Money is a blind. That's all there is to it. Aspiring writers always ask about money, in different ways (How much does it cost to publish? How much will I make from royalties? But they can't see past that issue to think about what will really decide the money question. And this is it:
What Do You Want Your Book to Do for You?
That's really the question! Once you know what you want from the publishing process, you can choose the path that will bring you the most happiness and money. At the end of the day, you can spend as much or as little on your book as you want. But how much are you willing to pay to get what you want?
When you don't know what you want, you might make bad decisions that don't help you reach your goals. For example, many writers want to make a lot of money, but they won't think about self-publishing. If you can't sell right away like an Oprah's Book Club pick, a James Patterson book, or a Dan Brown book, it will take a very long time for your royalties to add up to much. You take a risk when you self-publish, but you stand to gain much more because you get to keep all the money (unless your agreement with the publishing company you use is a royalties-based one).
You can use your first book to build a platform for a bigger deal with a traditional publishing house in the future. This is another strong reason to self-publish. Again, you can choose the deal that works best for you. A basic package from a print-on-demand company like Xlibris costs just $500. With this package, you can get your book made and copies made as people order them, so you don't have to keep any stock. When you pay more, you get more, like a better design, better distribution services, and maybe even some help with marketing.
The Road We've Always Taken
If you want a bigger audience and the literary status that comes with being published by Random House, Warner, or Simon & Schuster, that's fine. Just know that this route isn't exactly free either. No, you don't have to pay a traditional publishing house, and yes, they do everything for you (design, distribution, some advertising and marketing), but a writer is expected to spend some money on promoting the book as well. Many writers are even putting the amount they've saved in their book proposals. If you really want to get your book out there, you'll need at least $10,000. Depending on how much travel and other advertising you plan to do, this amount can go as high as $30,000.
Smart money and stupid money
Once you know what you want from your book, not only will you know how much you're willing to spend, but you'll also know how to spend it better. You can either spend it wisely or foolishly. Because they don't know what they want, many writers waste their time. It's smart money to spend money on learning about publishing, getting better at writing, hiring a good editor or book consultant, and marketing that will help you reach your specific, targeted reader. You will get more for those dollars than you would have gotten if you hadn't spent them at all. You are putting money into your career as a writer.
But if you spend money because someone told you, "This is the only way you'll ever get this book published," and you haven't looked into any other options, or if you buy advertising just because that's where other books are advertised, or if you go to writer's conferences without knowing what you want to get out of them, or if you pay agents "reader fees," or if you pay editors whose work you don't know or whose references you haven't checked, that You won't get much or anything back from those dollars.
So I guess the bad news is that it costs money to publish. The good news is that you can choose how much and where you spend your money. Be a knowledgeable consumer as well as a knowledgeable and skilled writer. You'll find that it's still worth a lot to have a book published the way you want it to be published.
