So, you want to be a self-published author? (Part 1)

Last July, I became a self-published author. My goal was to get my work out to as many people as possible by writing and marketing the book without the help of a publishing house. It sounds straightforward, like the old axiom, “Build a better mouse trap, and the world will beat a path to your door.”

Suppose I wrote stories and waited for the world to come. I would make sure my driveway and sidewalk were clear. Yet would the world come? They won’t need to beat a path because civilization has paved it. I hope to help you find that paved path in this next series of blog posts.

I decided at a writer’s conference when I attended a self-publishing workshop. The workshop started by explaining the pros and cons of the various publishing options, and by the end of that session, I had decided that self-publishing was the best choice for my situation. The primary driver behind it is my limited publishing window. Because I’m retiring (early but not that early), I won’t have years and years to get books out. The self-publishing option allows me to get a book out at least two years quicker than starting the process by finding an agent and a publisher and waiting in a queue. Many self-published authors don’t like the business side of the job. Fortunately for me, I’ve been in business my whole life. That is the side that doesn’t scare me.

As a self-publisher, writing stories is only half the battle. Successful self-published authors tell you that you must spend at least as much time on the business of self-publishing as you would writing books. That business includes book design, production, distribution, and marketing. These ‘functions,’ as we call them in my current ‘day job,’ are interlaced. You can’t do very successful marketing with a poorly designed book. You can’t build your ‘market’ without accessible ‘production’ and ‘distribution.’ I’ll try to tell you what I know about this in the blog, which isn’t much. I learned some of it from the conference. Some I’ve learned going through the path. As I continue finding the path, I’ll update my blog and share what I know.

I will start with book design. This' function' includes writing, editing, cover design, and formatting. I break into two design sub-categories: internal and external. Internal are things you don’t have to pay for, and external are things you probably do. When I know, I’ll give some ideas about the costs. What I think you’ll discover fast is that if you do it right, you’ll spend a fair amount of money. Internal editing isn’t cost-free, though. I’ve subscribed to both ProWritingAid and Grammarly. I’m not sure I need both, so I’ll probably drop Grammarly at the year renewal. The level of ProWritingAid I have cost $120/year. ProWritingAid offers a free version, but you don’t get the most powerful tool in their toolbox for the free version. That is the writing analytics reports. These tell you things like repeated words and cliché usage. They compare your writing to your favorite author. Right now, I have them compare me to Robert Jordan. For information, Grammarly costs me $144/year. Both programs are also integrated into all of my writing, not only my creative writing but also my email, blog posts, and web pages. I’d drop in a subscription to MS Office 365 here as well. Though, I’d probably have this if I wanted to write or not, so I’ll not include that cost for this exercise.

One area of book design that doesn’t cost any money but is invaluable, especially for a new author, is Critique Groups, Alpha Readers, or Workshop Partners. These are other writers, or sometimes good critical readers, who will give you feedback before you start the editorial process. I believe this is the best place for this process because the more you hammer it out before you start the external editing gauntlet, the better and potentially cheaper that process will be. As a new author, your editing costs will probably be a flat rate per word, but once you have a relationship with editors, more on why that noun is in plural form later in the blog, you may get a discount if they get a cleaner copy to work with.

For external book design, the costs can rack up. None of these are technically necessary to do. You can “go cowboy” and do it all yourself, but all the successful self-published authors (successful means “to scratch out a profit to live”) recommend all of this to be done by professionals. It is related to marketing and is part of your brand. You want your book to look and feel like it is of the best quality. Unless you have experience doing cover design, please leave it to a professional who does cover design for your genre. The single most important aspect of book design is the cover. This is what people will see when they decide to buy a book if the cover looks like it is a book for them. Book cover design isn’t cheap either. A good book cover designer can cost up to five thousand dollars. You can find other acceptable designs for a tenth of that, too. For instance, my eBook cover design (just the front cover you will see on an e-reader) only costs me a few hundred dollars. But when I release my novel in 2026, I will probably spend a couple grand for all the versions.

