Most authors today don’t know the fair price for various publishing services, and thus end up spending four to five times more than what’s needed to publish a book. If you are struggling to plan your book publishing cost and want to know the best way to publish a book on budget, we are here to help you.
Since we have been in the self-publishing industry for quite a while now and have been through with publishing process many times, we know the best ways to reduce the cost of book publishing for authors.
In this blog, we will show you areas where you can manage or reduce the cost of book publishing.
How to Publish a Book in Budget – Setting a Plan in Motion
The industry is brimming with options that reduce the cost of book publishing, all thanks to modern technology, the availability of hands-on skills, and digital platforms. However, three main factors determine the book publishing cost. They include;
- Your willingness to do the publishing work by yourself, and if yes, how much are you willing to do?
- Available resources can help you get things done at no cost or a minimal price.
- Your knowledge and awareness of the publishing and marketing processes.
Depending upon your answers, the fair cost of book publishing could range from $0 to $5000.
Choose a Self-Publishing Platform
Self-publishing is the most profitable way to publish a book or begin a writing career.
If you have never published a book before and don’t have the money to support your dream, a self-publishing platform is the most impactful place to spend your time. And not just any platform, but a place that offers end-to-end self-publishing solutions for authors worldwide, like Writat.
Reasons why you should self-publish a book?
- Self-publishing a book at Writat is free of cost (any trustworthy platform that knows their work offers their solutions for free).
- It is a perfect DIY publishing package that allows you to choose a Cover Design for your book, Publish a book in Paperback, Hardcover, and eBook formats, Distribute it globally, and Keep a major portion of the profits.
- You also get to keep 100% of the rights to your book. This means that once you have upped your book editing, marketing, and promotion skills, you can re-publish your book anytime, anywhere, to reach a wider audience.
- Self-publishing supports both Fiction and Non-fiction book writers equally.
- You can set your book in different templates for different genres.
- With Print on Demand technology (PoD) can reduce inventory costs to zero and print your book locally.
- Unlike traditional book publishers, self-publishing platforms do not disregard books written in other languages. In fact, there is no language barrier here.
Do your research to find out which self-publishing companies meet all your publishing needs. Compare services and solutions before making a decision.
While you are at it, do read the difference between Writat and other book publishing companies.
Use a Combination of a Self-Publishing Platform and Standalone Solutions
You might be a pro at self-publishing a book but not quite at book editing, cover designing, or social media marketing.
What can you do if that’s the case?
If traditional book publishing companies are not your first choice and the idea of buying a whole publishing package for just one particular problem sounds expensive, you can select standalone services from Writat and customize a budget-friendly book publishing plan for yourself.
Example: No time for editing the book? Hire a professional editor at minimal cost, say $500, and then self-publish a book for free at Writat.
Save 80% of your traditional book publishing cost.
Use Free and Affordable Online Tools that Support Your Writing
Word Processors, Online Editors & Proofreaders, and Book Designing tools are fantastic technology solutions that can help authors save a lot of money without compromising the book’s quality.
While there are more and more tools out there, some free and some with a price tag, we have mentioned the 6 must-haves in our blog – Helpful Tools for Self-Publishing Authors.
They are Google Docs, Grammarly, Canva, Adobe InDesign, Writat, and Scrivener.
These tools are personally tried and tested, giving assurance of their affordability, practicality, and user-friendliness.
Publish at a Subsidized Cost
Check with your company, employer, university, or educational institution if they are willing to contribute to the publishing costs.
You can apply to them if your book is relevant to what they do or covers an important topic that could be useful to the company’s stakeholders.
If you are a researcher from a developing country wanting to publish a research paper, you can write to local government bodies or request the publisher to waive or lower the publication fee.
You could also try third-party funders or open access support systems that fund parts of book publishing charges.
Learn How to Get Books Edited, Formatted, and Covers Designed without Professional Help
Educating yourself with relevant skills is the ultimate way to gain total control of your book publishing.
For example, book editing, designing, and marketing are the most erratic publishing costs. You could either spend thousands of dollars or wisely save thousands of dollars by learning how to write, edit, publish, and promote a book.
There are two ways to practice the skills – Courses or Self-Learning.
Self-Learning
A good publishing guide, such as an established author, publishing consultant, digital marketing expert, graphic designer, or someone who has been through the self-publishing process can help you study the required skills at no cost.
Check if they have YouTube videos, blogs, vblogs, or any other platform where they share knowledge for free. You could practice your pre and post-book publishing skills on your own by absorbing their content.
Courses
Guided courses can help you professionally learn the art and science of book designing & editing, author website development, digital marketing, and other publishing-related skills. There are also professional courses that teach . how to write a book
Choose a learning course that delivers content in the most engaging manner, such as a video cum audio-based course, along with assignments, case studies, and short projects.
Spending a lot of money studying a skill isn’t wise. Understand that your aim isn’t to become a certified professional. Your aim is to gain the required knowledge to self-publish a book without expert help.
As you can see, you can do a lot to reduce the cost of book publishing. If you turn the work over to a traditional hybrid book publisher, they might manage everything from start to end, but that’d come at a high price. You will also lose the creative control and copyrights of your book.
On the other hand, by self-publishing a book, you will do things how you want, creatively and otherwise, and also learn how to publish a book on budget.
So, build your book publishing budget wisely after considering all the factors mentioned earlier.
