This is probably one of the most common questions I get. The answer is a bit complicated in some regard, but can definitely be surprising to many aspiring writers.

First of all, here’s the truth: It can be FREE or Very Expensive!

As I said, it can be complicated. So let’s delve into it more. I’m not lying when I said you can publish your very own book for FREE. But there are limitations. One of the things a lot of people ask me for is a breakdown of costs, so they know what to expect.

Note: All of the information below is based on Publishing eBooks and Paperbacks through Amazon, and Hardcovers through Ingram Spark – both of which I recommend for many reasons. There are alternative options and the costs may vary for those.

In order to discuss cost, we first need to determine what is needed. What do I need in order to publish my book?

Good question! The list below is the bare essentials of what you NEED:

• A completed manuscript – Your book, of course!
• A Cover – It can be custom illustration, photo manipulation, or even a plain color
• A publisher – Such as Amazon or Ingram Spark, who you would publish your book through
• An ISBN – We’ll get into this in more detail later

Those are the minimum you’ll need. And the good news is that, depending on what you’re looking for, you can complete every one of those without spending a dime!

But what does that really mean? Let’s break each down to costs.

Cost Breakdown:

1. Your Completed Manuscript – ($0 – $10,000): Obviously, writing shouldn’t necessarily cost you much money, only time. However, editing costs are a massive factor. If you’re editing your novel yourself, or requesting the aid of beta readers, congratulations – you’ve just saved yourself thousands! Hiring an editor can range anywhere from $500 – $10,000, depending on their rates and the length of your book!
2. A Book Cover – ($0 – $3,000): As with pretty much every other aspect of publishing, you can get away with spending no money here. Or, you can shell out as much as you want for an illustration of your choosing. All that is needed is an image. You can open up Microsoft Paint or Photoshop or GIMP and create your own to save cash. It could honestly be a simple background with text on it and you’ve got your cover. If you’re looking to catch readers’ eyes as they scroll by, this approach will have some disappointments. For an eye-drawing cover, you’ll most likely want to spend some money on commissioning an artist. There are thousands all over. I commission artwork constantly and find artists explicitly through DeviantArt and ArtStation. If you’re looking for something in between – spending a bit of money, but not having to take out a second mortgage on your home – the most common practice is to pay for pre-made covers. There are usually libraries of hundreds of Photo Manipulation covers that are generic, yet slightly appealing. These typically cost around $50 – $200, so you’ll save a lot of money at the cost of appeal.
3. Publisher Fees ($0 – $50): Amazon allows you to publish your eBook and/or Paperback for FREE. However, at the moment they don’t offer Hardcover printing. For that, I go through Ingram Spark, which costs $50 to publish, which is reasonable considering what they give you in return.
4. An ISBN – ($0 – $300): Every format of your book (eBook, Paperback, and Hardcover – or Audiobook) needs to have a unique ISBN. These can be obtained from Bowker in the United States. Currently, it is $125 for one ISBN, $300 for ten, or more for higher packages. Additionally, if you choose to purchase a Barcode, they are $25 individually, or you can buy them in a package with the ISBN. While every book needs an ISBN, if you’re only releasing an eBook through Amazon, they actually offer to provide one for you – free of charge. However, there is one important note you need to be aware of. If you choose to take their provided ISBN, the book is considered to be Published by Amazon, not you. So, while you are technically Self-Publishing, legally it was done by Amazon.

So, with all those costs, how is it actually free?

Well, if you’re dead set on publishing your book without spending a dime, here’s the winning formula:

Publish an eBook through Amazon ($0) + Use their provided ISBN ($0) + Self Edit your Book or use Beta Readers ($0) + Create your own Cover ($0) = FREE

There you have it. Your book can hit the digital market completely free of charge to you. So, if you’re just trying to get your work out there and maybe trickle in some revenue, it’s a good option. You’ll technically be more profitable than probably 90% of the authors in the world after your first sale!

