What does self-publishing cost, and is self-publishing worth it?
One of our most asked questions is, ‘How much does self-publishing cost, and is it worth it?’ Many new Australian and New Zealand authors or writers considering self-publishing their first book ask this question. It’s not an easy question to answer.
It’s easy to break down the self-publishing costs into numbers, but is that what self-publishing is all about? If you ask many authors, making money through self-publishing their books is a nice by-product of the act of seeing their dream become a reality. Most of us involved in the publishing industry are happy to see our books go from ideas in our heads to physical books that we can share with people worldwide, regardless of whether or not they become best sellers.
Speaking from personal experience, I have self-published several reasonably successful books.
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- Are they selling millions of copies? No.
- Are they selling enough to cover the costs associated with them and my other books? Yes.
- Would I consider myself a successful self-published author? Yes.
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The questions above are very specific and geared toward you. Your reasons for writing and self-publishing a book are entirely different from someone else’s. Whether self-publishing is worth it to you will be completely different to another author. In my case, it’s a resounding yes. Self-publishing has allowed me to do many other things that a traditional 9-5 job wouldn’t have allowed. It’s opened doors that I never knew could be opened, and to me, that’s priceless.
To answer the question, is self-publishing worth it? In my opinion, yes.
What Are The Costs of Self-Publishing A Book?
A lot of the costs associated with self-publishing will depend on how much you’re willing to do yourself, how much time you have to invest, how eager you are to learn, and how professional you want the final book to look. There’s a lot you can do and learn to do yourself, but sometimes it’s worth paying a professional to get a professional end product.
In the following article, we’ll look at five of the most critical steps in self-publishing a book, including:
#1 Writing
Writing involves no monetary cost but requires a significant investment of time for most authors. However, it’s also one of the most rewarding parts of the entire self-publishing process. There’s nothing like writing ‘the end’ after an extensive amount of time invested in putting words and thoughts down on paper. However, if you have an idea for a book and no time or writing ability to write it, then hiring a professional ghostwriter is always an option.
How much does hiring a ghostwriter cost? It all depends on the genre, length, and how much work is involved.
Most ghostwriters work on a per-word basis, and they quote per project depending on what they will be required to write, how much research they’ll need to do, how long the book is, and whether or not there is the possibility of other books if the client is planning on writing a series.
For every ghostwriting project we take on at Author Services Australia, we probably turn down five to ten others. It’s not easy to find writers who specialize in every genre, and we’ll only match ghostwriters to projects that we believe they’ll be a good fit for.
If you’re at the start of the writing process or still thinking of writing your first book, check out Creating the Perfect Book Outline!
#2 Editing
Believe it or not, there are various types of editing. For example, there is proofreading, copy editing, developmental editing, and manuscript evaluations, and each of the different editing services plays an important role in the self-publishing process. Skip editing at your own peril! Saving a few dollars on proofreading can often result in spending much more later when you need to go back and make all the corrections, reformat your book’s interior, and you’re dealing with negative reviews.
Good editing, like good editors, is priceless. However, the cost of professional editing services will depend on what type of editing you need, the length of your book, the genre, and how much work is involved. Editing could run anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand. At Author Services Australia, we quote on each manuscript rather than offering a blanket per-word price for our editing services.
Another part of the editing process is beta reading and alpha reading. If you’d like to learn more about beta readers and alpha readers and the important role they play in the self-publishing process, check out What Are Beta Readers? The Complete Guide to Alpha and Beta Readers for Authors!
#3 Formatting
Once your book has been written and edited and you’ve done a final read-through, it’s time to start thinking about paperback and ebook formatting. This is where your document is laid out in a professional format, ready to be read on a tablet or printed as a paperback or hardcover book. A great tip before you head into the book formatting, interior design, and layout stages of self-publishing is to print a copy of your book and read it aloud. It’s a great way to pick up on any last-minute edits that may have been missed during the editing process.
Professional formatting prices can vary depending on your manuscript. At Author Services Australia, we offer competitive fiction and nonfiction formatting packages.
Standard fiction print and ebook formatting package prices usually start at around $450 for most fiction books. Nonfiction books start at the same price but usually involve individual quotes to allow for any additional tables, call-out boxes, graphs, images, photos, and illustrations that fiction books don’t contain. Children’s book formatting packages are similar in price to fiction formatting, but the price can depend on the length and complexity of the project.
If you’re at the formatting stage of self-publishing, be sure to read Book Design and Formatting | The Complete Guide to Book Formatting!
#4 Cover Design
You have many options when it comes to your book’s cover design, but my recommendation is not to go for a budget design. There is an old saying, ‘Never judge a book by the cover,’ but many buyers do, and if your cover is bad, a large percentage of potential readers will assume what’s between the covers is also bad.
A poorly designed cover will turn buyers away faster than you could imagine. Luckily, at Author Services Australia, we have an amazing cover design team, and you can check out just a few of our recently designed covers at the bottom of our Professional Cover Design Services page. We offer both fiction and non-fiction cover design packages, which include two cover design concepts, ebook and paperback covers for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark Publishing, and all other self-publishing platforms, and two social media mockups for marketing.
If you’re just starting to think about your book cover design, be sure to read 4 Tips for Working with a Book Cover Designer!
#5 Marketing
This is where you can really start to spend some money, especially if you’re not careful and don’t take the time to research the people or company you’re working with. Before committing any money or signing any contracts, do a little research on the company you plan on working with. Check out their reviews and testimonials, and Google some of the authors or books they have promoted to see what type of work they do and how successful their marketing services are.
How much you spend on book marketing is entirely up to you. However, there are also a lot of free methods that you can use cleverly to promote your book. Marketing really offers you a lot of choices, but we warned some of them can be very expensive! You can also focus on your social media and book-related social media accounts such as Goodreads.
Are you ready to start marketing and promoting your new book? Check out Why Every Author Needs An Author Marketing Plan!
How Much Does Self-Publishing A Book Cost? | Conclusion
There you go! Everything that we could tell about the cost of self-publishing a book in Australia or New Zealand and whether self-publishing is worth it. How much you spend as a self-published author is entirely up to you and your budget, but making an investment in your book, as that’s what it truly is, could be the best investment you ever make.
A single book could cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. How much you charge for that book and the royalties you receive are also entirely up to you. You could make a few dollars per book or much more.
Self-publishing allows you to open doors that you never realized were even there. It can be enriching but, at the same time, extremely expensive. At the end of the day, you’ll get out of your book what you put into it. We can all only hope that someone appreciates it as much as we do.
If you have any questions about the self-publishing process, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team of self-publishing experts is standing by to help make your dream of self-publishing your book a reality.
At Author Services Australia, we support Australian and New Zealand self-published authors and writers with a full range of affordable self-publishing services, including ghostwriting, copyediting, developmental editing, proofreading, ebook and paperback formatting, book cover design, children’s book illustrations, graphic design services, manuscript uploading assistance, and social media and marketing.
