How Much Does It Really Cost to Self-Publish on Amazon?

Amazon is the world’s #1 book retailer. You can publish on Amazon for free by creating a publishing account with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and uploading your book.

You are competing with other authors once you publish. Amazon had published 2 million books by the end of 2019 and new books keep coming at a rate of one every five minutes. There is a lot of competition.

Is Self-Publishing on Amazon Really Free?

You can self-publish your book on Amazon, but that doesn’t mean it will be a bestseller. You will need to make your book as marketable and competitive as possible to compete with the millions of other books out there.

Reedsy, an online author service, does an annual review of costs:

On average, authors spend $2,000-$4,000 to self-publish their books. This includes services such as editing, cover design, formatting, and marketing.

Let’s break that down. 

What to Do to Help Your Book Compete

When thinking about publishing a book, there are three key areas to focus on: cover design, editing, and marketing. All of these areas are equally important and work together.

The most important marketing you can do for your book is giving it an eye-catching cover. The more appealing your book looks, the more likely readers will be to click on it. Once they get to your book’s product page on Amazon, the Look Inside feature lets them read the first 10%. This will either encourage them to buy it or turn them away completely.

If there are spelling or grammar errors in your book, it will turn potential buyers away. Having a good editor is key to making sure your content matches your cover.

Onces you book is complete, you need to focus on making sure it sells well. To help your book compete, you need:

• A genre-specific cover
• A talented editor familiar with your genre
• A marketing plan specific to your audience

This means that you need to budget for each of these items:

• Cover design
• Editing
• Marketing

How Much Will a Cover Design Cost?

Book cover designs range in price.

A possible option for those on a tight budget is to choose a pre-made cover from a designer, which usually costs between $50 and $100. Keep in mind that someone else may have already chosen the same design.

In general, new designers will charge between $300 to $500 while experienced designers will charge between $500 to $800. Top-tier designers will range from $800 to $1,500.

Choose a designer from the given options that you can afford to make your book stand out.

How to Find a Cover Designer

99Designs, CrowdSpring, and DesignCrowd are often used by new writers. Make sure you get a variety of samples before choosing a designer. You submit your request and different designers will respond with ideas. Then, you choose the design you like best.

Editing Costs

The cost of editing services can vary depending on how the fee is set. Some editors charge by the word, others by page, and others by the hour. The amount an editor can charge per hour varies depending on how many pages they can cover in that time.

1. Developmental editing. A sound average is $.09 per word or $15 per page. Developmental editing rates for your manuscript usually cost between $.07 and $.12 per word. Some developmental editors charge by manuscript page, in the range of $7.50 to $20 per page.
2. Copy editing. This editing stage usually costs between $.02 and $.04 per word. Some copy editors charge by manuscript page, in the range of $2.50 to $5 per page.
3. Proofreading. A basic proofread of your manuscript usually costs between $.01 and $.02 per word. Some proofreaders charge by manuscript page, in the range of $1.50 to $3.50 per page.

Some editors charge a fee for their services based on the project. This fee is usually determined by taking into account the genre and page length. Additionally, some editors offer a combination of copy editing and proofreading services.

Reedsy breaks fees down average fees for a 60,000 word manuscript as:

Developmental editing — $1,440 (or about $7 per page)

Copy editing — $1,020 (or about $5 per page)

Proofreading — $600 (or about $3 per page)

Remember that proofreading is essential when you are budgeting for any manuscript. Readers do not like seeing obvious spelling and grammar errors.

Marketing

Book marketing can take a lot of time and money. Having a website as part of your author platform will help you build your reader base. 

Website/Landing Page

Your book website is important for your marketing efforts. You can set up a low-cost website using Wix, Squarespace, or Flowww, or use a CRM service like GoGoClients that allows you to create a landing page and collect email addresses.

Email List

Using your existing email list to promote your books is one of the most important first steps to gain ing traction. You should also focus on collecting the names and email addresses of new people interested in your book.

Social Media

You can use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to raise awareness for your book for free. Keep your author presence separate from any social media profiles you have.

You can promote your book on social media by linking your Facebook page to your Instagram account and running targeted ads for as little as $1 per day. You can obviously spend more if you want to.

Amazon

If you want to advertise your book on Amazon, you can choose to spend anywhere from $3 to $100 per day. Amazon advertising is a great way to get your book in front of potential readers who are already interested in books like yours.

Third-Party Promotions

This process takes up a lot of time, but it will help make people aware of your book. Get in touch with book review blogs and different book promotion services (both paid and unpaid) to see if they’re interested in writing a review or promoting your book. Make sure to read the guidelines for each service before you submit your book, to make sure it meets their requirements.

Book Marketing Service

You can hire a promotion service to help you market your book if you would rather spend your time writing. These services can help by identifying your target readers, directing traffic to your book, and converting readers into paying customers. The cost of these services will depend on which ones you select.

You Need a Bottom Line

You could go all in with a marketing campaign and barely make your money back. Or you could take a more humble approach, spending grunt hours on social media while pinching every last penny. You need to have a bottom line in order to be successful. Even though you can publish your book on Amazon’s KDP for free, you will need to spend money in order to sell copies and gain readers. It is up to you how you want to spend your money. You could go all in with a marketing campaign, or you could take a more humble approach and spend time on social media.

