Book Cost

How much should a print on ask book cost?

Book cost is significant to your success as an author. If the self-publishing firm you pick charges too much for your book, you will be priced out of the market.

Bookstore

You need to know how to speculate a fair print on ask (Pod) cost for your book. Most Pod printers charge about $.015 per page plus $.90 for the cover for paperback books. Mark Levine, in his book, The Fine Print of Self Publishing, says authors should memorize this formula.

Mark is right. You should not only memorize it, you should pass it on to every author you meet. If every author knew how to speculate the cost of a Pod book, they could put a stop to price gouging.

Self-publishing associates are entitled to charge cheap fees for their services, but they should not increase book costs to the point they can not be sold. Using the recipe that you just memorized, a 150 page book would cost .15 (150 X .015 = 2.25 plus .90 = 3.15) to print.

Add 15 percent aid charge and your book would cost .62. To discover how much you would make, you have to subtract the thorough reduction of 55 percent (15% for the distributor/wholesaler; 40% for the bookseller) and the cost of your book from the retail price of the book.

For example, if you set the retail price of your book at .95, subtract the thorough discount: .95 - 55% = .83; then subtract the cost of your book, .83 - .62 = .21. You would make .21.

But what if your book cost .00. Not unheard of, and some associates charge even more. That is why it is so important to know what your book is going to cost and do the math before you settle on a company.

Look at what happens: .95 - 55% = .83; .83 - .00 = - .17. You just lost .17. And remember, the thorough reduction is a percentage. If you increase the price, the estimate of the reduction also increases. For example, raise the price to .95: .95 - 55% = .63; .63 - .00 = .37. We still lost 37 cents. At .95, you would make 53 cents.

How much is your book worth?

The .00 is a real world figure. So, how do they get away with it? First, they stress how much you will make in their online bookstore. In other words, they act as the bookseller and share their 40 percent with you.

Second, they offer the seeder a short discount. Some publishers are getting discounts as low as 20 percent. Remember, it does not cost anyone to store digital book files and we calculated nearby .15 to print our sample book. Bottom line: You will most likely make a couple of dollars even with outrageously priced books, but be specific with book signings.

A long time ago, I paid .21 each for my books that retailed for .95. I sold 29 copies at my first and last book signing. The bookstore made .98 on each book for a total of 3.42. I made .76 on each book for a total of .04. It was a significant lesson.

Bookstores, of course, will not carry books that only offer a short discount. That is okay. They do not like self-published books anyway. Some self-publishing associates will account for this to you. Some will not.

Book Cost