 Hello, hello writers! I'm Christine Kiefer, author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources, and you are listening to the Well-Sturried Podcast, where I share insights, encouragement, and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life. Always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking. Writer, thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Well-Sturried Podcast. Today is June 28th, 2017, and if you are interested in self-publishing, then today's episode is one you are going to want to listen to. Because, as the title states, today we are breaking down the cost of self-publishing a book. If you would like to check out the article that corresponds with today's podcast episode, simply head on over to well-sturried.com slash cost. Now, without any further ado, let's get started. The freedom to publish whatever you want whenever you'd like makes self-publishing an attractive option for many writers, but such freedom comes quite literally at a cost. How much would it set you back to self-publish a book? To put it simply, however much you'd like. If your sole reason for publishing is to make your story available online, then it's entirely possible to self-publish without spending a dime. But if you'd like to develop a career or a side hustle as an independent author, then spending a bit of cash to produce a high-quality book is key. So, let's take a look at some of the most common expenses that independent authors incur, beginning with an overview of self-publishing costs. To produce a book that readers will not only want to buy, but that will keep them coming back for more, independent authors typically invest in some or all of the following services. Developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, proofreading, formatting or interior design, and cover design. These services represent the same pre-publication tasks that a manuscript would undergo in the hands of a traditional publishing team. The only difference is that independent authors must pay for these services themselves upfront. How much each service costs will depend on the length and or genre of the manuscript, the difficulty or complexity of the work, and the unique pricing model each freelancer or company employs. As you begin to research editing, cover design, and formatting options online, you may find yourself surprised by the wide range of pricing models and quotes. Why would anyone pay $2,000 or more for a developmental edit when plenty of freelancers offer the same service for less than 500 bucks? Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. Though there are always exceptions to the rule, most highly qualified companies and freelancers charge a premium for their services, and rightfully so. Most indie authors spend somewhere between $1,000 and $5,000 on their book's production. If you decide to self-publish as well, it will be your job to determine your unique budget and which services you consider most important as you work to bring the best version of your book to life. Now, shall we break down the full scope of self-publishing expenses? With all of the preliminaries out of the way, let's explore the six most common self-publishing expenses we already listed in greater detail, including what they entail and how much they typically cost. First up, developmental editing. Also known as content or structural editing, developmental editing consists of story arc and scene-level feedback designed to help you polish your story's plot and character arcs, world building, themes, and other key story elements. A full developmental edit is typically highly detailed and includes inline notes, making it the most expensive form of feedback on your story. However, many developmental editors also offer more affordable manuscript critiques, evaluations, or editorial letters that consist of broader, but still highly valuable feedback on your story. Some independent authors, especially those writing strict genre fiction, forgo such editing entirely in favor of utilizing feedback from beta readers. But generally speaking, the price range for developmental editing or similar story-level feedback ranges from $500 to $2,500 U.S. dollars. Next up, line editing. After finalizing your manuscript, you may wish to seek feedback from a line editor who will critique the language you use throughout your manuscript. Though a line editor may point out spelling and grammatical issues, they're chiefly concerned with whether you've used the best possible language to tell your story. Their line-by-line feedback is typically highly detailed and can help refine your writing style. Because both forms of editing address the language of a manuscript rather than its content, line editing is sometimes known as copy editing and includes feedback that addresses the accuracy and consistency of a writer's prose. However, many authors find it helpful to first address the effectiveness of their writing before ensuring its correctness. For this reason, many editors offer line editing and copy editing as two distinct services. When we're talking specifically about line editing, the general price range you're going to find is between $500 and $2,000 U.S. dollars. Next, we have copy editing. When treated as a distinct service, copy editing denotes detailed feedback on the consistency and accuracy of the language used throughout a manuscript. Think, sentence structure, word choice, voice, verb tense, and point of view. Copy editing is often conflated with