Book editing is a term that I did not understand when I started this process. I knew that there were book editors. Authors talk about their editors all the time, which makes one think that there is one person who is the book editor. But that is not the case, and they each cost money. The first editor you need to get is a Developmental Editor who looks at the big picture of your story. Do the characters read differently from each other? Are there good plot arcs? Does the story hold the reader's attention? You will receive your document back with more mark-ups than you thought possible. Things you thought made perfect sense won’t make sense to them. According to Reedsy.com, in 2025, rates for developmental editing range from $0.024 to $0.040 per word. For a 100,000-word manuscript, you are looking at $2,400-$4,000 for this step. I’ll wait until you pick yourself up off the floor. I like to think of things in terms of books sold. To pay for just developmental editing, you are looking at having to sell 480 to 800 copies if you charge $4.99/book. I’ve seen Reedsy.com ads that state that the average self-published book only sells a few (I took it to mean less than 10) copies. The average book, both self and traditionally published, sells 200 copies.

That is just one editor, and we’ve two more to cover. Copy editing is quoted on the same Reedsy.com page, costing between $0.02 and $0.028/word. And proofreading will run you between $0.014-$0.018/word. Together, these two steps will cost you between $3,400 and $4,600 or another 680 to 920 books you need to sell to break even the editing costs. I’ve not learned the difference between a copy editor and a proofreader. Please help a brother and pop it into the comments if someone knows. (Even my Google search for this answer is vague.)

The last part of book design is book formatting. This converts your .docx file into a format that looks like a printed book and includes all the “front” matter and “back” matter of a book. Think “Title Page” and “Copywrite page” for the front and endnotes for the back. This will also include additional illustrations, like maps (extra expense), if you are a fantasy writer. At the very least, you are probably looking at another $500 for this. You might do simple book formatting yourself, but you would need a software package like Vellum, which will cost you $200. Other expenses include gaining an ISBN, which will be required if you want to do any distribution other than eBook sales. Buying just one will cost you $125, and you will need one ISBN for each format you sell your book. If you do a paperback, audiobook, or a fancy hardcover and want to sell your eBook anywhere but Amazon, you will need four. You can buy them in bulk, and the discount is significant. You can buy one for $125, 10 for $295, and 100 for $575 ($125, $29.50, $5.75 respectively). I plan on buying three for my book and hope to publish many more, so I’ll do it at the $5.75 per rate. A final optional expense could be to file for a copyright on your art. That isn’t necessary to sell, but it could add a bit of intellectual property protection if you feel you need it. The cost in the United States for a copyright is currently $45.

I’ll wrap up this blog post here and write two or three more posts to cover the rest of the process. But for Book Design, you can pay up to $9,500. This doesn’t include the hours you took to research, plan, write, and make multiple edits to the book. Again, converting that to a number of books to sell to cover that cost is 1,900 copies (at $4.99/per book price, which you probably won’t do for your very first book. More on this decision to come in the next blog). In the next post, I’ll discuss the next big-ticket item—book marketing. The purpose of these blog posts isn’t to scare you away from self-publishing. I’m finding out a lot of this by searching for information. When I ask on multiple Facebook author groups for a playbook for self-publishing, I’m told it doesn’t exist. Maybe my discoveries can help you. Many, many, many self-published authors can overcome these costs many times. What I’m trying to do is show you that path to be successful. But, no matter what, you must write quality books to succeed.

If you’ve read this, please click the little heart to help me gauge the value of my writing these articles. Mention it on your social media page and include a link if you find it beneficial, which will also help me build my market (more on this next week). If you have experience self-publishing, please clarify, correct, or amend this body of knowledge in the comments below for the next reader. I admit I’m new to this and only share what I’m discovering as I go through this process for the first time. If you happen to find my writing helpful, help me by subscribing to my website and following me on Instagram and Facebook! Happy Writing and Happier Reading.