Publishing a book tends to be very expensive. Most people do not have thousands of dollars to spend on writing, publishing, and marketing a book, so they look for a cheap and convenient way to cover all three. In today’s time, a lack of money is no longer a barrier to book publication. To get a book published today, an author simply needs to invest the time. There are many tips to take into consideration on how to publish a book on a shoestring budget.

There are a few options to produce a book cover if you are on a shoestring budget. At Dreamstime.com it is possible to get a stock photo for your book cover for almost nothing. Sign-up is free, and purchases are made by first buying blocks of credits. You can then choose a photo or artwork that appeals to you and get information about how many credits the specific photo requires for you to purchase it. The site advertises that images can be purchased for as low as $.20.  Fiverr is also a useful resource to create a book cover, and the cost is only $5. Many times, there are book design artists who do not have much professional experience but are looking to build their business. Although many people say you should not judge a book by its cover, many people do in fact judge a book by its cover. For this reason, you should make your book cover as appealing as possible. 

Formatting your book can also be relatively inexpensive if you know of the right resources to use. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer then you can download free formatting guides from Smashwords or Amazon. These guides can teach you how to format e-books on your own rather than paying someone else a substantial amount of money to do the work for you.  Fiverr also has individuals who offer formatting services for $5.  They will format your ebook for submission to various publishing platforms, and for an additional $5 they’ll even upload the files for you. 

Using an editor can be very expensive. For this reason, if you are on a shoestring budget, you should not send your book to an editor. Instead, you should consider using a beta reader. A beta reader could be someone from a writing or reading group. It could be a librarian or it could be another author. It is very useful to use beta readers rather than editors. These people are typically very good at picking up errors in books. They are also much less expensive, as using an editor can cost anywhere from $500-$1200. You can find a beta reader at websites such as worldliterarycafe.com and goodreads.com. Also, if you have connections with any English majors, they can also provide useful feedback.

Publishing a book can be affordable if you know the options that are available to you. These helpful suggestions should be very beneficial if you are contemplating how to publish a book on a budget. Whether you are a new writer or a writing professional, it is possible to publish a book without breaking your bank.

Tanisha Williams is the author of two non-profit e-books “501c3 In 12-Steps” and “Simple Internal Controls That Protect Your Assets”.  Her desire for more interaction with readers was the key inspiration behind the development of her latest business venture ChatEbooks (https://www.chatebooks.com/).  ChatEbooks, launched in October 2014, harnesses the strengths of social media in order to help authors and their readers engage and connect within the context of the selling/reading experience.