Self Publishing prices

How much does it cost to publish a book in the UK?

Every book is different, and each author’s needs vary. This is why we offer a personalised approach for all the books we publish. Some authors need help specifically with designing the book to make it look highly professional and attractive; others want guidance with the content and ensuring it is error-free; whilst some are more concerned with how their book is marketed and distributed. You might want a hardback book, or softback. Maybe you want to publish an ebook. Or, perhaps you want to publish an audiobook. You might want colour images, or black text only. Some authors request a full book edit, print on demand or a run of 1,000 initial copies.

We can help with all of that and more, but as you can see, each book project we work on is unique, and so the price can vary. Nevertheless, with this in mind, below is an example of what might be included for a typical spend of around £1500 by one of our authors.

Example prices:

1. Pre-press (Getting your book print-ready)

  • Typesetting and page design
  • Cover design
  • ISBN number
  • Barcode
  • Print-ready files

2. Distribution We can make your book available on online bookstores (including Amazon and Waterstones). We can submit your book to Nielsen and make it available to the whole book market.  

3. Printing If you go for the print-on-demand option the prices are per book, and customers can order as little as a single copy. Print on demand is a technological revolution in book printing which literally allows a single book to be printed when ordered by a customer. This keeps your costs down. Printing one copy of a 250-page softback book will cost around £3.50, so anything you charge above that (factoring in percentage to booksellers), will go to you. Or, you could opt to have an initial print run of several hundred copies to help launch your book, in which case we are happy to quote on an individual basis.

Ebooks are an alternative or complementary approach to getting your book published. To convert your manuscript to ebook format, and to distribute to the leading online bookstore (Amazon/Kindle) we typically charge an additional £500.

Note: these prices are indicative only. The above costs don’t include book proofreading, which we strongly recommend for all books (typically this is around £10 per 1,000 words, but varies depending on writing quality). There are also book marketing services we offer including PR, posters, flyers and advertising opportunities. Prices for these vary depending on the nature of the book.

Why publish your book with us?

We believe we offer the best value in book self-publishing. We offer a personal, tailored service with competitive prices. The books we publish are usually the same quality as seen in books produced by the largest publishing houses and are a million miles from the typical self-published books that are so often produced via automated services online. We’ve had books stocked in Waterstones branches simply on the strength of photos of the finished book – the design and production quality speaks for itself.

Let’s be clear: there are cheaper ways to produce your book, but we don’t aim to compete with automated services which often produce amateurish, low-quality books. Instead, we offer a quality book publishing service for authors and companies who are serious about creating great books. If you would like to create a professional book with a small team of dedicated experts, then we’re here to help you.

How to get started?

The best way is for us to look at your manuscript and discuss with you the right approach for you and your book. Ready to get started? Contact us or call us on 0191 6031660.

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