The lines you cannot skip

Editing is the largest true cost and the one readers feel first. A developmental read, a line edit and a proofread are three different jobs; most authors buy at least two of them.

A cover is not decoration, it is the advertisement. Formatting turns your manuscript into a file a storefront will accept without complaint.

Distribution to Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Spotify and the rest costs nothing up front. They take a share of each sale instead.

The lines that are optional and often worth it

An audio book edition is priced here at 7.000000000000001% of your word count — $6,300 for 90,000 words. A film book, the whole work performed as cinema, is 12% — $10,800 for the same manuscript, and the matching audio edition rides with it.

Voices are 1% of the word count for every 2 voices, sound effects the same rate for every 5 effects, and a chosen, cut and mixed score is a flat $1,500.

An ISBN, a launch campaign and paid advertising are all optional. None of them rescue a book the reader does not want.

What a printed copy costs you

Print on demand charges per copy out of the sale price, not up front. You never hold stock and never pay for a print run unless you want copies in your own hands.

Hardcover costs more per unit than paperback and sells at a higher price; the margin is usually similar.

Asked and answered

Can I publish a book for free?

You can upload and distribute for free. You cannot get editing, a cover or a narrated edition for free, and readers notice which of those were skipped.

What is the biggest hidden cost?

Your own time. Formatting, uploading, metadata and marketing consume more hours than most authors budget for.

How much does the audio edition add?

7.000000000000001% of your word count here — $6,300 for a 90,000-word novel, before voices, effects or score.