The cost of self-publishing has undergone some dramatic changes lately. New technology has meant that you don’t have to go for a print run of 5,000 or more to get economies of scale.
There’s now ‘printing on demand,’ a strategy that lets you get maximum results for minimum cash outlay.
Your first task is to have a good idea of how you want to use your self-published book. Many people want to use their book as an elaborate brochure for their business or services. So, they don’t need a big number to start with. They can harvest the benefits of a low print run and when they do, they can always return to their printer for more copies of their book. You need only a handful of books to be listed on Amazon.com
Others, particularly those who have written fiction, realize that self-publishing requires a lot of time for book promotion so they focus on their immediate geographic area first, getting just enough copies of their book to take care of bookstores in the surrounding area. Then they use the strategy of placing books into stores where they can devote a lot of their marketing efforts. Often, they’ll work in concentric circles moving out from their home base. They get a few hundred books produced, work to get them into stores and then do promotional events (like book signing, press releases, radio interviews, and other efforts) to make those books move.
The old maxim of the self-publishing business still holds true. The hardest part of self publishing is getting your book onto the bookstore shelf. The second hardest part of the self publishing effort is getting the book off the shelf!
Oh yes, the cost. There are different ‘packages’ offered by different printers/publishers. So you have to choose what you want as a self publisher and make sure it works with your objectives. This can range from $600 or $700 to, well, the sky’s the limit. You must decide what additional services you’re looking for—what additional services you need.
The very basic service? All you need is the book printed because you’ve supplied everything else. The printer will ship the finished books to your chosen address and the rest is up to you.
From that point it can go up to several thousand depending on your own skills and the time you have to commit to making your self-published book a success.
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