Making of Part I: How much does it cost to self-publish a book?
Way back when I announced The Wilderlands, I said I wanted to make more blogposts diving into how I assembled the book. As it turns out, I was too busy assembling the book to actually get any of that done at the time.
Now that the book is out (with physical editions purchasable through Barnes & Noble and Amazon) I have a little bit more time to talk about what goes into self-publishing.
Here, I want to jump a little bit into the specific financial costs.
So here’s some rough figures:
Line Editing: $731
Copy Editing: $653
Cover Art: $350
Design for Exteriors and Interiors: ~$930
ISBN: ~$60 (bought in bulk)
Some of those might have fluctuated by slight margins, especially since my interior designer and one of my editors are U.K.-based. (Meaning the conversion rate and associated fees may have skewed that all very slightly.) But this fairly accurately represents my expenses for this book.
So, not accounting for smaller costs (like ordering copies for myself or keeping this website up) I paid a little over $2,724 for the initial book material.
For that initial editing run, I used A.J. Editorial Services for line editing which make up that first bullet point. If memory serves, that price also includes an initial read through with some feedback. ($731)
Later on, and rather late in the process I used The Fox & Pen Editing Services for a final copy edit of the work — which had changed enough since I’d handed it off to A.J. Editorial Services that it certainly needed another go through — that makes up the second bullet point. I still did a read through after this with edits, but it was relatively slight. ($653)
Cover art was done by @Cow_Turtle_Moo on Instagram. I can’t overstate how wonderful a job she did with the piece, making a cover to my instructions that was somehow more gorgeous than I could have imagined! ($350)
Design was something I went in not fully understanding the utility of, but was well worth the cost. I used White Stone Pages, introduced and recommended to me by the aforementioned A.J. Editorial Services. This design included figuring out how to get the title and back cover information to fit and be readable on the book, deciding on the dimensions of the book, laying out the interior from format to font choice. There were dozens of small tweaks that I didn’t realize I’d want/need. While all of these points are important for a relatively professional looking piece, this puts the final polish on everything that I think really make it all stand out. ($930)
Now, all of that is for just the physical and ebook. I’m also in the process of getting an audiobook together. — voiced by the incomparable Rae Witte and edited by Monkey Hill Media. Final prices have not been paid there, but if the final aspects of that process play out the way I expect them to, just that portion of the project to be ~$1,500.
All told, I expect I’ll have spent ~$4,224 total (probably conservatively) on the various aspects of The Wilderlands.
I have another blogpost that touches on how much I make per copy sold of the physical book. With everything how it’s currently priced — and factoring in how much I make off of the e-book — I make an average of about $5.45 for every copy of The Wilderlands sold.
So for those of you who are mathing along at home, I’ll have to sell about 775 copies of The Wilderlands before I break even on expenses. As of posting this on Nov. 21, 2024, I’ve sold about 50 copies.
Hopefully, if you’re looking to self-publish, that gives you an idea of the amount of money it takes to self-publish. Or, if you’re not looking to self-publish it gives you an idea of how it all comes together.
Either way, the moral of the story is (as it always has been), don’t get into writing if your goal is to make millions. Do it because it’s fun and makes you happy!
*****
The Wilderlands is available for physical purchase now from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The Wilderlands ebook is available now on Kindle here, on Nook here, on Kobo here, and on Apple here.