Self Publishing FAQ’s
Below is a list of some of the most commonly asked questions about self publishing that we get asked. We’ve tried to answer them as best we can, or at least point you in the right direction of where you might find the answers you seek.
How much does it cost? This is the most common question by far. The answer? It depends. You can do it for free, or it can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. It totally depends on what type of book you’re making (childrens picture books are really expensive, novels are not). It also depends on your motivations for publishing and your goals for the project. It also depends on what skills you have, and what you will have to hire experts for.
You can get a cover designed, formatted interior files and everything set up with distribution on Amazon around the world for less than $500 if you’re doing a book that’s black and white inside and still keep your costs per book at a level that will allow you to be competitively priced.We recommend to most of our clients that in order to leave a bit of room in the budget for editing (which is a MUST) and to get a good looking cover etc. they should plan on spending about $1000 – and that will get them a professional looking product set up in a way that will allow them to potentially make some money selling their book. The content is up to them.
How long does it take? Again, that totally depends. If it’s something that you’re devoting full time hours to, and you have all the money you need in the bank to pay people to do parts of it for you, and you know exactly what you’re doing, then in theory you could go from manuscript to finished book in 30 days. We don’t recommend that because it’s stressfull and frustrating and if you’re rushing you may make needless mistakes. Usually, we recommend that people give themselves 6 months to a year, depending on how much time and resources they have to devote to their project. If you take it a little slower, then you have more time to prepare marketing materials and really lay the groundwork well before your book is actually out. This usually means you have a higher rate of sales in the first few months which also makes the experience more enjoyable!
What format do you give the book content to the printer in? Nowadays, you will generally want to provide your printer with a print read PDF document. This is best created by using Adobe Acrobat Distiller, in combination with a graphic design program like Indesign or Photoshop. These types of software are quite expensive and complicated to use, but there are companies who can prepare print ready files for you from your word document and images, for roughly $300 for an interior and a cover. For some methods of self publishing (like through CreateSpace) you can use Microsoft Word to create your PDF – but it doesn’t always work. You need to check your printer’s requirements first, before you decide which path to take.
How much money will I make? Well, once again I’m afraid we have to answer with – it depends. There are lots of factors that will impact your profit margins.
- how much does it cost per book to get it printed?
- how much do you have to pay in shipping to get it to the wholesaler/distributor or customer?
- how much did it cost you to prepare your book files?
- how much did you spend on promotion and marketing?
- what is the retail price of your book?
- what kind of a discount do you offer to the sales channels (bookstores, wholesalers, libraries etc.)
- do you have to pay royalties to illustrators etc.?
Overall though, the amount of revenue you make from your content will depend on how well you did your research before you put your book together, whether you prepared a business plan in advance, and how hard (and how smart) you work to promote your book in the 1-2 years following its release.