Money & Book Publishing

Today we'll look at the money angle. It's all well and good to say you're "simply investing in yourself" during healthy economic times. But we're far less glib when we're pinching pennies.

Here are some basic figures according to my 2008 experience and book industry estimates:

My newest book, The Many Faces of Journaling: Topics & Techniques for Personal Journal Writing, 2nd edition:

2,000 copies - paperback - 6" x 9" - 192 pages - recycyled paper.
All black & white interior with 4-color glossy laminated cover

• MY PER COPY COST = $1.94.

(That's just for printing and binding at a large book printer, and doesn't include cover art, formatting, typesetting, editing or proofreading, which I contracted for separately.)

It's extremely tricky to estimate your cost per book with a POD (print-on-demand) Online Book Publisher because the services included in their basic book "packages" vary so much. The Packages themselves start around $500 and go up to $1,200 or more. One publisher may include manuscript evaluation or copy editing, another may make it available for an additional fee. But here's a ballpark figure:

For each copy of an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" paperback book - 160 pages.
Black & white interior - 4-color cover

• YOUR PER COPY COST = $5.25 - $6.75.

The 2,000 book print run for my book obviously cost me far less per copy. However, I pay monthly storage and insurance fees on each book until it's shipped to a customer.

Time is another crucial factor in choosing a publishing method. We'll examine tht next.

Happy writing~

Linda