competitive book and get it into print closer to $10,000. On the other hand, I know that some people spend in excess of $50,000 to launch a book. When dealing with investments like this that are tied to the success or failure of a single product, it just seems prudent to get the best help you can afford. Beyond the costs involved and the risks and rewards of playing in a big marketplace, this is also how the best books come into being. Book publishing, in its most developed form, seems to me to be a collaborative effort. Many talented and experienced people bringing their knowledge and creativity into play to produce something that no one person could achieve by themselves. When an author makes the decision to publish their own book they are—wittingly or not—jumping into just such a collaboration. When it works, it can produce really outstanding contributions to our cultural life. There’s just nothing else quite like it. Total Competitive Self-Publishing cost: $16,000 – 40,425 Takeaway—Competitive Self-Publishers invest in professionally-produced books and spend the money to compete on a national scale. They often produce superior books, making a lasting impact on society.
© 2011 Joel Friedlander. All rights reserved.
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