Thoughts on Paying Up Front for Publishing

Normally all of my research focusses on getting into print without up front costs, since most people I work with don't have the money to pay up front. They barely have the money to buy a few sample copies to send out to reviewers. However, it's important to keep this in mind as an option if you DO have a spare few thousand dollars lying around in your bank account.

From Gregory Kompes:
When I first started exploring self publishing I felt the same way as many of our other editors, that it was out of reach to do it right.

My last project had upfront costs (including a little advertising) of about $4400. So, I managed to come in at about 1/3 of what's normal ($10K-15K). I learned how to do professional interior book design and cover design to save myself about $5000.

There are some great advantages to self publishing vs. traditional (agent/publisher) publishing. One of which is the profit potential. I make much more from my self-published books than I do from my bestselling traditionally published book. It's simply the nature of the industry. Of course, I work at writing, publishing, and marketing full time, too.

I have a very good friend who works for Gorham (Kathleen Shaputis). They are a little higher priced than some of the others. They have a nice overview of the printing process on their site though, as well as some sample design templates. Also, they put out a booklet on self publishing that's very well done. If you share your snail mail address with me I'll have Kathleen send you one.

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