both line editing and proofreading, and there's nothing inherently disreputable about editors who don't offer copy editing as a distinct service. Just make sure that you understand the technical differences as you determine which types of editing you'll commission. The price range for copy editing typically ranges from $300 to $1,500 U.S. dollars. Finally, we have proofreading, at least as far as editing goes. Proofreading is commonly understood to mean something along the lines of combing through text with the intent to find and fix spelling errors and grammatical inaccuracies, but the true scope of this work is much more detailed. Proper proofreading takes place after a manuscript has been formatted. The work itself consists of ensuring the printed or digital proof matches the final manuscript, contains no remaining errors or inconsistencies, and is formatted correctly for mass production and or online distribution. While some editors conflate copy editing and proofreading, typically under the label proofreading, many others offer great bundled rates on their distinct copy editing and proofreading services, so keep an eye out if you're on a budget. The price range for proofreading? Somewhere between $150 and $800 U.S. dollars. Next, let's talk about formatting and interior design. After a manuscript is finalized, it's ready to be formatted for distribution. Many authors opt to format their own manuscripts and can do so quite professionally thanks to the DIY tutorials, templates and apps available online. I've linked a list of those for you if you'd like to check them out in today's episode transcript at well-storied.com slash cost. That said, it's perfectly normal for an author to commission this service as well. Technically speaking, formatting consists of preparing a manuscript in plain text, so fixing fonts and type size and paragraph and line breaks before the interior design and layout are done, which consists of all the technical things that go into making sure your story looks super great on the page. While copy editors typically address the plain text formatting, the term itself, formatting, has become largely one and the same with interior book design. That's just something to be aware of when you start researching your formatting options. Another thing to bear in mind is that each edition of your book, for example, paperback, ebook, large print and hardback, must be formatted separately. This can drive up the cost of formatting if you choose to commission this service. All in all, the price range for formatting or interior design can range from no money at all to roughly 600 US dollars. Finally, we have cover design. Let it be said that customers do judge books by their covers, which is what makes commissioning a great cover design so important. Thankfully, the expense of a high quality cover doesn't have to break the bank. Many cover design companies and freelancers offer pre-made book covers for $99 or less, as well as print and ebook cover design bundles that can make custom cover design more affordable. Some companies and freelancers will even happily bundle custom cover design with one or more of the following services, interior formatting, audiobook cover design, author branding, and marketing materials. So again, keep an eye out for deals. All in all, cover design typically costs somewhere between $49 and $2,000 US dollars, all depending on how many different types of covers you need and just how custom of a design you're looking for. With all of these services and expenses broken down, let's talk about some of the additional self-publishing costs that you may encounter. These six self-publishing expenses we just talked about aren't, after all, the only costs that independent authors may incur as they prepare to launch their books. Some self-publish authors also choose to invest in interior illustrations, fantasy map design, professional headshots, professional blurb copy or blurb editing, print books for in-person bookselling events, author website domain name, hosting and maintenance, marketing tools, merchandise and book swag, launch party materials, and an ISBN, an international standard book number, among other such investments. Most of these expenses are far from necessary, but they're nevertheless something you may wish to consider as you prepare to produce, publish, and share your book with the world. Speaking of which, if you'd like to begin commissioning some of these services for yourself but you don't know where to begin, be sure to download your free directory of self-publishing resources at well-storied.com slash toolkit. All right, that's everything for me today. See you next time, writers. Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Podcast Writer. I hope you found it helpful to your writing journey. If so, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode, and to give the podcast a quick rating or review. Doing so goes a long way toward helping the podcast reach new writers and lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm creating. You can also give me a shout-out directly on Instagram at Kristen underscore keeper. For additional guidance as you work to craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, be sure to head on over to www.well-storied.com where I share blog posts, workbooks, e-courses, and other helpful resources for writers. Again, that's w-e-l-l-s-t-o-r-i-e-d.com. Thank you again for tuning into today's episode, my friend. Until next time, happy writing!