How Much to Prepare a Book for Upload Publication

The price of publishing a book varies between projects. All the same, most cocky-published authors will spend between $2,000 and $4,000 on professional editing, cover design, formatting, and marketing.

This guide will reveal the boilerplate costs of publishing services rendered by Reedsy freelancers, who represent some of the world's best and most experienced publishing professionals. For a closer expect at the most upward-to-engagement averages for each service, enter your email below and download our 2022 Price of Self-Publishing Report.

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Note: The averages in this guide are the result of over 20,000 quotes provided past professionals with years of experience in publishing. You tin can observe cheaper alternatives, though they may not come with the level of expertise your projection requires.

Editing costs

The average cost of professional editing on a 60,000-word book ranges between $2,000 and $3,100. This assumes ane round of developmental editing, plus a combination of copy editing and proofreading.

To see how much you tin can wait to pay for each kind of editing, you tin apply this pricing figurer, which draws from Reedsy's about up-to-date averages.

Calculate the average cost of editing services for your genre.

Editorial Assessment

Developmental Editing

Copy Editing

Proofreading

Copy Editing + Proofreading

You can search for professional editors over on the Reedsy market.

Note: The average rates for children's volume editing do non include picture books, for reasons we will reveal later on.

Types of editing

If you're not familiar with some of the types of editing mentioned in the calculator, hither's a quick breakdown:

Editorial Assessment. This is a popular and cost-effective get-go stride for authors, platonic for those at an early stage of their rewrites. Editors offer an editorial cess will usually:

Read and analyze your manuscript;
Provide an evaluation in the format of a report, covering all aspects of the story, structure, and commercial viability;
Offering suggestions to guide your rewrites.

Developmental Editing. A nose-to-tail structural edit of your manuscript for authors who have taken their book as far equally they can by themselves. A developmental edit often includes everything in an editorial assessment, plus:

Detailed recommendations to better "big picture" concerns like label, plot, pacing, setting, etc.;
Specific guidance on elements of writing arts and crafts;
In-line suggestions and edits in the manuscript.

Copy Editing. A "fine-tuning" of your manuscript. This unremarkably includes:

Straight edits to the manuscript on a judgement level;
A focus on prose (eliminating repetition, purple prose, awkward dialogue, etc.);
Corrections for inconsistencies.

Proofreading. The final stage of the editorial process. As standard, a proofreader will:

Sweep the manuscript to take hold of remaining spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes;
Brand suggestions based on the publisher's chosen way guide to guarantee a consistent reading experience.

As yous can see, each blazon of editing asks the editor to examine your manuscript on a dissimilar level, and as such comes with a unlike cost.

What else affects editing costs?

The genre of your volume. Categories like historical fiction and nonfiction have the highest editing costs because they require fact-checking and a working knowledge of the subject affair. Similarly, editors for comics and children's books (genres with a much lower discussion count) volition have a much college per discussion rate. A picture volume might only exist one,000 words long — but the editor must handle each of those words with extra care. Plus, children's editors couldn't pay the hire if they charge just 1/80 the amount they would for an 80,000-word novel.

The state of your manuscript. Are you handing in a super-rough draft that y'all haven't checked for typos? Or have you gone through multiple rounds of self-editing? Naturally, you can expect to pay less in the latter case.

Complimentary course: How to self-edit similar a pro

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The density of your text. This peradventure applies more than to re-create editing. If yous write like Ernest Hemingway (in short, spare prose), you tin expect your re-create editing fees to be lower than if you write similar David Foster Wallace (with x-page run-on sentences and footnotes galore).

The level of experience you require. An editor with decades of experience at a major publisher volition toll much more than than a newbie. As with most things in life, y'all might be looking for a happy medium.

Become an exact quote from experienced editors.

Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.

Now that you've got your editor sorted, information technology's time to make sure your book looks equally good as it reads.

Comprehend pattern costs

70% of professional covers from experienced designers on Reedsy cost under $750. The range of quotes you lot may receive from encompass designers tin vary enormously, depending on a few key factors.

What affects cover design costs?

Your designer'southward relative feel. A novice book cover designer (ane who may have recently transitioned from other types of pattern) might charge between $300 and $500 per project. Professionals with over a decade in the manufacture might offer quotes upwards of $800.

The style and complexity of the design. An elaborate illustrated cover would cost more than one that involves working with stock images — if only because of the differences in the skill and time required. To notice out more well-nigh why certain styles cost more, take a look at our guide to encompass pattern.

The number of "rounds" your designer does. If their kickoff iteration of your cover looks practiced, and then you're all ready! Only y'all may terminate up asking for a few tweaks or fifty-fifty an entirely different design, which will obviously raise the cost.

Whether it'due south an ebook or impress embrace. Impress book covers require attention to dimensions likewise as a spine and back cover design, which can add to the cost. Ebook covers, meanwhile, only need to make sense as thumbnails.

Get a gratis quote from a professional person designer.

Sign upward for a Reedsy account and submit a request for a no-obligation quote from your favorite book designers.

Learn how Reedsy can assist you craft a beautiful book.

Nonetheless, the cover isn't the only function of a volume that requires design. And then allow's take a look betwixt the flaps.

