As a follow-up to my posting from the other day, I thought I'd collect typical costs for self-publishing an e-book. If you want the most polished, most professional product you can put out there, these are some of the costs you may have to shoulder en route to that publishing goal:
- Book editing: An average of $800 to $1,500 for a typical 80,000 word book (using freelancer websites and the averages from the Editorial Freelancers Association)
- Book formatting for digital: This varies, but a typical service can cost $100-200
- Book cover design: Anywhere from $100 on up
- Hiring a publicist: A la carte services can add up, starting around $500 or so, up to $5,000 (although some publicists don't handle self-pubbed books or e-book-only formats)
- Web site design: $200 for a basic site up to $1,000+ for something original and snazzy
- ISBN numbers: $275 for a block of ten (the minimum number); if you use Smashwords, you can use their ISBNs for free, but you can't transfer them to Barnes and Noble, Amazon or anywhere else.
The total so far for the above? Starting around $2,000, although that's a very lowball figure. Yes, you can barter and trade your way down to cheaper costs. And, as I mentioned the other day, some of us have decided we have to do this all ourselves because we simply can't afford to pay someone else to do it.
As for self-publishing a professional-looking print book? It can get a lot worse.
What are some of the ways you've managed to cut down on e-publishing costs? If you have some brilliant ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments.
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