In the first post of this series, I analyzed an indie publishing cost path that included expenditures for marketing, research, a paperback format, and an eBook format. Today I will look at two additional cost paths. The first will calculate the cost of publishing both physical and electronic formats, but will significantly pare down expenditures that do not directly produce book deliverables. The second cost path will calculate the cost to publish only in electronic formats. All of the calculations will use the same assumptions given in Part I.
Analysis: Barebones POD + eBook
This path focuses on the book itself. No money is spent on research materials. The marketing expenses have been cut until they, too, are almost non-existent.
Here is the chart for all expenditures:
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Here are the expenditures broken down by type and shown as percentages of the total cost:
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Total Cost: $1431.18.
This is less than half of what was calculated for the ‘All In’ cost path. The percentage of money going towards book deliverables has shot from 48% to 77% of the total cost! For a grand and a half, the enterprising indie can bring a book to both the POD and ebook markets!
Analysis: eBook Only
If the price of entry for a barebones POD + eBook is still too high, but the indie is determined to get their book out Now!, the next thing that can be cut is the POD. In this cost path, I examine the cost of producing only an eBook. All other expenses have been eliminated.
Here is the chart for all eBook only expenditures:
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And here is the chart with eBook expenses broken down by type:
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Total Cost: $1,260
The budget is cut to the bone! This path is almost three times less expensive than the ‘all in’ path, yet the total amount saved by not offering a POD is only $200. The percentage of money going directly towards book deliverables is 87% and indicates that financial barriers to enter the indie publishing market need not be prohibitive.
This analysis all begs the question: What types of works sell best in which formats? How have I used budget analysis plus market trends to help me make publishing decisions? To find out, check back soon for the third post in this series!
Aniko Carmean 
Great, easy to understand, cost analysis! I didn’t know that indie publishing was so affordable. Looking forward to Part III of the series!
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I spend less than $250 to bring my book to market through LSI and Amazon Kindle. If I pay an artist to create a cover, the price goes up to maybe $750 or less than $1,000.
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I forgot to mention that if you use Smashwords free format guide for an E-book, the E-book costs nothing to publish on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle unless the author has to pay an artist to do the cover and then that is the only expense.
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Lloyd, hi –
Thanks for commenting! I am just getting started with the whole independent publishing thing and appreciate any information from more experienced author-publishers. Your numbers give me hope that I can publish and continue to eat, which is a good thing!
Do you get an equal or proportionally higher return on investment for the books where you spend more on the initial investment versus less? Also, do you include copy edit and/or proofing costs in your total expenditures? Have you enjoyed your experiences with independent publishing?
Thanks for stopping by,
aniko
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