How much should you be budgeting for nice book covers, professional editing and proofreading?
Here are some guidelines taken from The Society of Authors and the Freelance Fees Guide:
Paying someone to do a simple proofread will only eliminate the spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. Work with a proofreading rate of about 10 pages per hour with
approx 300 words per page.
A copy-editor will spot weaknesses in your style, factual mistakes and inconsistencies. Work with an editing rate of about 4 to 6 pages per hour with approx 300 words per page.
The below prices are starting points for negotiating rates depending on your needs.
Say you have a 300 page manuscript. Your budget for proofreading would be 300 pages / 10 pages per hour = 30 hours x £21 = £630
Your budget for copy editing would be 300 pages / 5 pages per hour = 60 hours x £24 = £1,440
Then you need £400 to £500 for a jacket cover design...
A budget of £2,500 wouldn't be far off...
And not forgetting a few optional extras like book formatting and some basic membership to Author services to help with marketing the book on SEO services and social media platforms... let's say another £500.
I have to admit when you write the numbers down and process them, it's a little scary!
If you're feeling quirky and creative (oh, and broke!), check out the following crowdfunding websites for financing your self publishing endeavours:
www.kickstarter.com
www.pubslush.com
www.indiegogo.com
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