CreateSpace Costs and Money Based on A Comment by Michelle
One of my regular readers, pointed me to a great blog, the literary lab, and one of the more recent posts was one how much self-publishing will in fact cost you. Now go and read it and come back for more… I have a few thoughts of my own. This is a great post, and one way to show that yes you can make money with writing and self-publishing.
Michelle did use CreateSpace, and pointed out a few numbers, it will take her some time to get money back (At the time of the posting the cost was, $175) now, I admit I’ll need to look into this book and buy it myself, so that does make a difference. Also, I would be intrigued by the royalty difference between CreateSpace and some of the other vanity press which are out there. I am not against self-publishing, but I wonder how well this company can be in terms of passive income.
Again, the one thing which stands out is that editing for her was free, she knew her editor, which would have been big cost and yesterday’s post didn’t factor in several items, just simply how much it would cost to buy the books and the most basic packages. These basic packages for the listed self-publishing companies are extreme to say the least based upon what they offer, or don’t offer to the authors who publish with them.
One of the most important factors that needs to be addressed is editing. Most people aren’t as lucky as Michelle and probably don’t have the means to get more out of their own editing. They are not professional editors, and they might feel that a larger package will help them earn more income- sooner. Another factor is the actual books sales and you do need to do some selling, and while I never thought of book covers the more I think about it, the more I agree with the statement that “professional covers are a must”. Again I used IUniverse and Create Space as my two choices and which company would be best for your money, and for you to make a return on that money.
There is something to think about and $39.00 for getting a book actually published is a great deal the rest comes with how professional you want this to be. I doubt we’d all be as lucky to have a professionally edited book and also the cover and interior for that low a price.
3 Comments
Michelle Davidson Argyle
I'm happy you found it helpful! No, I didn't pay for editing this go-round, but I do plan on hiring an editor for my other two novellas I will self-publish after this one. I just got lucky this time with a friend who offered for free. 🙂
Ordering the physical books and shipping costs have been the highest costs for me so far. If I did less of that for my other books, I could afford an editor.
Rachel Sentes
Well, folks, I have to throw in my two cents here. Editing is imperative if you are going to self publish. Professional editing. And a marketing/publicity plan and the key component- DISTRIBUTION. I have dealt all summer long with a variety of authors who have embarked on self publishing only to realize that their distribution won't yield them sales. I had one self published author who posted a sample chapter all over their website and social media sites only to have it pointed out by me- (when she wanted publicity) that she had 3 typos on the sample page she sent out to EVERYONE. Once you post something you can't take it back. Go to the Editors association of Canada and hire someone good. Then find a distributor for your book. INGRAM and Baker & Taylor mean nothing when distributing in Canada. They don't work with the Chapters and Indigo. Stop ordering and shipping books. Pay a distributor to keep them in their warehouse and absorb the costs if you are going to self-publish. It's vital!! Okay, off the soapbox, but I just want to save people some hassle and costs!!!
Sohani F
I didn't know how important editing was, thank you for this post.