How Much Does Kindle Publishing Cost in 2018?? - Honest Breakdown

About this video

Sean gives a start-to-finish cost breakdown for publishing a Kindle book with paperback and audiobook versions. Writing yourself costs $0, which he recommends only if you are confident or want to learn writing; otherwise he recommends a ghostwriter. He names two options he has used: a cheaper service at $1.50 per 100 words with inconsistent quality and occasional order closures, and a higher-priced service at $1.99 to $2.89 per 100 words with better quality. For his recommended 15,000-word length, which he says formats to roughly 100 pages and avoids complaints about being too short when it solves a problem directly, that is $225 with the cheaper service and $298.50 to $433.50 with the pricier one. Other costs he lists are a $5 Fiverr cover, $10-$20 for interior conversion to paperback plus $5 for the paperback cover, $5 for an audiobook cover, and audiobook narration. For narration he advises against a 50/50 royalty split if you can afford to pay upfront, citing his rate of $40-$50 per finished hour, or about $60 for a 1.5-hour, 15,000-word book, so you keep all royalties. He puts marketing at roughly $50-$80 per book plus variable Amazon ads spend, which he says should continue only if it returns more than it costs. His totals are $105 if you write it yourself and use a royalty split, and $385 to $598 if you outsource everything. He claims payback usually takes a few months, describes his own early books making $50-$100 a month, and claims his best book made $5,000 in its first month and about $30,000 in a year, presented as his experience. He also recommends taking a course and using KDP Rocket for ad keywords.

Key takeaways

• Budget about $385-$598 per book if fully outsourced for a 15,000-word book, or about $105 if you write it yourself and use a royalty-split audiobook
• Target around 15,000 words / 100+ pages that gets straight to the point rather than a longer, repetitive book padded with fluff
• Ghostwriter price and quality trade off: give a detailed outline and keyword research if using the cheaper service to improve results
• Pay for audiobook narration per finished hour instead of a 50/50 royalty split if you have the money, so you keep all royalties long-term
• Sean claims payback in a few months is typical with a course-guided approach, with stronger books earning back costs in the first one to two months

Episode details: published November 22, 2018 · 14:41 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Sean Dollwet’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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