If you don’t mind spending some money, here’s a better summary of the costs:

Cover Art: $50 – $1,000
Editor: $500 – $5,000
ISBN: $300 (It’s best to just buy the 10-pack, as that’s 3-5 books worth)
– Overall, you’ll probably be spending an average of $1,000 per book without an editor and $3,000 per book with an editor.

Lastly, let’s talk about some ‘hidden costs‘. These aren’t necessarily hidden, but more that they sneak up on you and begin to add up pretty quickly.

1. Ordering Books – This one gets pricey pretty quickly. If you’re doing a Paperback or Hardcover, you’ll want to order samples in order to review the print. Otherwise you run the risk of launching your book only to find out later that the cover is offset by an inch, or the last sentence of every paragraph is cut-off. You only ever pay Print Cost as the author, but if you need to order 3 copies of each format over the course of your review, you’ve now spent probably around $50 you didn’t expect, plus shipping.
2. Shipping – This goes hand-in-hand with ordering. Every time you order a set of samples, you need to pay Shipping costs. In the above example, we ordered 3 samples of Paperback and 3 samples of Hardcover. If you ordered those individually, which will be common during review, the $50 you spent in print costs will need to be increased by another $50 – $100 for shipping. So now you’re out even more. Additionally, if you’re working with beta readers, or even Blogs that offer to review ARCs (Author Review Copies), you’ll need to ship them your book. You can’t change the address for sample copies, they must always ship directly to you to avoid this exact scenario. So, every book gets sent to you, then you have to ship it to every reader (Which can be as little as $4 or as much as $50 per book!)

Overall, it’s a safe bet to assume you’ll be spending between $100 – $300 on sample copies if you’re using Paperback and Hardcover formats. For those of you who are eBook only, you’re in luck!

Long story short, there are certainly ways you can publish your book for free, but if you aren’t going that route, be prepared to shell out a few hundred bucks to get your work out there with a quality you can be proud of.

This topic is one that rarely comes up. The reason I decided to discuss it a bit is because most people who want to write don’t actually know that there are options other than just a full-length novel.

First, let’s talk about the differences:

A Novel: This is what most everyone is familiar with. This is considered ‘full-length’ and usually sits around 70,000 – 150,000 words.

A Novella: Essentially, these types of books are just short novels. They range between 20,000 – 50,000 words on average.

A Novellete: These are rare, so it’s unlikely you’d see them on the shelf anywhere. But this is an even more condensed book, meant to be read in a single sitting with a word count between 7,500 – 15,000 on average.

A Short Story: It’s pretty obvious what a short story is, just a small piece of literature. These typically sit between 2,500 – 7,500 words.

In addition, there are also even smaller works that are often referred to as Flash Fictions (or a few other names). These are usually around 50 – 1,000 words.

So, now that we’ve defined the differences, what kind is right for me?

In order to answer that question, you need to look at the real reason these are different. In my personal opinion, it all comes down to two things: Motivation and Conciseness.

If you’ve ever made the decision to write a book before, I probably don’t need to talk to you about motivation. You’ll learn pretty quickly, first-hand, just how difficult it is to complete a novel. Sure, ideas come by the dozen. But putting those ideas into words over the course of hundreds of pages is no small feat. For many – and I mean MANY – the process ends up chewing you up and spitting you out. Trust me, it happened to me for years.

So what does that mean?

Well, your idea may be great and your interest high, but after you’ve put 20,000 words down you realized that you’re nearing the completion of your idea. Wait, what? Your book may end up reaching its resolution as a measly 27,000 words when you were aiming for 80,000. Wow, that’s frustrating.

What can you do from there? Well, there’s a few options. First, you can actually make the decision to classify your new book as something it fits better – such as a Novellete. Or, you can try to expand on it. Which brings me to conciseness.

Taking our last example, stretching your 27,000 word manuscript to 80,000 words just to be able to call it a novel is a huuuuuuge stretch. You managed to write the entire plot you had in mind in under 30,000 words and now you want to almost triple it? Where do you get the extra words from?