Book formatting costs

Effectually fifty% of volume interior blueprint projects on Reedsy toll between $250 and $750. But… this could as well be costless.

The vast majority of self-publishing authors can format their books with free tools like Reedsy's Book Editor. However, certain types of books — particularly those with a lot of graphics, images, and exotic formatting — do require the help of a professional volume formatter.

For a detailed breakdown of average volume formatting costs, download our 2022 Cost of Self-Publishing Study. But for at present, permit's have a quick expect at whether a free book formatting option is suitable for you.

Formatting your book with the Reedsy Book Editor

If your book is a novel, memoir, short story collection, or nonfiction championship — basically, whatever type of volume that is primarily "words on pages" — and then you'll get professional person-form results using the free Reedsy Volume Editor app.

You can import your manuscript file to the app, add your affiliate breaks and configure your front and back affair in a thing of minutes. The app will preserve any formatting you've already washed to the text (italics, bullet points, etc.) and automatically adjust the font, margins, and size of your book. All you have to do is add your volume cover files, hit 'Consign', select your preferred styling option, and y'all'll take an ePUB file (for ebooks) and a PDF (for your print editions).

To have the Reedsy Volume Editor for a spin, just sign upwards for a free business relationship and start using it straight away.

However, if your book requires a lot more than specialist formatting — for example, a cookbook or an educational book packed with pictures and graphs — then you lot may need to invest in a professional book formatter.

What affects professional formatting editing costs?

You lot've probably noticed that there's a pattern when it comes to the factors that affect the various costs of publishing a volume — and book formatting is no exception. These factors are:

Level of experience. As always, veteran professionals bring a lot of experience and insight to the table (and they will charge accordingly).

Manuscript length. Longer books take more fourth dimension to format — the designer isn't only applying the blueprint to the text, only also double-checking for widows, orphans, and other aesthetically unpleasing elements on each folio.

How "graphically intense" the project is. Even the most elementary cookbook volition involve images that must exist carefully placed and text that must be tastefully and legibly arranged. Formatting such a volume will be more than intensive and costly than formatting a novel.

cost of self-publishing | a sample page from Ottolenghi's "Simple" demonstrating cookbook layouts — Even a spartan title like Ottolenghi's *Unproblematic* requires conscientious design to brand the recipes appealing, unintimidating, and easy to follow.

Ultimately, you lot can look to spend at least $500 on a professional formatting job, the same equally cover design. If the way your book looks on the page is simply every bit important every bit the words themselves, then this investment can exist a no-brainer.

Get an verbal quote from experienced book designers.

Larn how Reedsy can help you arts and crafts a beautiful book.

The publishing process doesn't stop as soon equally you've printed your commencement re-create — at that place's plenty of marketing piece of work to be done, which also comes with its ain costs.

Marketing costs

Publishing a book doesn't cease once you've finalized your ebook and print editions. After all, what'southward the point of publishing a book if nobody knows about it? As such, you may wish to programme for some of the following marketing activities:

Editorial reviews

Reviews will validate your volume in the eyes of prospective readers. Only without the power to option upwards Amazon reader reviews earlier your launch engagement, information technology's of import to land editorial reviews (which yous can feature on your product page at whatsoever fourth dimension). You tin can submit your volume to hundreds of book reviewers on Reedsy Discovery for a write-up to be shared on your big twenty-four hours.

Price: $50 to submit your book to Reedsy Discovery

Targeted digital ads

Digital advert is one of the few ways indie authors tin apace accomplish new audiences. If you're fairly good with 'the internets', y'all can learn some of the basics of ad testing with our complimentary courses on Facebook ads and Amazon ads.

Toll: From $5 a day for Facebook ads. You lot can exam out your potential audition with a small daily upkeep and scale upwards your upkeep one time you lot see some success.

Promoting a toll promotion

While it costs goose egg to run a price promotion (where you temporarily discount your ebook to drum upward some involvement), you'll need to make certain people know about it! For that, you may want to pay for listings on gratis/disbelieve book sites that alarm voracious readers to your promo.

Cost: From $xv to $120 per promotion slot. The bodily cost will vary depending on the size of the promotion site and how competitive your genre is.

Hiring marketing experts

Every successful self-publishing author must have a strong grasp of marketing strategies and volition spend a skillful part of their time marketing their books. If you've yet to principal every aspect of this nighttime fine art, consider hiring a book marketer who can help you:

Optimize your book'south metadata, keywords, and product pages;
Set up your ad campaigns and teach you to maintain them;
Create and grow your mailing list.

These services not only help y'all boost your launch, simply they will requite you lot the skills to continue your marketing efforts on your own.

Be careful: Indie book marketing is a grind. Anyone who offers a 'magic bullet' solution that promises you lot success with no piece of work is probable scamming you lot.

For more insights into the average costs of publishing (including ghostwriting rates) retrieve to download Reedsy's 2022 Study.

It bears repeating that all book projects have unique needs, then information technology'south impossible to nail down a final upkeep until you kickoff hiring your collaborators. If you lot're looking to continue your budget reasonable without sacrificing quality, cheque out the next part of this guide, where we'll give you lot some money-saving tips.

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Source: https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/cost-to-self-publish-a-book/