Publishing Services and Pricing
Jul 1, 2021 7:11:34 GMT -6
Post by ScienceGirl on Jul 1, 2021 7:11:34 GMT -6
I've posted a link to my publishing services flier in my profile, and I'll link it here, too. Not because I want to sell you guys anything. Why, after all, would you pay me to do what I'll do free if you just post it in the critique classroom? And if you ever did, I'd have to come up with some huge LF faithful member discount LOL. But I've disabled the sign-up links because I want to let you see the file and know what reasonable freelance pricing looks like.
I've had so many friends get taken by editors and so-called publishing companies. It's sad, really. People who've paid thousands of dollars and have a basement full of print copies of books they cannot sell. People who felt like their publishing deal would sell books only to find they have little to no marketing support. People who've paid hundreds of dollars for an edit that didn't shape their book up as well as it should have and end up having to pay for a second edit.
Be very wary of anyone who charges an outrageous amount, but also be wary of anyone who charges too little. Sometimes you can get a good $5 chapter edit or a $25 cover design through Fiverr or a site like that, but for the most part if it seems too good to be true, it is. There are a lot of people out there who will take your $5 and give you a little bit of "advice." They can do this because a ton of people give their $5 and collectively it adds up for them. I had a friend who had to redesign her cover because the one she bought actually had a copywritten image. She received a cease and desist letter and had to take her book down from Amazon until she was able to fix it.
Quality freelancers also typically offer packages and discounts for their regular customers. For example, I give my regulars 10% off everything. So even if they get a package discount, I give them 10% in addition to.
Finally, a quality freelancer will give you a contract before charging you for your work. This agreement will outline exactly what services are being offered, and you will verify that it meets your expectation. Same for cover design or formatting. Never get into a deal like this without a contract. And read all the fine print.
There are companies out there like Westbow Press, which is a Christian self-publishing branch of Harper Collins. Their basic package starts at $1299! Crazy! And before you can get them to agree to help with your self-publishing, you have to "meet their editioral standards," which means you'll have to hire an editor independently of that.
Since I've learned to do my own cover design and formatting (LOADS OF LEARNING BEHIND THAT!), I can usually get by with a good professional edit (around $500 for a full-length novel) and have a product that's similar quality to what you get from a source like Westbow. Some people choose to buy their ISBN, but I don't think that really matters anymore. KDP gives you the free one and it's always worked for me. When I was with the small publishing company, they actually used KDP's ISBN numbers, too.
Bottom line is do your homework and research!!!
I've had so many friends get taken by editors and so-called publishing companies. It's sad, really. People who've paid thousands of dollars and have a basement full of print copies of books they cannot sell. People who felt like their publishing deal would sell books only to find they have little to no marketing support. People who've paid hundreds of dollars for an edit that didn't shape their book up as well as it should have and end up having to pay for a second edit.
Be very wary of anyone who charges an outrageous amount, but also be wary of anyone who charges too little. Sometimes you can get a good $5 chapter edit or a $25 cover design through Fiverr or a site like that, but for the most part if it seems too good to be true, it is. There are a lot of people out there who will take your $5 and give you a little bit of "advice." They can do this because a ton of people give their $5 and collectively it adds up for them. I had a friend who had to redesign her cover because the one she bought actually had a copywritten image. She received a cease and desist letter and had to take her book down from Amazon until she was able to fix it.
Quality freelancers also typically offer packages and discounts for their regular customers. For example, I give my regulars 10% off everything. So even if they get a package discount, I give them 10% in addition to.
Finally, a quality freelancer will give you a contract before charging you for your work. This agreement will outline exactly what services are being offered, and you will verify that it meets your expectation. Same for cover design or formatting. Never get into a deal like this without a contract. And read all the fine print.
There are companies out there like Westbow Press, which is a Christian self-publishing branch of Harper Collins. Their basic package starts at $1299! Crazy! And before you can get them to agree to help with your self-publishing, you have to "meet their editioral standards," which means you'll have to hire an editor independently of that.
Since I've learned to do my own cover design and formatting (LOADS OF LEARNING BEHIND THAT!), I can usually get by with a good professional edit (around $500 for a full-length novel) and have a product that's similar quality to what you get from a source like Westbow. Some people choose to buy their ISBN, but I don't think that really matters anymore. KDP gives you the free one and it's always worked for me. When I was with the small publishing company, they actually used KDP's ISBN numbers, too.
Bottom line is do your homework and research!!!
You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