How Does Amazon Self Publishing Work (And Why it’s the Best Option)

Traditional publishing is on the way out.

Some people have been living in this reality for a while now, and there are good reasons for it.

Although traditional publishing was once the only way to get a book published, self-publishing is now an option that is open to everyone. Self-published authors can often make more money than those who go down the traditional publishing route, while also retaining all their rights to their work. Furthermore, self-publishing gives authors more control over what happens to their book, and opens up more opportunities for them.

Though traditional publishing is still a viable option for some, Amazon self-publishing is the best option and here’s why:

• Over 70% of books are sold on Amazon
• 310 million book buyers through Amazon last year
• Those buyers accounted for over $178 billion in sales
• It’s easier and faster with Amazon self-publishing

This text will explain how to self-publish on Amazon step-by-step.

Your Complete Guide for Publishing a Book on Amazon (Through KDP)

#1 – Create a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Account

You can’t start publishing with Amazon until you have an account set up with them.

Here’s how to set up your Kindle Direct Publishing account:

1. Go to https://kdp.amazon.com and register with either your Amazon account or with your email address.
2. Next, click “Update” in your account information and fill in your tax information. It’s important to note that you need to complete your tax information BEFORE you can publish your first book. So don’t skip this step!
3. Once your tax information is complete, click “Finished” and return to the main page.
4. Your profile is complete!

#2 – Choose a Book Title and Subtitle

Here are a couple tips to crafting a great book title:

• Use a Book Hook: Your book hook should speak to the reader in a unique voice that grabs their attention and feeds into what they are looking for.
• List the Benefits: Your potential readers want to know what they will get from reading your book. One technique is to deliver the benefits in the subtitle, providing enough tantalizing information to further attract readers.

What attracts you to a book title? Keep it simple, clear, and unique. Make sure the title you want to use hasn’t been used by a high-performing book already.

#3 – Write Your Book Description for Amazon

Here’s what people notice first when seeing a new book:

• Title
• Cover
• Book Description

A book’s description is a written narrative that captures what the book is about and draws in the reader’s interest. Amazon is attentive to displaying books relevant to the visitor’s previous actions.

It is important for the book’s description to be good because this is what will convince the reader to read it. In addition, good reviews on Amazon will also help.

Here are some strategies to help craft your perfect description:

• Make your first sentence as enticing as possible
• Do not simply write a list of the events that occur in your book. Your book description should be designed to sell your book by providing readers with enough information to want to purchase and read it. Use persuasive language to entice potential readers and make them want to learn more about your book by reading it. Your book description is one of the most important selling tools you have. It is your chance to convince potential readers to buy and read your book.
• Make sure your book description is well-written, persuasive, and provides enough information to interest potential readers.
• Have the description feel personal and empathetic
• The book will detail the benefits the reader will gain by reading it.

#4 – Choose Your Amazon Keywords

If you want your book to be visible on Amazon and Google, you’ll need to choose the right mix of keywords. Amazon only allows seven keywords per book, so choosing keywords requires careful planning.

But what are keywords exactly?

The main idea of this text is that in order to be successful in Amazon self publishing, it is important to choose the right keywords that reflect the content of your book. This will help potential readers to find your book more easily.

#5 – Select Your Amazon Categories

Here are a few tips when publishing on Amazon in order to rank in more categories:

• Research your competitors’ keywords
• Choose trending categories with lower competition
• You can get more categories by contacting Amazon and asking them to put your keywords in.

#6 – Upload Your Manuscript to Amazon

Recommended Amazon Publishing Formats:

• Microsoft Word (DOC/DOCX)
• Kindle Create (KPF)
• EPUB

Supported Formats:

• HTML (ZIP, HTM, or HTML)
• MOBI (fixed-layout eBooks only)
• Rich Text Format (RTF)
• Plain Text (TXT)
• Adobe PDF (PDF)

#7 – Create Your Book Cover

When it comes to publishing a book on Amazon, book cover design is one of the most important aspects to get right. Having a perfect book cover can make or break how successful your book is.

Your cover will be the first thing that potential readers see when they come across your book, so it is very important that it is eye-catching and represents the contents of your book well.

You need to have a professional looking cover if you want your book to be successful. Our new done-for-you cover design services can help you create a great looking cover. Click here to book a call with our team and find out more about these done-for-you services.

You can find cover creators on freelancing sites such as:

• 99 Designs
• Happy Self Publishing
• 100 Covers

#8 – Price Your Book

Here are the 4 main pricing strategies to consider in order to be competitive and sell books:

• Know the price of your competitors. Compare the list price of your book to the books around you and determine if you would be able to sell your book for a higher price.
• Know the size of your followers. Famous authors can charge a lot for their books because they have a big following. Your book should be priced lower to encourage new readers to buy your work, if you’re not in this category.
• Determine price based on the size of your book. Size does matter when it comes to books. Don’t charge $20 for a 75-page book. Customers will immediately be turned off by the lack of content at that price point.
• Measure price based on reviews. Reviews carry a big weight on influence, and is social proof that your book has been read and well received. Therefore, a book with more reviews (1000+ reviews) can be priced higher compared to a book with fewer reviews (30+ reviews). 

Guest Posts Discliamer
The views expressed in this post do not represent the views of 90-Minute Books. The information has not been verified and should be considered opinion. You are always advised to do independent research.