This is where people often get themselves into trouble. You really, really don’t want to just add FLUFF to increase your word count. No matter your story, you want it trimmed of all excess fat, meaning the final result is clean-cut, concise, and gets the story done without superfluous details.

Adding fluff is almost always a bad idea. Here’s the simple truth: Quality is ALWAYS better than Quantity!

Every reader would rather read 27,000 words of action-packed, fast-paced drama than 80,000 words that is 66% irrelevant text.

So, stick to your gut. But more importantly, try to plan out your story ahead of time. Once you start writing more, you’ll be able to get a rough idea of how long your completed novel will be just by your outline. You’ll learn to gauge how many words or chapters you’d need for each individual scene and can piece together an estimated total. If you lay out your entire plot and see you’ve got only three minor scenes and one major conflict resolution at the end, it’s time to make the decision on what kind of book you want it to be. If you’re set on a novel, head back to the drawing board and add more detail.

To re-iterate the message for today: Quality over Quantity. Be aware that there are other options for you. If you find you’re getting burnt out every time you try to sit down and formulate a plan for a novel, consider writing Novellas or even Novelletes.

Hey everyone! This is a question I’ve been asked a few times – and for good reason. Publishing consists of two options: Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing. Each has their own obstacles, to be sure. Today, we’ll focus on Self Publishing.

Why should I Self-Publish?

This is the most important thing to decide first and foremost. While both Traditional and Self-Publishing have their own challenges, they also have unique benefits. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Benefits of Self-Publishing:

The biggest for me is that it is completely managed on your own. This is GREAT for those Control Freaks like me. You’re in charge of everything! That means writing (of course), editing – or selecting an editor to hire, creating or commissioning artwork for your book cover, publishing the book itself, and marketing. It is a LOT of work, so be prepared to invest time (and most likely money) in order to succeed. But the result is that no one else gets a say in your book, which is important to many.

Next, it’s on your schedule. This can also be a drawback, as the only person pushing you to succeed is yourself. It’s a whole lot easier to let yourself down than someone else, trust me. This means the chance you drop your project is much higher. However, if you can stay motivated, you choose when everything occurs, rather than a Publisher doing so for you. No need to query and face rejection over and over for years, your book can hit the virtual shelves in a matter of hours.

Drawbacks of Self-Publishing:

Let’s talk about the disadvantages. To be honest, there are quite a few. Namely, the one we’ve already mentioned; It’s on YOU! That means you need to make the time, cop the coin, and do the work all on your own. Need an editor? Be ready to shell out anywhere from $500 – $10,000 for a single pass of your novel. Need awesome Cover Art? Make sure you set aside anywhere from $50 – $2,000. Quality comes at a cost. Many hobbyists don’t have the resources to cough up a few thousand bucks to get their book out there, especially when it may take you 10 years before you make it back from sales.

In addition to you being the banker, author, sometimes editor, and even the artists in some rare cases, you also need to understand that one of the biggest things you’re sacrificing is the network. Traditional Publishers have been doing their job for decades. They’ve established relationships with the retailers of the world, so many of their books are sent right to every franchise. This then means that sales will probably occur. With Self-Publishing, you’re nearly entirely limited to virtual stock only. You can get put into stores, but it is much more difficult and rarely occurs. You’re limited to running your own marketing campaigns to drive interest, which cost a LOT of money.

So, with those in mind, you need to make the decision of whether Self-Publishing is right for you. For me, it was no question. I lack the patience of querying and am not willing to give up exclusive rights to my work, as many publishers will force new authors to do (meaning they can change your story as they see fit, unless negotiated otherwise).

Still set on Self-Publishing? Great! Let’s take the next step.

How do I Self-Publish my book?

Like most things, this is a process. And it honestly isn’t all that difficult or expensive at all.

