The Cost of Self-Publishing in India
The cost of self-publishing can be divided into three stages of financial investment - pre-publishing costs, publishing costs, and post-publication costs. The first one includes the costs related to editing and designing. One can cover these costs by themselves if it falls under their expertise. However, it is recommended that this service is availed as it is better to let a professional deal with two of the most important aspects of a book- its content and looks. People do indeed judge a book by its cover. Therefore, the book needs to have well-organised texts and proper interior and cover designing. The content of the book should not have any mistakes. In the case of texts of books, the most common errors are unnoticed typing errors or small grammatical and spelling errors which are left unnoticed by the author’s eyes but visible to the audience. These leave a bad impression upon the reader. The publishing costs encompass the cost of ISBN, Copyright, and printing costs. The printing cost varies according to the specifications of publishing chosen by the author. Glossy pages, colour interior are costlier than matte pages and blank and white interior. Similarly, the trim size of the book and the number of pages also contribute to the printing cost of books. The range of options made available to the author by good print-on-demand publishing companies makes it easier to trim down and budget the publication costs. Post-publication costs include distribution, book promotions, and marketing. The cost of distribution depends upon whether the author wants international or national distribution. Also, the books that are sold by the author in events or personal website need to be bought from the publishers as author copies and resold.
At White Falcon Publishing, different guided and unguided self-publishing packages are available ranging from Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 76,990.
From the Director’s desk
Navsangeet Kaur