How much does it cost to publish a book in India?

The cost of publishing varies according to your publishing requirements! If you want to publish a book, you can either opt for traditional publishing or decide to publish through a self-publishing company. While a traditional publisher will have their own methods and often non-negotiable set of requirements to approach the task of publishing, self-publishing will typically offer you flexibility in services and greater accommodation about what the book will cost you.

The process of publishing requires that a book goes through the pre-publishing and post-publishing stages. The pre-publishing stage involves editing, designing the cover and the layout of the book. The process of editing in itself involves three stages – simple copy editing, proof reading, and structural editing. Depending on your needs, you can opt for simple editing, which will make sure that there are no basic errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation, there is consistency in the plot and the content is polished. Proof reading will rid the book of any obvious grammatical errors and punctuation flaws. If you choose to go for structural editing, your plot will also be examined for any loopholes in its structure, and critical suggestions will be made regarding the development of the characters and the plot as a whole. For a flawless book, it is essential that the manuscript goes through a round of simple editing and proofreading. And in case you do not feel confident about certain parts of the plot or the structure of the novel, you could go for structural editing and seek crucial advice from the editor. A stray punctuation or grammar gone wrong can change the meaning of an otherwise well-written plot. Hence a well-edited book is bound to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

The next step in pre-publishing would be designing the cover of the book, deciding on the title, the text to be placed on the cover and where and the images and colour that will best suit the book and many minor decisions. Depending on the customization of the cover, the cost will vary. Lastly, the formatting or designing of the book is done to ensure that your book is laid out in an acceptable format, making it appealing to the reader. At this stage, you could add illustrations, artwork, graphs, maps, or other infographics to enhance the content of the book. The more additions you choose to make this will add to your cost of publishing.

As part of the post-publishing stage, the printing, marketing and sales and distribution of the book are taken care of. At the printing stage, the writer will have to pay according to the number of copies the writer wants to get published and also the quality of the paper used for the interior as well as the cover of the book. Then comes the essential part of availing marketing and promotional assistance from the publisher. The range of marketing services include guidance, dedicated author’s page, website, online press release, email marketing, book reviews, brochures, visiting cards and a basic promotional video and more. It is entirely up to the unique requirements of the author that all or a combination of these services are employed. Finally, the distribution services offered for the book requires the author to choose between domestic or international distribution. While most of these books will be available for online purhase, the author can also opt for distribution via brick and mortar stores as an add-on service. The cost of publishing will vary depending on the speed and the quality of services requested by the author.

Many publishers will make the cost of publishing cheaper and easier for an author by formulating effective packages for authors to choose from.

As a self-published author, you either go through all the steps involved, to publish a book yourself or take help from a professional self-publishing company, like Zorba Books.