The Cost of Publishing

Money is a taboo subject. People don’t want to be taken advantage of because they have a lot of cash. But there is something to be said about undervaluing the work being done in order to placate your customers and the industry. It is difficult to compete when the bigger players can do exactly the same thing for a fraction of the price.

That nature of publishing is one where the publisher takes all the risk, and in turn gets more of the reward. The publisher fronts the production costs for the book, and is compensated with 85% of the sales. A lot of authors take issue with that, and they are well within their rights to feel that way. I simply ask that those authors learn about the industry they are a part of (which any author should be doing already), and consider how much effort the publisher puts into making their dream a reality.

None of my authors thus far are included in that group – I am incredibly lucky that I work with amazingly kind and considerate people who want the best for me as much as I want the best for them. That’s what makes working with them such a joy. I am bragging a little here, I love working with you all. But this blog isn’t just for authors – it’s for anyone who wants to know more about how books are made. Unfortunately, money is a huge part of how books are made.

This blog is about honesty and open conversation. There is no self-deprecation, only a statement of facts as they stand within my business at present.

Here is an article that will help contextualise everything.

 

Let’s get into the numbers.

I charge £15 per 1,000 words for editing services separate from my publishing contracts.

Break that down to £0.015 per word.

Average book is 80,000 words.

Editing cost would be 80,000 x £0.015 = £1,200 per round.

I do about 3 rounds of edits per title.

so £1,200 x 3 = £3,600.

 

I charge £2 per page for formatting services also separate from my publishing contracts.

80,000 words on standard trade size pages need approx. 300 pages.

£2 x 300 = £600.

I charge an extra £1 per page for additional formatting needs (tables, illustrations, fancy headers, etc.).

 

I pay for the cover design – anywhere from £200+.

I pay for any additional illustrations.

 

I market the title – average monthly fee for a Social Media Manager is between £500-£1,500 for a small business.

 

I wrote the contract – the average cost for this service from a solicitor is £300-£500.

 

I purchase the stock – printing cost for a 300-page novel is just under £5 per book, plus extra for shipping and rush orders.

I package and ship the orders myself-

£9 for 100 polymailers

£10 for 100 sheets of tissue paper

£19 for 100 postcards

£23 for 250 business cards – 0.092 per card

Average £4 per book for shipping

So for 100 orders, I spend £440 on postage and packaging

Adding the cost of the books makes it £940.

 

Total cost: £3,600 + £600 + £200 + £500 + £300 + £940 = £6,040 per title.

 

In 2025, I’m set to publish 6 titles.

£6,040 x 6 = £36,240.

In 2026, I plan on publishing 4 titles.

£6,040 x 4 = £24,160.

 

Retail price per paperback book is approx. £8 across the industry, so selling 100 books would make me £800.

Authors get 15% royalties, which is 800 x 0.15 = £120.

Business profits are therefore £680, which does not cover the postage and packaging.

I try to price my books a little higher at £12.99, so selling 100 copies makes £1,299.

£1,200 x 0.15 = £194.85.

£1,299 – £194.85 = £1,104.15.

So, £1,104.15 – P&P cost of £940 = £164.15.

 

Across 6 books, the yearly business profits would be £164.15 x 6 = £984.90.

Across 4 books, the yearly business profits would be £164.15 x 4 = £656.60.

 

My overheads for 2024, separate from title costs, were over £8,000.

And I do not sell 100 copies of each title I publish.

 

Bear in mind;

I do not give myself a wage – the business simply cannot afford it.

The overheads also do not include event costs.

I have an editor that I pay from the sale of each book.

I don’t send out advance reader copies (ARCs).

I’m not a part of the Publisher Association (another £300+ per year).

I do not take paid courses to improve my skills.

The costs don’t include other specialty items designed for each book, like postcards and bookmarks, nor do they cover the cost to upload the title to the printer (about £20 per title), nor the purchase of ISBNs (approx. £200 for 10).

 

So what can I do?

• Offer courses in publishing
• Charge people for my services
• Take another job to cover myself
• Charge more for my books
• Find investors
• Reduce overheads
• Give up

I’ve already tried some of these; since establishing Barnard Publishing Ltd. in 2022, I’ve had two other jobs (one full-time and one part-time) to keep myself afloat whilst I work on my business. I’m also on Universal Credit to substitute for the rest. I’ve had to increase the price of my books to cover the printing and packaging charges. I’ve done everything in my power to reduce overheads without compromising on subscriptions I need to make and market the books. I’ve also had one kind author pay me to edit their book and publish it under Barnard Publishing for the same royalty percentage as my other contracts. I’ve had friends and family invest their time and money into the business with no expectation of returns.

I don’t mean to complain. I’m very privileged to be able to run my own business the way that I am. But, like most small businesses, I need help! There are so many ways to support small businesses without spending money (although that helps most!), like interacting with social media posts, leaving comments and reviews on Google and on webpages, talking about them to friends and family (and booksellers), even asking them what you can do to best help them!