How much to charge for publishing?

11 replies
Hey everyone hopefully someone can offer me some insight on this. I recently started publishing books on Kindle and a friend (more of an acquaintance actually) of mine reached out to me to see if I would be interested in helping publish and more importantly market his book.

He runs a fairly successful charitable organization in the states and has a large following along with a podcast, does public speaking around the country and has published one other book already. He wants me to come up with a proposal to help publish and market his book. He understands that I am still new and learning and I guess that is part of the reason he wanted to reach out to me (cost).

My question is, how much do I charge? Do I charge hourly, monthly, or take some royalties?

He wants the book on all platforms, Kindle, Createspace, and Audible, as well as marketed.

Any insights on this would be greatly appreciated.
#charge #freelance #publishing
  • Profile picture of the author BradVert2013
    My general advice is not to do business with friends. It can ruin a friendship, fast.

    Honestly, if I were you I'd be more of an advisor. Give him advice, answer his questions, but don't put money into the equation. Normally I'd never recommend working for free. But because he's a friend, it changes things. Now if he's asking you to write the book itself, then that becomes a different issue entirely.

    Hope this helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author Emeka Ossai
      Originally Posted by BradVert2013 View Post

      My general advice is not to do business with friends. It can ruin a friendship, fast.

      Honestly, if I were you I'd be more of an advisor. Give him advice, answer his questions, but don't put money into the equation. Normally I'd never recommend working for free. But because he's a friend, it changes things. Now if he's asking you to write the book itself, then that becomes a different issue entirely.

      Hope this helps!

      Thanks for your thoughts on that. I edited the above post, we used to work together but that is about it, so friend might have been the wrong word...
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  • Profile picture of the author EPoltrack77
    Whats your competition charging and how good at you at delivering? Another words are you comfortable?
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    • Profile picture of the author Emeka Ossai
      Originally Posted by EPoltrack77 View Post

      Whats your competition charging and how good at you at delivering? Another words are you comfortable?
      I've been doing some research on what publishers/marketers charge and it seems pretty broad. That is why I have been having a hard time coming up with a decent proposal... I am pretty comfortable in marketing and sales, been doing that for the last 15 years. Marketing books online however is a new to me, but the person who wants to hire me realizes this and see this as an opportunity for me to get some 'paid training' if you will and him to get some cheaper exposure.
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  • Profile picture of the author quadagon
    I've quite a bit experience in publishing industry over the last few years (mainly Kindle but not exclusively).

    When a potential client approaches us there are three individual aspects that we like to appraise:

    The Work

    Essentially is the book of sufficient quality that it warrants an investment of time and money. As a scientist it pains me to say this but ultimately this is a subjective call. If the manuscript passes the initial read it is then past to up to a dozen other readers and their opinions sought.

    After more subjective views on the book we will also look at what practically needs doing to the book ie proofreading, editing etc and a costing made for the work.

    The Market

    After reading the book we then look to the market and see who and what else is out their. Is their any competition and if not why not, is the market booming or busting and who are the main players.

    We pay a lot of attention to what other authors are doing. Questions like how big their social reach is are mainstream publicity received are vital to know how we are going to approach the business and marketing plan

    We also research the price of competitors books and take a download of the book cover, reader reviews and comments.

    The Author

    What can the author bring to the table? Do they already have a suitable tribe, do they have exposure, whats their past like, could they do TV, radio or podcasts. Essentially what do they bring to the table.

    The three aren't weighted equally in the equation.

    Once we've done the research we would then decide on which business model we would use.

    Some models are:

    An author receives an advance but lower royalties

    or

    Split royalties after agreed costs (ie we take the first 5k in sales to cover the costs of promoting the work after this royalties are split)

    or

    the client pays costs as we go ie editing, proofreading, cover design and gets a higher cut of the royalties in exchange.

    We never charge a client to be their publisher. You perhaps need to decide whether you are going to be their publisher or their marketer?

    In your situation I would look at getting the following questions answered before deciding on which route to take:
    1. What is the purpose of the book? Lead Gen, Donations, Clicks, Awareness, Sales......
    2. What is the market like?
    3. What competition is there?
    4. Who are the main influencers in the market?
    5. Are they active?
    6. Are they reachable?
    7. What social presence do they have?
    8. What is the publics reaction to their work?
    9. Is it selling?
    10. Where can you be seen before launch?
    11. What is the authors commitment to the book?
    12. Will they do interviews, podcasts, hangouts?
    13. Are they happy to go mainstream?
    14. How can the author help promote the book themselves?
    15. Will they narrate the audio book? Should they?
    16. Specifically here - is the podcast audience and charitable work relevant to the book?
    17. If so does he have a mailing list?

    Then you've got to look at figures, what are they willing to spend on proofreading, cover design, web design, hosting, mailing list, social media, ppc etc or are you going to front the money and chargeback.

    What happens if the book makes no money?

    Do you have enough money/interest to spend time on this project for a future pay date?

    What other revenue streams are there and would you get a cut?

    Lots and lots of questions.

    Really important piece of advice is get a contract that is very specific on what you've agreed.

    Any questions for me just ask I'll be happy to help
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    • Profile picture of the author Emeka Ossai
      Originally Posted by quadagon View Post

      I've quite a bit experience in publishing industry over the last few years (mainly Kindle but not exclusively)......

      Wow thanks, that gives me a lot more to think about. For my situation, the book will be ready to go, so I won't be doing any proofreading or anything along those lines. He needs me to do the marketing more then anything else. The purpose of the book I would say is more awareness of his charity's cause.

      Knowing that can you offer any other insights?
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Whatever you do . . .

    Get it in writing (a formal contract) so that both of you know and understand exactly what is going to be done (deliverables), how much it will cost, who is responsible for what, and the timeline for creatives and payment.

    I would suggest you not work for free, regardless of who the client is. This project could end up being an expensive (time wise) black hole.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author aizaku
    as mentioned above, I wouldn't mix business with friends...

    that being said, if they are more like acquaintances, then get it in writing and get to work.

    -Ike Paz
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    charge what you think you are worth, that's it.

    al
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    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

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  • Profile picture of the author sdingram
    When I first started publishing, I had done 7 of my own books and learned a thing or two. Still, I did the first few books for friends/acquaintances for free in exchange for an honest testimonial.

    Now I charge a minimum of $1500 to publish a book.

    BE VERY CAREFUL with this part: Most people think they are going to sell thousands of copies of their books and/or make a million dollars. You MUST make it very clear that you cannot guarantee any book sales. This is a very slippery slope and unless you are really clear upfront, you will have angry clients.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author vic1
    I get this question all the time from people afraid of leaving money on the table.
    Don't waste your time fretting over price.
    Figure out how much your time is worth and that's what you charge.

    You can always adjust as time goes on.

    Or as Al said above, you charge what you feel you're worth.

    Since you've done your own books on Kindle, you know how much time it took you; figure it out from there.
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