How Much Does it Cost to Publish a Book?

I’ve worked in traditional book publishing for nearly 20 years, and a statement I hear all the time is that “books don’t make you any money.”

So: this can be true, especially if and when you choose to self-publish because the money to produce the book is paid upfront by the author. In that model, you only make money when and if you earn those costs back. So — let’s say you paid $10,000 to self-publish and your book is $10. You would need to sell 1,000 books to make any money.

In traditional publishing, the math works the same way except that the publisher pays you an advance on earnings — basically money that the publisher expects to recoup after the book is published and sold. Let’s use the same math as before — you got paid a $10,000 advance (for what it’s worth, my clients earn at least 10x that) and your book is $10. You would have to sell 1,000 copies again before making any money — but instead of getting 100% of the profits, you’d likely get a small percentage — 15% or less — as a royalty from the publisher.

That might seem unfair, but in traditional publishing, the publisher is taking the risk of loss — whereas in self-publishing you are. But let’s talk about where the money really is because it’s not in the sale of the book.