How much to charge for publishing?

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!

Whats your competition charging and how good at you at delivering? Another words are you comfortable?

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

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

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

charge what you think you are worth, that's it.

al

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!

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.