{"id":757,"date":"2015-06-16T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/161.35.63.92\/index.php\/2015\/06\/16\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T13:12:37","slug":"introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anytime I see a post titled \u201cthe costs of self-publishing,\u201d I immediately get suspicious. So often, these posts are punditry making spurious claims and connecting disparate dots of information to \u201cprove\u201d that self-publishing is still somehow a terrible money-making idea and traditional publishing is the only way to make a living as a fiction writer. This series will most definitely not be that.<\/p>\n

There are two very good reasons it won\u2019t be that! First of all, I personally know authors who make their living entirely with traditional publishing; I know others who make their living entirely with self-publishing; I know still others who make their living as a hybrid of the two. Draft2Digital is 100% pro-author. Make that paper by publishing whatever and however, that\u2019s our motto.<\/p>\n

The other reason it\u2019s not going to be that is because nobody Googling \u201cthe costs of self-publishing\u201d is looking for rhetoric-filled punditry! Call me crazy, but I feel like they probably want to know what it\u2019s actually going to cost them to self-publish a book. And since they\u2019re bothering with research, I\u2019m going to assume that there\u2019s an unspoken \u201chow to do it well\u201d mixed in there also.<\/p>\n

Beginners Beginning at the Beginning<\/h2>\n

If you look at the title, you\u2019ll notice that it\u2019s The Costs of Self-Publishing 101<\/i>. That\u2019s not meant as a slam on anyone who\u2019s just getting started in this self-publishing game. It\u2019s to make it clear that this series of posts is for the beginner. We\u2019ll almost certainly do another series later that\u2019s for the more advanced indie author. But for now, we\u2019re going to lay down a firm foundation so that we can build on it later.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m expecting this to create some discussion and dialogue in the comments. I figure some of that will be from people who have follow-up questions to some of this advice and some of it will be from more established authors who take issue with the advice. I think that\u2019s great!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not claiming to have all the answers, and anybody who does claim that in this ever-shifting landscape of modern publishing is probably up to no good. So if you don\u2019t understand something I suggest in one of these posts, I look forward to the questions. And if you disagree with something I suggest in one of these posts, I look forward to you setting me straight with your own experience or research.<\/p>\n

Mostly what I hope to do is give burgeoning indie pub authors a few solid rules of thumb about what each step of their publishing journey costs so they can make informed cost-benefit analyses.<\/p>\n

The Budget: Don\u2019t Fudge It<\/h2>\n

First \u2013 and this is a thing worth keeping in mind for the whole of this series \u2013 you have to figure out how you\u2019re going to budget. Are you going to designate a lump sum to cover the entire publishing project? Or will you start out thinking of each part of the publishing process as its own budget?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I mean: If you want to budget the publishing project as a whole, let\u2019s say you want to publish the book for one thousand dollars. That means once you\u2019ve paid for the cover, editing, marketing, and maybe even your tax planning, the total comes to $1,000 or less.<\/p>\n

If you want to treat each part of the process as its own budget, then you might say you\u2019ve got $300 for editing, $300 for the cover, $300 for marketing, and $100 for accountants.<\/p>\n

However you decide to do it is fine, but once you decide, stick to your guns. \u201cDon\u2019t fudge the budget\u201d is Small Business 101, which means it\u2019s Serious Self-Publishing 101 too. And if you can\u2019t decide which way to do it and would like my input, I\u2019d suggest budgeting the project as a whole. Because you\u2019re going to find out some part of your publishing process will be way more expensive than you thought, and then you can start looking at ways to cut corners in some other area to make up the difference.<\/p>\n

To-Do List<\/h2>\n

Over the next few weeks, I\u2019m going to look at what costs you can expect for:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Commission engaging and beautiful cover art for your novel<\/li>\n
  2. Edit your manuscript<\/li>\n
  3. Market your new novel<\/li>\n
  4. Pay the government when you sell a few copies<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I\u2019m going to make some assumptions as I go along, but I\u2019ll spell them out in each post. If those assumptions don\u2019t apply to you, I promise there\u2019ll be follow-up posts. Just shout out your individual issues in the comments and we\u2019ll work our way through them.<\/p>\n

    I want these posts to be a resource for anybody who ever felt they had a novel in them, wrote one, and then had no idea what to do with it next. Once upon a time, I was that guy and I wanted more than smug punditry. I wanted good advice that owned its biases. I\u2019m going to try and give that to you all now. See you next week and we\u2019ll chat about cover art.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":205728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[469],"tags":[47,159,443,397,142,110,284],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-how","tag-author-marketing","tag-budget","tag-copyediting","tag-cost-of-business","tag-editing","tag-email-marketing","tag-marketing"],"yoast_head":"\nIntroduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Draft2Digital | Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/draft2digital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Unruh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@draft2digital\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@draft2digital\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joshua Unruh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joshua Unruh\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0\"},\"headline\":\"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":6,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design-7.png\",\"keywords\":[\"author marketing\",\"budget\",\"copyediting\",\"cost of business\",\"editing\",\"email marketing\",\"marketing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Author How-To & Mindset\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/\",\"name\":\"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design-7.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design-7.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/Untitled-design-7.png\",\"width\":700,\"height\":200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Draft2Digital | Blog\",\"description\":\"Distribute your books worldwide. Keep all your rights.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0\",\"name\":\"Joshua Unruh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joshua Unruh\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/draft2digital.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/joshuaunruh\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog","og_url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/","og_site_name":"Draft2Digital | Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/draft2digital","article_published_time":"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Joshua Unruh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@draft2digital","twitter_site":"@draft2digital","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joshua Unruh","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/"},"author":{"name":"Joshua Unruh","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0"},"headline":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101","datePublished":"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/"},"wordCount":6,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","keywords":["author marketing","budget","copyediting","cost of business","editing","email marketing","marketing"],"articleSection":["Author How-To & Mindset"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/","url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/","name":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101 - Draft2Digital | Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","datePublished":"2015-06-16T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T13:12:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","width":700,"height":200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/introduction-to-the-costs-of-self-publishing-101\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Introduction to the Costs of Self-Publishing 101"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/","name":"Draft2Digital | Blog","description":"Distribute your books worldwide. Keep all your rights.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5ebfafd115ca53a3527c02f8ff464bf0","name":"Joshua Unruh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a68eb654619812db22ebf5e65a2d3f916be37e39dfd8297e847e1a557deb7c1d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joshua Unruh"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/draft2digital.com"],"url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/author\/joshuaunruh\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Untitled-design-7.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209490,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/209490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/draft2digital.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}