Self-publishing is no longer a taboo like back in the days of Your. These days thanks to the digital age it is easier than ever and gives authors more control over their work. We are no longer at the mercy of traditional publishers. Income from our book sales is all ours* (more on this later).

The quality of self-published books is on par or better than some traditionally published books. Authors have more control over the cover and storylines and therefore more creative freedom. We have more access to readers because they come directly to us via socials or our mailing lists.

Keep in mind self-publishing is not for everybody. Self-publishing is a business just like any other. Authors are responsible for taxes, marketing, and everything that comes along with running a business. Perhaps you just want to write and not have anything to do with publishing or business management but you still want to self-publish. You can hire someone to do it for you or hire an assistant on Fiverr, Upwork, or Guru. Just make sure you vet the person before making a commitment.

Which brings me to the hidden costs of self-publishing. As I mentioned, hire help if you don’t have the head for business or you prefer to just write and let someone else do the management for you.

Website

Whether traditionally published or not as an author you need to have a website. This is important because you want to have a place for fans to find you and your work. Here are the costs associated with owning a website and a breakdown of terms you need to know.

Editor

A good editor is a must whether you’re traditional or self-published. I use Pauline Nolet Editing Services. She is fast and reasonably priced and I like her style. She also breaks it down for you on her website so you know what to expect. You can also look on Linkedin use the keyword “Book editor” and see what comes up. As usual please vet before using. Check out their references, websites, etc. before committing.

There are two types of editors, story editors and proofreaders. Some do both. So consider what you need and pay for that.

Images

There are many sites where you can get free images like Pixabay, or Pexels. There are paid sites like Shutterstock. Canva has both options, but you want to get the highest and best quality images and they charge for those. The price of images can vary, so be sure before buying that you check the usage, meaning that you have permission to use them commercially.

Graphic Design

Someone has to design your cover. Make sure you get someone who has designed covers in your genre. You don’t want a graphic designer who designs covers for anime to design your romance novel cover unless your novel is about anime romance.

You can find tons of graphic designers on Fiverr or Upwork.

Book sales

You need a place to sell your books. Most people go to Amazon which takes 30% of your sales if you are exclusive with them. *So your book sales are not 100% yours. Even at a 70% royalty, it is still more than you get with a traditional publisher.

Amazon is not the only game in town, there is Draft to Digital which will distribute your book over a wide platform including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also distribute individually through Kobo or iBooks.

We’re talking about hidden costs so why am I bringing up book sales? Glad you asked. The 30% of book sales that Amazon takes is considered a cost to you.

Now, to truly get 100% of your sales, you can sell your books on your website like I am seeing a lot of authors do these days and I will be doing as well.

The cost for that would include an e-commerce platform that would process payments and distribute the books for you. It’s the cost of doing business.

Marketing

You’d be mistaken if you thought, that all you had to do is write a book and publish it on Amazon and overnight it turns into a bestseller. That’s where marketing comes in. You need to reach your audience, therefore you need to advertise.

Sure you could post about your book every day on socials, but eventually you’d need a new audience. That’s where blog tours come in. They reach book bloggers that you may not reach on your own. You can search for book bloggers and query them one by one and if you are lucky they respond but the quickest way is through blog tours. In my book Blog Tours, A Win-Win for Authors and Bloggers, you’ll find actionable steps to get you started. This book was written back in 2014, and some of the bloggers might have moved on but the steps are the same.

Advertising on socials is another way to reach passionate fans, but be careful with this, you can spend a lot of money with no results. The process is complicated and has a steep learning curve depending on which platform you use.

Book promotion sites are a good way to reach readers. You pay a fee, usually a few bucks for them to promote your book to their large social media following or their subscription lists. Please vet, vet, vet before shelling out your hard-earned money, because like with everything there are bad actors.

Advertising in marketplaces like Amazon, Smashwords, or Bookbub are good options. They are reputable and have a large audience, but come with a large pricetag.

Competitions and conferences are marketing options that I personally haven’t tried but I have heard it works for some authors. There are fees to join. Check that the folks behind them are legit before jumping in.

These are by no means an extensive list of costs associated with self-publishing but it’s a start. Let me know what costs you run into in the comments below.