Which Is Cheaper Traditional Or Self-Published Books?

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Traditional publishing costs you nothing upfront, so in that sense it is cheaper, but self-publishing costs you more upfront and pays you far more per book, and you keep your rights. Cost alone is a poor way to choose. Look at return on investment, including the odds of being accepted and the time you spend. Below: what each route costs, what each pays, and why ROI is the better test.

Is traditional publishing cheaper than self-publishing?

On paper, yes: a traditional publisher pays for editing, cover, printing and distribution. But to get there somebody has to accept your book. When I started, I found that traditional publishing would not work for me. It is extremely difficult to get accepted, you wait a long time, and you have to find publishers interested in what you wrote. You will also have invested a lot before you submit: time, editing, research.

Free is only cheap if it works. Winning the lottery costs a dollar, but what is the chance? Think about the probability that a large publisher picks up your book. If it is very low, the cost is high, because you spend time and effort only to be rejected. Your time is not free. For the full comparison, read Is It Better To Self-Publish Or Get A Publisher?

What does self-publishing cost?

More upfront, and you control where it goes. You pay for the cover and the editing yourself. I started with the cheapest route I could find, since I had no large budget, and upgraded as money came in. The cost rose with each book in some ways and fell in others, where I found the money mattered less. Typical items:

Put your word count into my self-publishing cost calculator and it gives a low and a high figure for these items on your own book.

Many items can be done lean, and traditional authors should have their book edited before they submit too. Then the publisher runs it through its own advanced editing, which would cost you much more if you paid for it yourself. More on budgets: How Much Does Self Publishing On Amazon Cost?

Which pays more per book?

Self-publishing, per sale. KDP pays 70% on ebooks priced $2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com (KDP royalty options). The Authors Guild’s model trade book contract lists 10% of list price on the first 5,000 hardcovers, 7.5% of list price on a trade paperback and 25% of net receipts on ebooks (Authors Guild model contract). Real contracts vary, and a rate on net receipts pays less per copy than the same percentage of list price, so check any offer.

You also keep the rights, and you control the cover, the title, the marketing, the site you sell on and later edits. Traditional publishers sometimes pick titles and covers that sell fewer books.

What is the better test than cost?

Return on investment. If I put in $1 and get $2 back, the cost was fantastic. If I put in $1 and get nothing, it was expensive. So ask whether something is a good or bad deal, not how much it costs. To make money back from marketing without spending, see After Self-Publishing, What Is The Best Way To Market For Free?

What does it cost to print a paperback on KDP?

Nothing upfront. KDP prints on demand and takes the printing cost out of your royalties, so you hold no stock. On Amazon.com, for regular trim sizes, KDP’s formula is a fixed cost plus a per-page cost. A black ink paperback of 110 to 828 pages has a fixed cost of $1.00 plus $0.012 a page, and a premium color paperback of 42 to 828 pages has $1.00 plus $0.065 a page. KDP’s own example is a 300-page black ink book: $1.00 + (300 × $0.012) = $4.60 to print (KDP help: Paperback printing cost). Large trim sizes cost more, so check the page for your size.

If you are weighing the two routes, a good first step is pricing out a lean self-publishing budget. Book a free 25-minute discovery call and we will do it together.

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