Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
On the other hand, if an editor would take 10 hours to read a book, he'll probably take 20 at least to read AND edit it. At €50 to €60 per hour (which is a normal hourly rate in the Netherlands, for people who do freelance work), each editing pass will cost €1.000 to €1.200.
Assuming you'd need three passes, it'll come down to €3,000-€3,600 to have your book edited. Have a cover designed... which can take another 20 hours... and you'll be looking at roughly €4,500 or so to have your first book self-published.
If you're not using software that can generate e-books automatically and you need to have it created, add another €500-1,500 or so.
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Where are you, again? I need in
that market.
Quote:
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I can imagine that people forgo editing and use a stock photo and free font for a cover. I don't say it's good, or even enough, but I can understand it.
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What matters is the design--not how it gets there, or from whence comes the stock image. I've seen extraordinary covers created with pretty ordinary art.
Vis-a-vis editing:
I know that this won't be a popular opinion, but I don't think lack of funds is an acceptable excuse. Amazon, et al,
are not critique groups, nor writing courses. If a publisher (and that's what a self-publishing author is--a publisher) is going to put a book up for sale, it should be of the same quality as every other book that's up for professional, commercial sale. If that means that someone without money has to suffer through 5 different free critique groups, then so be it.
Once a book leaves the author's hands, and enters the publisher's hands--even if that's the same person--it becomes a commercial product. Nothing more, nothing less. No matter how much "sweat, heart, emotion" etc., was put into it, now
it's just a product. A product that has to compete with all the others.
I mean, think of it this way: we've all heard authors say, "oh, I'll pay for an editor once I have some sales, and have the money to do it." Authors are providing an entertainment service, essentially, (or a knowledge service, take your pick), are they not? How would those self-same authors feel if I returned an "mostly done" ebook to them, and told them I'd hire a competent bookmaker when I could afford it? Do you really think that they'd be okay with that?
I don't.
Books, bookmakers, vacuums, blow-dryers: they're
products. The idea that "it's good enough"
isn't good enough.
I truly don't understand that mindset--that it's "okay" to put up something that's less than Random House, or Ballantine, because they're "self-published" and don't have the money.
Who does that serve? All that behavior does is reinforce the whole "self-published ghetto" idea, that Indypubs are the third-tier of books, behind trade pub bestsellers, and behind their midlists. I know it doesn't serve the reading public, and I don't see how it helps self-pubbed authors.
It's not out of reach for writers to find critique groups, beta readers, etc. Yes, it's a lot of work to do the labor of proofing, critiquing, and beta-reading other people's books, to "earn" their own critiques. But this short-cutting that happens today...the whole idea that what used to be a 10,000 hour writing career can be recreated in a month or two of writing--it doesn't work. We all see the dreck on Amazon, Smashwords, etc. But money alone isn't the answer: putting in the time and the work is the answer, if they don't have money. At least then, there's a reasonable chance that the book won't be rife with typos, if naught else.
Just my $.02. But seriously, folks: authors are selling a
product. Just like every
other small business in the world. Like every
other entrepreneur. while I'm sure it feels unique to the people writing them, the end result isn't: it's just another product for sale by another entrepreneur. And unless they'd expect to buy less-than-perfect stuff from a small business, with their excuse that they don't have the funds to do it right...then they can't expect that to be a viable excuse for a publisher.
Hitch