I Can’t Afford to Publish a Book…
Many people disregard the idea of publishing a book because they are worried about how much it will cost.
But the truth is it can vary from just a few dollars to thousands of dollars.
If you’re not overloaded with money or sponsored by a multinational, what can you do to cut costs without cutting corners?
Of course, like most things, the easiest way to cut costs is to do as much as you can yourself:
- It’s no surprise that most of the work in publishing a book is in the actual writing and editing. Doing as much of this yourself is a great way to keep costs to a minimum. Most people need another set of eyes to look over their work at some stage, but the more editing and revision that you can do yourself, the better.
- You can improve your own editing skills by reading grammar and style guides online. There are lots and lots of web sites dedicated to helping people improve their writing.
- Once you get to the final editing stage, you may find you have a friend or relative who can do a proof read for you even if you intend to pay a professional. It’s best to get someone who knows about your topic and knows what you want them to look out for. Just getting any old person to have a flick through can end up being more confusing than useful.
- Check out all the tutorials and advice on the websites of major print-on-demand suppliers such as lulu.com, amazon.com, smashwords.com and blurb.com, to name a few.
- Remember that doing things yourself still has a cost in terms of your time and energy, and takes you away from your other work. You’ll need to make a commercial decision about whether it is a valuable use of your time to be working on your book rather than doing what you currently do.
However, given that a book is likely to deepen existing customer relationships and lead you to fantastic new customers, perhaps the more important question is ‘how can I not afford to publish a book?’
So, what will you do? Can you afford not to publish a book?
I would love to see your questions and comments in the comments box below.
Your real life examples, comments and questions will allow us to dive deeper into each of the above questions and perhaps provide other readers answers to their questions. It’s a win-win for all.
