THE COST OF SELF PUBLISHING VERSUS TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.
Hey everyone, I’m back with an update on my book writing saga and with lots of information about the financial implications of self publishing. As many of you know, not least from this blog post, these podcast episodes (1) (2) (3) and my writing diary highlights on instagram, I’m writing a book on food styling and food photography. For a variety of reasons I’m self publishing and sharing the lessons I’ve learned on the way with YOU in the hope they will help you on your book journey!
Today, I wanted to break down the financial implications of self publishing compared to traditional book publishing and also outline the various routes available to you. I’m still learning as I go along, but here’s what I’ve discovered so far.
1. TIME IS MONEY!
Writing a book takes time, A LOT of time and time, as they rightly say, is money. Traditional publishing will offer writers an advance to cover the time spent writing the book. When you self publish there is no advance, but you’ve still got to pay the bills, right?! I’ve managed this by writing during the early morning hours before my family members rose to start their day. I also have been working late into the night to complete client projects and the like. It’s not for the faint hearted though, and I must confess, I am exhausted!
In addition, you need to allocate time to find all the professionals required to make the book happen (more on that below), research printing, storage, distribution and PR options, hold meetings to make key decision around layout, font, design, paper quality and pricing and continuously communicate with everyone involved in bringing your book to life. When you publish traditionally, many of these tasks are taken care of for you by your publisher - they’ll have established relationships with printers, have warehouses where they store books, long standing partnerships with book wholesalers and direct links to press and print outlets. I must confess I’d love to have a publisher guide me as it’s a complicated maze to navigate, however, it IS possible to do on your own!
Finally, you need to allocate time to create images for the book; this applies to going down the tradition path as much as it does to going it alone. Plus, it’s the best part of making your book come to life and one I’m really enjoying dedicating time to.
2. FOOD COSTS
Though some publishers provide a budget for food costs involved in (cook)book shoots, many publishers (in the UK) do not. Hence, if you’re working with a traditional publishing house it’s with exploring whether they will allocate a budget for your food costs, but if you’re going it alone, it’s imperative you budget for the food costs involved in creating your book. In order to manage this expense, I’ve used shots in the book which I’ve taken in the past and also included images of food me and my family actually eat, rather than create dishes and images solely for the book. Personally, I’ve found working to a tight food budget challenging in a good way. Boot strapping at its best!
3. AN EDITOR IS WORTH IT!
When you publish traditionally, your publisher should have an in-house editor look over your work. Editors are invaluable as they check the structure and flow of your written word, but also iron out typos, punctuation mistakes and grammatical errors. As I’m writing a book on food photography and styling, I had to hire two editors - a structural editor to ensure my content was up to scratch and a line editor to eliminate those pesky spelling mistakes. In short - a big financial out-going, which you won’t have if you go the tradition route. However, having a properly edited book will ensure it feels professional and hence, I’d highly recommend setting money aside to hire the editor of your dreams.
4. BOOK DESIGNERS AND ART DIRECTORS ADD NECESSARY GLAMOUR
I have a confession to make - I know NOTHING about book design. I’m clueless when it comes to which fonts work well together and couldn’t tell you if you should space your letters out by 1.44 or 1.55. I DO however know when a (cook)book feels beautifully designed; I get sent so, so many cookbooks each month. Some are just so lush and inviting whereas others come across as thoughtless and unprofessional. I couldn’t tell you what part of the book design makes one work and the other a disaster, but I do know that book design matter. It matters A LOT.
When you work with a big publishing house, they will have a set of book designers and art directors (the person who holds the bigger picture vision of your book and pulls all the elements together) available for you to work with, at no extra cost to you. Amazing, right?!? If you’re self publishing YOU pay for the design and art direction YOURSELF!
I know it’s tempting not to hire a book designer as it has major financial implications. However, if you want your book to look professional and visually stunning, rather than self published, it’s a non-negotiable EXCEPT if you have a background in graphic design etc. Honestly, trust me on this one, don’t omit this hire If you’re serious about creating a book with visual impact!
6. PRINTING, SHIPPING, STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION
You guessed it, if you work with a traditional book publisher, they will handle all of the logistics for you and of course cover the costs of these essential elements of the book creation process. As a self published author you can use a print on demand service via Amazon to cut out this big expense and the financial risk involved in printing (and paying) for books, which may never sell.
Print on demands is a great financial option as it’s zero risk, but it does mean, you have less input on printing quality. It also means that you’re tied to selling on Amazon only and - as far as I understand - can’t sell your book on other platforms or get them in stores.
I’m exploring printing and shipping using an external printing service to obtain the highest quality possible, but as I write these lines I am struggling to find the appropriate storage facility and an available distributor. It’s been SO frustrating, hugely time consuming and incredibly upsetting, but I am determine to find a way to make it work. I’ve got to.
As for how much printing actually costs, that’s determined by the volume you print, your decision to go with a paperback or hardback cover, the paper quality, how many pages you’ll need, book size and LOTS more. Storage costs depend on how many books you need to store and how long it will take you to sell them. For me, this has been the toughest part of the process as it’s all new. I’ve felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the responsibility as well as the enormity of the financial cost. However, managing this part of the self publishing process means you get to understand the ins and outs of book publishing and will never look at a book quite in the same way again #silverlining ;).
A FINAL NOTE ON YOUR FINANCIAL INVESTMENT
Self publishing is a huge undertaking, emotionally, time wise as well financially. As outlined above there are ways to make the self publishing process financially more manageable, but going in with realistic expectations and some savings will help you navigate the ins and outs much better.
Have you self published a cookbook? Are you thinking about it? Was this blog post helpful? I’d love to hear from you.
P.S. Once I have sorted storage and distribution, I’m aiming to start the pre-order phase of the book and also share a little more about the book. If you want to be notified when my food photography and food styling book becomes available or if you want to stay informed when new posts about the self publishing process hit the blog, please join the mailing list below. I’d love to have you!