The example I often use is that I can type the word “I LIKE PIGGIES” on a document and within 24 hours, I can publish that as a novel – entirely for free. And you can! This is what gives many readers the stigma that Self-Published books are often low quality, because there is no bar for discrimination. There are many hidden gems among the Self-Published novels that disprove that assumption. But that’s only because they spent the time (and often money) to stand out.

Here’s a quick summary of the process, start to finish:

• Write your book! – This is obvious, but you need to finish your book’s first draft before you can consider publishing.
• Review your manuscript – You need to edit your own work. But one thing to note is that not having an outside perspective can be a huge hindrance on the end result, as you won’t be reading it the same way as a new reader would. You already know all of the details, so you need a fresh look.
• Let someone else review it – This can be either a hired professional editor (which is extremely expensive and outside the scope of most amateur writers) or what is known as ‘Beta Readers’. These readers are meant to receive a free copy of the manuscript in exchange for their feedback. Now, this is a bit of a problem, as it is very difficult to find readers who will give quality feedback. You should consider all feedback, even if you disagree with it, then make a choice. Never simply ignore it, but you don’t need to take their advice.
• Format your novel – Depending on where and how you are publishing, formatting has rules. For example, publishing a Paperback through Amazon comes with a guideline you must adhere to, while publishing an eBook through Amazon has a different guideline. These also change depending on the trim size (i.e. 6″ x 9″, 5″ x 8″, etc.), so be aware of this so you don’t waste time. Typically, this process only takes a few hours, but it can be tedious.
• Obtain Cover Art – You can hire a professional, create your own, or really do anything you want. But you need a cover. Not only for publishing, but just for your book to stand out. If you’re looking to stay cheap, most authors do ‘Photo Manipulation’ covers, which are basically just realistic photos that are taken into an editing program for alterations. If you don’t mind pilfering the trove, hire an illustrator for a more custom piece.
• Purchase ISBNs – Every format of your novel needs it’s own ISBN number. One for eBook, one for Hardcover, one for Paperback, etc. These can be purchased from Bowker for United States writers. I believe I purchased a pack of 10 for around $300, which is about 3 novels worth (5 if you’re only doing eBook and Paperback). If you’re publishing an eBook through Amazon, you do have the option for them to provide you one for free, however, this will list them as the owner of that ISBN, not you. You still own the book, but Amazon will be listed as the publisher, not you. Overall, this doesn’t matter to most people who are trying to save cash, but for some it does.
• Upload your novel – This one changes based on where you’re publishing. The most common will be Amazon, which offers eBook and Paperback. Createspace used to be prominent for eBook, but it was merged with Amazon, so you can do both formats in a single place and it’s pretty easy. For Hardcover, you need to go elsewhere – at least for now. I personally go through Ingram Spark. It costs around $50 to publish a book through them, but you get access to their vast network of distribution automatically. What does that mean? Basically, once I published my Hardcover through them, within about 4-8 weeks, it automatically gets placed in the online purchasing database for many retailers, including: Amazon, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc. All without contacting them at all. Their formatting requirements are much more strict than Amazon, though, so be prepared for some frustration and a learning curve.
• Order Samples – Once your novel has been uploaded, you can order Sample Copies prior to launching the book. Trust me, you NEED to do this! Go through them and make sure the cover art is centered, the correct ISBN number is listed on the barcode and inside the book (where you put it), and all the text appears correctly. I made quite a few mistakes that were caught when I reviewed Sample Copies. Formatting issues, spacing issues, etc.
• Publish your novel! – If everything looks good, you can Publish your novel! This process takes a bit of lead time, usually 1-3 days, so be aware that it might not be immediate. I say this, because I announced I was publishing my first novel on November 15th, 2018 and thought I just needed to hit the ‘Publish’ button that morning to make it active. Nope! After Publishing, it took another 12-72 hours to be approved. Luckily, it showed up the night of the 15th, meaning I wasn’t wrong. But it was a bit of an embarrassment. My next novel is publishing on November 15th, 2019, and I’ll be hitting that Publish button around the 11th, just to make sure it’s available on the day I say it is. Better for it to be a day or two early than late.

