NOVEL PRINTING COSTS
Novel printing costs a good deal, and you need very much to do your sums carefully, considering various options and their alternatives. In fact, as you'll quickly see, the actual novel printing costs are only a small part of the total: equally daunting are prepress services and distribution.
How much does self publishing in general cost, and how does it compare to a package provided by a print-on-demand company? Everything depends on the little extras that turn an average book into a superb production, but here are a few calculations based on ballpark figures taken from Internet sources.
Novel Printing Costs: Worked Example
Our example is a 78,000-word novel, printed as a 200-page trade paperback with a colour-printed cover of laminated coverstock. Proofing is $3/page. Print run is 1,000 and all copies are sold, through bookstores, which charge a 40% commission. Cover price is $14.95. iUniverse royalties are 20% of sales receipts.
How much does self publishing in general cost, and how does it compare to a package provided by a print-on-demand company? Everything depends on the little extras that turn an average book into a superb production, but here are a few calculations based on ballpark figures taken from Internet sources.
Novel Printing Costs: Worked Example
Our example is a 78,000-word novel, printed as a 200-page trade paperback with a colour-printed cover of laminated coverstock. Proofing is $3/page. Print run is 1,000 and all copies are sold, through bookstores, which charge a 40% commission. Cover price is $14.95. iUniverse royalties are 20% of sales receipts.
service |
general range |
self publishing |
iUniverse (Premier) |
POD |
150-2000 |
- |
1100 |
text input |
1-3 cents/word |
- |
- |
proof reading |
1-5 cents/word $3-5+/page $30-100/hour |
1200 |
1170 |
typesetting |
$0.80-20/page |
300 |
included |
cover |
50-5000 |
1500 |
included |
ISBN, bar codes, listing |
50 |
50 |
included |
review |
0-350 |
350 |
360 |
printing (1000 print run) |
3000-8000 |
3500 |
see below |
warehousing and distribution |
10-20% of retail price |
2240 |
included |
marketing |
up to you |
1000 |
included |
total outgoings |
- |
10,140 |
2630 |
sales proceeds net commissions |
- |
8970 |
- |
royalties |
- |
- |
1790 |
net profit or (loss) |
- |
(1170) |
(840) |
Clearly:
big expenses are proofing, typesetting and cover design.
proceeds are derisory if only 1,000 copies are sold.
1,500 copies need to be sold just to break even with the POD route, and some 1250 by the self-publishing route.
If some 10,000 copies are sold, then the POD route will yield a profit of some $15,000, and the self-publishing route a profit of around $50,000.
POD was never intended to compete with traditional publishing at larger print runs. Let's therefore consider a specialist publication, the printing being done by the latest laser technology: $550 for 100 copies. Most of the proofing is done by the author, the MS just needing a quick run-through. Two cases, deluxe and basic:
service |
self publishing (de luxe) |
iUniverse (Premier) |
self publishing (basic) |
iUniverse ( Fast Track) |
POD |
- |
1100 |
- |
300 |
text input |
- |
- |
- |
- |
proofing |
250 |
1170 |
done inhouse |
- |
typesetting |
300 |
included |
done by author |
- |
cover |
500 |
included |
template |
included |
ISBN, bar codes, listing |
50 |
included |
50 |
included |
review |
350 |
360 |
- |
- |
printing (100 print run) |
550 |
- |
550 |
- |
warehousing and distribution |
220 |
included |
- |
- |
marketing |
250 |
included |
- |
- |
total outgoings |
2470 |
2630 |
600 |
300 |
sales proceeds net commission |
900 |
- |
900 |
- |
royalties |
- |
180 |
- |
180 |
net profit or (loss) |
(1570) |
(2450) |
300 |
(120) |
Novel Printing Costs: Conclusions
The salient points of this little exercise — you'll do many of these for your own particular requirements — are that:
1. Sales of 1,500 odd are needed to start making money with the publish-on-demand route. If this figure is unrealistic, then a basic service with the cheapest POD company should be considered (Lulu is $150).
2. Self-publishing can be made to pay if costs are cut to the bone, or if sales exceed 1250. If professional services are needed, but sale of 1250 copies judged unrealistic, then the self-publisher should consider electronic books (or possibly a pay-to-view website for business and financial information.)
Naturally, the market can be tested with a cheaper version, upgrading if sales are sufficiently encouraging.