The Hidden Costs of Self-Publishing

A smart publishing plan will allow you to leverage your time and money while creating a book that’s a successful marketing tool for your business.

Planning ahead however, and being aware of the cost of moving parts, combined with guidance, support and insights, can help you have a successful book launch that will help you sell more books, reach more people with your message and ultimately, boost your bottom line!

It takes a village to write a book.

In order to avoid sticker shock and preventable delays, it pays to come in with a solid marketing and production plan for your book, along with some understanding of who else is going to help you along the way. 

There are at least 10 middlemen that will be involved in your book launch.

Understanding who the key players are and how they can support you with publishing, printing and promoting your book is imperative.

Need some proof?

I once had a client who I was supporting with putting her book up on Amazon but during the process, we discovered she needed other supports such as cover graphic changes, out-of-house printing, a barcode, a digitally-friendly version of her book and an ISBN number. 

The problem? Vendors require lead time, proof time and delivery time. 

We were on a tight deadline and she had to order the ISBN, wait 10 days to receive it from the Library Archives of Canada, get the barcode created (which I did for her), get printing quotes, approve the proofs and on top of it all delays were popping up everywhere.  

ANTICIPATE POTENTIAL PRODUCTION DELAYS

• Writing 
• Editing
• Advanced Praise
• Forewords
• Print Quotes
• Illustratration
• Cover Design
• Proofing delays
• Shipping Logistics

In the end, we had a successful launch and everything worked out, but it’s important to recognize the costs and restrictions that can occur.

BUILD BUFFERS INTO YOUR TIMELINE

For example, without anticipated buffers built into your timeline, printers can charge extra for rush jobs and shipping costs are exponential.

With shipping delays being a common thing these days, sometimes even shipping delivery promises need to be buffered and compromised when setting launch timelines. Knowing these in advance will help keep your self-publishing costs from exponentially blowing through the roof! 

Production delays can cost you money if you don’t plan in advance.

Common questions first-time authors have as they prep to self-publish: 

• Why do I have to put my book on Amazon? 
• How do I sell my book?
• How do I get an ISBN?
• What do I need to put on the back cover? 
• How do I sell my book?
• How do I promote my book like?

For six more hidden costs the self-publishing process and a breakdown of your self-publishing launch, check out my masterclass, Leverage Your Book Launch.