So, your book is published. What’s next?

First of all, pat yourself on the back. You did it! Trust me, I know how good it feels when the project you’ve slaved over for hundreds of hours finally comes to fruition. But what comes next?

MARKETING

Now, the difficulty comes in. Writing your very own novel and publishing it have been a long, exhausting process and you’re so eager to be done. But the fun just starts. You need to get the word out. People won’t really just find your book on their own. To put this into perspective, when I launched my first novel, I discovered that in the Fantasy genre alone, over 36,000 books had been published within the last 30 days. That means your book needs to stand out against 36,000 just within its genre in the last 30 days. Talk about daunting. So, how do you stand out? Well, first let’s hope your cover art is attractive. But that aside, it comes down to Marketing and Networking.

You need to let the world know your book is out. Family and Friends, the internet, everybody. This is the part I hate most. No one likes having to play the starving artist card and ask for support. But until you’re ready to either spend a lot of money on ad campaigns (which is nearly necessary) or get comfortable asking people to buy your book, no one will.

It doesn’t matter how good your book may be if no one clicks on it. Ad Campaigns do a pretty great job of getting people to take a peek, but they’re expensive. Typically you’ll pay an average of $0.50 per click. So, just for 100 people to view your book will cost you $50 (give or take). On average, about 5% of people who view ads end up purchasing. Meaning of 100 clicks, you may get 5 sales. If you’re making $2 per book, you’ve made $10 for $50 worth of ads. So, what makes that ever worth it?

Reviews

You will almost always lose money on advertisements. So why bother? The reason is that you’re building the structure for the future. Most readers don’t leave reviews. But those are what you need in order to succeed (assuming they’re good). One of the biggest things that makes a reader pick up a book over another is how many good reviews it has or its overall rating.

Right now, at the time of writing this, my first novel has only 12 reviews (ironically, it had 11 until yesterday) and it’s been out for a year. Some books I’ve seen have over 100 reviews within the first 24 hours a book is released. How? Those are typically done in a few ways:

• Paid Reviews: This one is considered unethical, but a lot of the Traditional Publishers do this, thanks to their wide network. They have a group of people place reviews on the book the day it comes out because they know it’ll drive the book’s sales immensely. Think of how often you’re willing to buy something on Amazon or Ebay from a seller that has no reviews? Exactly.
• Agreed Upon Reviews: This one is more ethical, but the same practice. Basically, get anyone you can – beta readers, friends, family – to review your book when it comes out. Now, Amazon actually has quite a few limitations in place and will remove reviews frequently for many reasons. If they share the same last name as you, or the same address, or didn’t actually read the book (which they can tell from Kindle Unlimited/eBook customers), etc. Every single one of my family member’s reviews were removed by Amazon immediately, even though I write under a pseudonym, so the name didn’t match. Spooky. But, basically, if you gave your book to beta readers, ask them to simply leave you a review and hopefully they will.
• Natural Reviews: What’s the best way to get reviews? Have a good book. The worst possible thing that can happen is you spend years writing your very first book, and the first review you get is a low rating. That weight will drag down your book’s rating and prevent most future readers from taking the chance on it. And there’s no way to get rid of it. There is one extremely important consideration that I make sure I tell people: Do not act disrespectful anywhere. You are vulnerable to lash backs. And you know what hurts? Bad reviews. This is one of the reasons I recommend a pseudonym as well, so you can split your work from your personal life. Have an angry ex-girlfriend who wants to get back at you? Be ready for her and all of her friends to leave bad reviews on your book. Always be mindful of what you say and stay out of arguments at every opportunity.

So, this all seems very daunting. Trust me, I know. But don’t worry. It’s an extremely rewarding experience, even if not monetarily. And it isn’t as hard as people think it is, but it does take effort, time, and money (usually).