Researching how you budget your book will make or break your project,
so be sure not to rush into the publishing process.
When initiating the publishing process, it's crucial to establish a comprehensive budget and allocate resources accordingly. Clearly understanding your financial commitments will enable you to engage and collaborate with professionals while staying within your budget. Realistic planning is essential, as books will not sell organically, and aligning your expectations with your financial capacity is vital. Divide your budget into the following three areas, do your research and budget accordingly.
EDITING:
As an integral part of the writing process of any book, hiring a professional editor to review your book is a difference maker that will polish your book and its content, taking it to new heights.. What you hire an editor to do with your book can vary significantly. You can engage with an editor as much or as little as you need. You can start with an editor providing an editorial summary of your book, informing you of where they believe your book needs corrections. From there, you can have an editor perform an in depth content edit or a simple copy edit. At the very least, you will want an editor to proofread your manuscript twice, once before it is formatted and once afterward, to check for formatting issues. With these many differences, the amount you might spend on an editor can vary greatly.
PUBLISHING:
Like editing, publishing has a significant level of diversity in how you approach the publishing process, and what it will cost you. The most cost-effective route to publishing is self-publishing. However, while it may be the most cost-effective route, it is also the most time-consuming as you are directly responsible for checking all the boxes to ensure your book is published properly.
In the middle of budgeting costs, you find hybrid publishing. You will have to pay upfront for the production costs of your book. With a hybrid publisher, you would be taking in more royalties compared to a traditional publisher. However, because you are paying upfront, you trust that the hybrid publisher will do what is best for your book while having few ways to recover your initial investment.
The most expensive route is the traditional publishing route. A traditional publisher pays you an advance for the right to publish your book and takes on all the publishing costs. Remember that a publisher would need to review your manuscript and choose to take you on as an author, which can be incredibly time-consuming and unless you have a substantial following and have established credibility in your niche, your book may not be accepted.. You would also be working on their time frame instead of being able to set your own if you self-publish.
MARKETING:
Marketing happens to be the area most authors neglect when budgeting for their book, and yet it is the most critical area to invest in. Even if you paid for a top-notch editor and the best publisher on the planet, if you fail to invest in marketing your book, it will never end up in the hands of your readers. Keep in mind, publishers distribute your book and market it to retailers, and count on you to market and sell your book directly to readers. The marketing you do for your book includes:
Having a consistent social media presence;
Creating and sharing additional content such as blogs and newsletters;
Being interviewed on podcasts, and, most importantly;
Running Amazon and 3rd party book promotional ads for your book.
Running various book promotional ads is essential to successfully selling your book. Another point is that you should always invest in marketing your book, and these costs are ongoing, so budget accordingly.
In addition to marketing fees specifically for the book, you need to budget to build yourself as a brand—meaning investing in building a professional website, social media platforms, speaker pitching, and more. Having these resources will give your readers a centralized location for keeping up to date with your next projects while having the opportunity to connect with you and your content on a deeper level. Furthermore, investing in building a brand will allow your readers to see you as a credible author in your niche, while having a published book will lend credibility to your brand.
How you allocate your budget in these three areas will certainly depend on where your strengths and weaknesses are. If you are an outstanding writer, you can spend less on editing. If you have the time and knowledge to self-publish your book, then you will spend less on publishing, and if you have your author credibility in place, and have a large following, then you can spend less on marketing yourself.
Ultimately, thoroughly researching how you budget your book will make or break your project, so be sure not to rush into the publishing process.
If you are beginning your journey to creating a book and want to discuss your plan, please visit PRESStinely.com and schedule a complimentary discovery call to discuss publishing, marketing, and selling your book successfully in 2024.
Kristen & Maira