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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 214
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A friend of mine is in the online marketing business – he’s
highly successful. He’s thinking about starting a new business just for
writers, but not being familiar with the traditional model – or the costs
associated with all aspects of self-publishing – this is all new to him.
From what I’ve been reading, it costs most self-pubbed
authors between $1,000 and $2,000 to pay for the costs of editing, cover art
and formatting – all professional services. Also, if you had a book trailer
made, how much did you pay for that?
What has been your experience with the costs of various
services, so I can share them with him? I suggested that he focus on e-book
bundling only, at least in the beginning. Since we live in a non-union state
with no state income tax, he most likely could offer this service at a very low
price compared to ebook bundlers in other parts of the country.
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Joined: 4/3/2011
Posts: 66
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I created my own cover art and trailer. The trailer cost me $8.76 (photo's) and the cover art nothing.
My editor was $350.00 she is the sister of a friend. She does editing for a company that is the back up for the Library of Congress. Since she enjoyed doing it so much she started up her own business called Publish Savvy.
I did my own formatting.
As for proofs, I spent $14.95 for the first and $5.07 for the second after paying $40.00 for pro program from Create Space.
I love my book in print because a lot of people still like the feel of paper between their fingers. So my experience cost me less than $500.00 but I've got people. =P
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Joined: 5/7/2011
Posts: 35
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Like everything else you purchase, you get what you pay for. Since my publisher covers all the costs of production, my insight will solely be 2nd hand. Per the above comment, you can produce a self-published piece for 500 bucks. I've heard you can even go cheaper. I believe your better off producing most of the work yourself than going through a vanity press outfit that could charge you 2-4 thousand. That money would be better served toward promotion. A professional artist who has a solid cover art resume can run you 700 to 2000. Editors can run from 400-1000. A quality trailer done by a professional company will run you 500...if live video...it can run as high as 2500, but most of these companies also include distribution with their prices. Then you have media press. That cost varies with the level of exposure you're looking for and its never cheap, unless you are relying solely on blog exposure and are submitting your work by yourself. Copywriting could run you 150-300. I know my stats are pretty broad...sorry...it's the industry.
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Joined: 3/16/2011
Posts: 214
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@Sinnie -- $500 tops was what I was estimating the total cost to be if my friend provides all services w/ the exception of the book trailer. Whatever it is, it has to be commensurate with what most writers would pay if they pieced them all together.
@Jack -- Yeah, the cost of these services are definitely much higher in NYC -- by about 50 percent. I can't ever see myself charging more than $250 to proof a 90,000-word doc. Then again, one of my bigger clients is the state government, and you can imagine how cheap those people are.
I'm encouraging my friend to take a look at what services writers really need more than all of the others and to deliver one or two, rather than trying to become a full-service company. Something always falls through the cracks, and I'd venture to guess that it would be actually working within the content itself -- the proofing or editing.
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Joined: 6/13/2011
Posts: 2
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Three key elements for self-pubbing: editing, cover design, and formatting/layout. All three elements have to be to as high a standard as you can afford, professional or as good as, and if you can get them accomplished through friends who can do a good job - good for you. My business partner is a crackerjack editor - she edited my books because she loves my writing. My brother is a graphics designer, and so he did my last cover at the friends and family rate for $75, using a photograph provided by another friend. Given a good template, you can do an OK layout yourself , but if a book involves illustrations, and all sorts of artistic little grace notes, that cost will add up. My costs on my last book, including paying my brother, and the assorted fees for uploading to Lightning Source came out to about $200. (this doesn't count the costs of ordering copies to send out for review.) If you are going all-out and hiring professionals from the get-go I would guesstimate $2,000-$2,500 in pre-print costs.
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Joined: 7/16/2011
Posts: 4
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Hi Everyone,
My name is Rick Elias and I just self published a ebook at amazon kindle called "Death Cry" They are listening...by the way I'm new to this site. I found a very Good book cover artist, his name is Bota Marius. He charged me $500 and gave me 5 different covers to choose from, which was nice of him to do. He took two weeks for the finished product. Checkout my blog to see Bota Marius artwork at http://rickeliasnovels.blogspot.com/ let him know that Rick Elias sent you to him. Well, I hope that helps anybody that needs a book cover artist.
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Joined: 1/18/2012
Posts: 8
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I can not even calculate the cost that I have invested in self-pub. There is not only the cost of money, but you must consider the hours of getting the word out so people can find your book. I've spent countless hours spreading the word about my book. The more time I spend on the computer spreading the word, the less time I spend at my real job, and that means I loose money. Chronicles of Silvercrest has become my life and it is expensive to tell people about it. So much so that I almost quit on it a couple times.
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