Tags
Ebooks, editors, indie publishing, indie writers, Sara Flower, self publishing, self publishing costs, self publishing expenses
I posted the spendings for my first novel, By the Sword, earlier this year to give you a rough idea of how affordable self publishing can be. I am happy to say that my second book Followed (Set to launch tentatively in September 2012!) cost much less.
Here’s the numbers, because sometimes it’s nice to see an actual breakdown of what it takes to publish your book.
Cover Design (Ebook and Print) by Najla Qambar – $75
Book Mark Designs – Free!
Editor – $100
Second Editor – $100 (Oops!*)
Ebook Formatting – $50
Beta Readers – Free! 
(A must!)
*Note: I had two edits, because I went ahead and got an editor a little too soon. I had two more beta reads after the first edit, which I am so happy I did. Phew! So, now, silly me jumping the gun too early, I need to have an editor go over Followed again. But this time, I know the book will be ready. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you have at least two other people read and critique your book before sending it to an editor.
On the topic of editors: Yes, there are some great ones that do not charge hundreds of dollars!
I am going to do a separate launch for the print book of Followed. For now, I am going to put all my energy into creating an ebook. It costs a little more to make a print book and, from what I have seen so far, ebooks are the money makers.
Oh, by the way, if you haven’t checked out my first novel, By the Sword, it is now only .99 on Amazon.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great job reducing your costs, Sara! I’ve also made the editing mistake and paid twice. Now I’ve found a few typos in my sequel so I will have to invest in yet another proofread
Hopefully I’ll fine-tune this process with every book. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Best of luck with Followed, I truly enjoyed it! I can’t wait to see the cover you created
Thank you, Lauren.
xxx
I recommend http://www.feedaread.com for paperback publishing. Better value and far less confusing than createspace or Lulu. Only cost is £88 for a distribution package – which makes it available to amazon, and any other shops who might want to order it.
Good luck with it
Thanks for the recommendation!
That all sounds very reasonable, thanks for sharing
Xx
I hope it helped.
Good luck, Sara!
Thanks Gary.
Wow! Where did you find your Editor? All the professional ones I was looking at were going to cost me around $600-$700.
Check out Frankie Sutton!
Yeah–the editor costs surprised me too. I see the same price ranges as Christina, sometimes even more. Its my biggest hang up right now because I can’t afford one.
I know, it’s steep for writers who are going out on their own with tight budgets. There are some kind-hearted editors out there who also do a high quality job, like Frankie Sutton.
Thanks for the breakdown. This is very reasonable. How did you find such an inexpensive editor? One in my area was more like $1,000. Yikes!
I found Frankie Sutton on the Kindle forums. She likes to help out indie publishers.
Sara,
Thanks for opening up your expense side of the business, very insightful. Sounds like you did a great job on the management side too. Good job with the second launch.
Thanks again for sharing.
Steve
I am glad it helped!
Wow, this is super interesting. Pretty reasonable too! I will have to tug on your ear if I decide to e-pub my first book.
Can’t wait till hubby buys me a kindle –I’m going to start reading more ebooks. I want to read yours and Lauren’s!
Yes, please feel free to ask me any questions you have about e-publishing.
Thanks for the support, too.
xox
Thank you so much for sharing this, Sara!
I hope it helped!
Frankie Sutton. Might have to check her out. I am surprised at how affordable everything was. Very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing.
I am glad the info helped. Frankie was very easy to work with and she did a great edit!
I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to find an editor and your post really helped. I will definitely check out Frankie and I’ll let her know I heard about her from you.
Thanks for the info again, Sara. I’ll check Frankie out an I’ll let her know I heard about her from you.
Sounds good.
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for breaking this down and showing us what to expect. Congratulations on your second publication!
Thank you, Naomi.
Glad it helped!