It’s often an unasked question, implied instead of direct. Many people don’t want to appear crass or rude by talking about something as obscene as money. (Please read that as tongue-in-cheek as it was intended.)
The question is still there, though. “How much do you pay to get published?”
In the early days of the Internet and before, the answer was usually nothing. “Usually” because although vanity presses and self-publishing did exist, it wasn’t as commonplace.
Now, that answer can be very different. There are a lot of things to consider before putting a book out, whether fiction or nonfiction.
An indie author has to consider whether or not they pay for:
- Editing.
- Formatting.
- Cover art.
- PR/Marketing/Advertising.
Depending on how you do things, it can get quite pricey.
Right now, I publish through KDP, part of Amazon. There is no cost to me unless or until I purchase actual print copies of my books. That’s how I prefer it.
That said, I am exploring other self-publishing options. There’s nothing wrong with Amazon, but you know the saying about don’t keep all your eggs in one basket? I’m too much in one basket. A little diversity in publishing options would be a good thing.
What about you? In what way(s) do you need to diversify?
From the beginning, diversification was necessary. I published on KDP and Ingram Spark because Kindle doesn’t support one of my languages. It was a bit of a learning curve with the different formatting expectations on each platform.
As I’ve recently found out, Expanded Distribution with Ingram pays out more (bonus!) and their prices in-store are lower, closer to my goal RRP, so migrating my expanded distribution to Ingram is my next step.
It’s not going to cost anything either, because Ingram is running a Nanowrimo promotion – they have a code to publish and revise books for free. I’ve linked the article so you can read more about it for yourself http://www.ingramspark.com/nanowrimo-2018
Years ago, I participated in a couple of blogging challenges designed for indie writers. I have only the greatest of respect for them, because I can’t imagine doing “everything” on your own – and, of course, many don’t. It’s not as easy as people think, as you point out. Diversity is good – if a service goes out of business or changes, you the consumer are stuck. I respect you for trying to find the best path for yourself.
Most of my books are print-on-demand through Amazon. I would like to make them all Kindles, too, but don’t want to pay to have them kindle-ized. When I tried to do it just using KDP, they didn’t look right, for some reason. Eventually, though, I hope to be able offer Kindle versions of all of my books, and any others I end up writing.