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GREEN HILL SELF PUBLISHING LOGOTYPE
The cost of self-publishing a book in Australia in a turbulent world.

The cost of self-publishing a book in Australia in a turbulent world.

CONTENTS

Cost of self-publishing a book – how are self-published authors affected?
How is the Australian self-publishing industry faring?
Paper and book printing costs – what does this mean for Australian self-publishing?
Book printing in Asia – does this affect self-publishers in Australia?

Cost of self-publishing a book – how are self-published authors affected?

The COVID pandemic has started to ease. But now it’s war in the Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East and Asia. You might think that as a self-published author in Australia you’ll be unaffected. But that’s not the case. Our present world has impacted on the cost of self-publishing a book.

For example some of our authors that we quoted on book printing 18 months ago, have been surprised that we can’t meet those prices any longer.

Here’s a quick update on where things are at.

How is the Australian self-publishing industry faring?

Self-publishing companies have been hit hard financially. We’ve seen quite a few Australian suppliers leave the industry. A  host of international publishers have disappeared as well.

This might seem tragic, but it has weeded out international book publishing scams and local small operators. Many of these operators – often one-, two- or three-person operations, simply couldn’t provide a full service or quality anyway.

Unfortunately, we’ve been contacted by a few Australian authors who have had their suppliers disappear. This was after they had made some payments. One author had their book design completed but because the publisher had ‘shut up shop’ was left stranded with no print and distribution. Ouch! The lesson is: stick with companies that are here for the long term.

Paper and book printing costs – what does this mean for Australian self-publishing?

Costs of self-publishing a book have been impacted by:

  • Paper – It’s what books are made of. Unfortunately, the price of pulp (and paper) has increased by 20% per annum over the last two years. Whether it is using digital or offset printing  Australian printers have had issues getting Australian made paper.  Papermills in Asia, Europe and the US also reduced their production at the start of the pandemic. Most of Australia’s imported paper comes from Europe. Russia and Ukraine are big exporters of paper products, and the war has upset supplies.
  • Energy prices in Europe have gone up due to the higher cost renewable energy and the disruption of Russian gas supplies to European mills. They’ve started placing a energy surcharge on orders.

Book printing in Asia – does this affect self-publishers in Australia??

Green Hill has a great Asia based book printing solution. This gives authors opportunity to get quality books at a great price. But authors printing a book in Asia, while cheaper, have been impacted by the cost of getting the book to Australia. Freight has added to costs of self-publishing a book.

  • International freight costs increased 350% in the past 12 months. This meant a book order for one of our authors cost Green Hill $2,000 more than our quoted price! That author got a real bargain. In future, we will not be quoting fixed prices on freight, rather the market price at dispatch from the Asian port. As freight prices stabilise and normalise (even reduce) this should not be an issue for our authors who print off-shore.
  • Another factor has been on-time delivery from Asia. Generally this has fallen to just 35% on-time. We’ve worked very hard on this, and our on-time delivery is approximately 90%. We think this is a real win for our authors considering the international situation.
  • The good news is we’ve recently completed negotiations with new Australian and Asian printers and expect to be able to offer some outstanding book printing deals before Christmas. Stay tuned!
The economics of selling your book

The economics of selling your book

It’s the dream for most authors to profit from the sales of their book.

Choosing the self-publishing route may make this seem like a daunting task, but through proper self-marketing and passion for your book it can be achieved.

Self-published authors take control of their sales and can sell their own books themselves. This is called self-selling. If you self-sell, you get the most profit from the sales of your books as you cut out the retailer’s margin. You can self-sell through avenues such as author websites, your personal business, on social media marketplaces, or through author events like launches and readings. Self-published authors can also easily sell through bookstores—both online and brick-and-mortar—by enabling their books for online distribution and pitching to bookstores to stock their books.

On the other hand, traditional book publishing companies will take your book under stringent legal conditions, then print and distribute your work through the industry’s established channels, including retail stores and online outlets. For all your hard work as the author, you might only get a small percentage (royalty) of the retail price.

So, how much more could you be making if you self-publish rather than using a traditional publisher? Have a look at the figures below:

If you get royalties through a traditional publishing deal:

  • Print cost: $4.95
  • Retail price: $14.99
  • Your profit: 74 cents

 

If you self-sell:

  • Print cost: $4.95
  • Retail price: $14.99
  • Your profit: $10.04

There’s a huge difference, as you can see. If you sell 200 copies of your book as a self-published author you can breakeven with your production costs, leaving any extra sales as pure profit.

The key to success when marketing as a self-published author is your network. Personal and author dedicated social media profiles are an excellent place to start. If you are a trainer, public speaker, consultant, or have any sort of profile within your potential readership target, you also have the capability of selling hundreds and hundreds of copies of your book at events, meetings, and seminars.

Green Hill can also help you out with marketing. We can write professional press releases, create stunning graphics, organise reviewers, and give you advice on how to best market your book. If this interests you, head over to our Marketing your book page to read more and get in touch!

Success in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think.

Success in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think.

Photo by Jungwoo Hong on UnsplashSuccess in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think. There are many reasons to write a book, and there are just as many ways to gauge how successful your book is.

Defining success by how many books are sold is a crude measure. ‘Success’ is really whatever the author wants to achieve, and many don’t care about publishing a bestseller or getting rich.

Some authors write and publish books and drive business to their professional practice, using the book as a business card of sorts. One of our authors sold just 392 copies of her book and made over $2,000 in profit directly from those sales. But from those sales she gained three new clients in just the first year of publishing her book. ­Those new clients together spent almost $90,000 annually on services provided by her company.

Book to assist self published authorsEven still, monetary success doesn’t have to be the only form – recognition from peers is just as valid a way to measure the success of your book. Another author we’ve worked with wrote a family history in the weeks following a near-death medical episode. ­The book was launched at a family reunion and received a standing ovation.

Want to read more? This excerpt is rewritten from our Big Book of Little Publishing Tips. Enquire with Green Hill Publishing today and get your copy.