Self-Publish For Under $199!

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You can self-publish for under $199, and the first version can cost nothing. KDP does not charge to publish, Kindle Create and Cover Creator are free, and Atticus, my top pick for formatting, is $147 as a one-time payment. This post covers where a small budget does the most good, in the order I would spend it. If you have no money at all, read how to self-publish with no money first.

What do you actually have to pay for?

Less than most people think. Amazon says its free ISBN is for paperbacks and hardcovers only and can be used on KDP only (KDP free ISBN), and KDP’s Cover Creator is free. IngramSpark says it costs nothing to sign up and upload, and Draft2Digital gives every book a free ISBN that works only through D2D, after a one-time $20 activation fee (Draft2Digital FAQ). Printing, shipping and your own ISBN are the costs that are real.

You may have heard self-publishing costs tens of thousands of dollars. That is usually a vanity publisher talking: one fee after another you never saw coming, and sometimes a pile of books in your garage that they made you buy. Self-publishing on KDP or IngramSpark doesn’t work like that. For every step in full, see how much self-publishing a book costs.

In what order should you spend the first money?

My first book cost me nothing to publish. I edited it myself, made a Canva cover and uploaded a Word file. I was amazed to see books sell this way. But I went back to my free books later and saw I wasn’t making as much as I should, and the right tools and services were what changed it. So this is the order I would use now:

1. Free first. Kindle Create for the ebook (it imports a Word file and exports KPF or EPUB, Kindle Create), Cover Creator or Canva for the cover, and self-editing.
2. A second pair of eyes. Ask a friend or reader who is good with English to proofread. It costs nothing and catches what you can’t see.
3. A printed proof copy. KDP charges the book’s print cost times the copies you order, plus shipping and tax (KDP proof and author copy cost). Use KDP’s print calculator for your page count.
4. A formatting tool. Atticus is $147 one time with no monthly fee, and it makes the EPUB and the print-ready PDF for KDP, Draft2Digital and IngramSpark. That is $147 of your $199, and you reuse it on every book. How to format your book for Amazon KDP covers the print side.

Atticus plus a proof copy fits under $199. Atticus plus a paid proofreader probably doesn’t, so if you must choose, use a free proofreader and buy the tool. If you would rather not learn a formatting tool, my publishing services include formatting.

How do the costs stack up?

What should wait until the book earns?

Editing comes first once there is money. After that, a designed cover (look at a designer’s past book covers, not just the price), an ISBN of your own so the same edition works outside KDP, an email list with MailerLite so you can ask readers for reviews, a keyword tool like KDSpy, and Amazon ads once the book, cover and description are right. For a website I recommend WPX hosting. These are the tools I use and stand behind.

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In my experience, once you add all of that you might be at $300 to $500 a book, depending on what you choose, assuming you write the book yourself. The first step can still stay under $199. To add up your own mix of free and paid steps, try my self-publishing cost calculator.

What should you never skip, even on a tiny budget?

1. An editor, or at least a proofread by another person.
2. A proof copy of the paperback.
3. A clear book description.

A free route that skips these can cost you sales later. My free self-publishing checklist walks you through every step so you don’t miss one.

Do you feel self-publishing is too expensive? Write “yes” or “no” in the comments, so I know where you’re coming from.

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