by DianeD

Created on: December 14, 2008

Self-Publishing has been around for years; many renowned authors have self-published their first title. Many authors are proficient at using a publishing program, such as Quark, and simply need to submit the files to a printing company to print and bind the book. However, if an author is not an expert at formatting and cover design, the best bet may be to submit the manuscript to a small, independent publisher and request a price quote. Scams abound on the internet, but there are many ways to avoid getting swindled: check with the ISBN agency to verify that the publisher is registered, request numerous quotes, request book samples of the publisher's work, and surf the web for other authors who have published through the company and send them an email requesting their opinion. Take some precautions, but remember, not all independent publishers are dishonest.

Once a publisher has been hired, there are many options to consider: will the book be dedicated to someone special, will the book include a preface, will the author bio include a photograph, what image(s) will be used on the cover? A good publisher will help with these decisions and recommend many choices.

Pricing quotes to publish a book can vary thousands of dollars between publishers in the self-publishing industry. An author may not "get what they pay for." It is not unusual to see quotes for the same book vary from $1,200.00 for a quantity of 100 books to $5,000.00 for the exact same request. A book under 50 pages (could be a poetry chapbook), staple bound, with a color cover should run approximately $250.00 to $350.00 without printing costs. This would include formatting from a disk or external drive, and the ISBN number, if one was requested. A book over 50 pages, perfect bound, with a color cover, including the ISBN number, and with complete formatting should run approximately $500.00 to $700.00 without printing costs.

Full-color, illustrated children's books are another story. The average page count is 20-40 pages. Each page would have to be scanned and text added to each page. Expect a $500.00 to $800.00 fee without printing costs.

Many authors are able to do much of the formatting themselves and submit a disc or external drive. If not, there will be additional fees to perform these tasks which should be expected. If the author submits only a hard copy of the test, expect to pay $1.25 per page to input the text and edit. Cover design is also generally available at a cost of approximately $100.00; the

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