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This week TB has good and bad news. The good: she sent off the Lizzie book to be proofread and started outlining her next two books, including one that’s a cowrite with Miranda MacLeod. The bad: she had a truly horrible, hellacious, hate-her-job day when one of her programs had a bug and she couldn’t complete a task she’s done hundreds of times.
Clare had a productive writing retreat that didn’t involve a lot of writing. Instead, she began relearning AMS ads (one of her year’s goals), sent off a book to the editor, plotted out every single week of 2020 (please no one sneeze or cough anywhere near Clare because she wants to publish four books this year), and outlined and started writing her Xmas book. All of this is great, but the high point may be eating custard creams. They make Clare extremely happy.
The duo turns to a popular question: how much does it cost to launch a book? This is a tricky one to answer because it can cost as much as you’re willing to spend. They breakdown what they typically pay for their books, including fees for editing, covers, advertising, typesetting (if you go that route), and formatting ebooks. That’s not all, though, since there are monthly expenses that many overlook. Those include: mailing lists, graphics, BookFunnel, and most importantly, your time. Basically, you can pay loads more or less, depending on what works for you and your budget.
Resources mentioned:
BookFunnel: bookfunnel.com
Vellum: vellum.pub
Bookbrush: bookbrush.com
PicMonkey: www.picmonkey.com
Have you launched a book? Head over to www.lesbianswhowrite.com, and leave a comment on the episode. Or you can email them at: lesbianswhowrite@gmail.com.
Stop back next week for a hilarious discussion about writing books in a series, something they both know a thing or two about.
Happy listening!
Clare and TB
Follow-up questions on cover design: do your cover designers always do the whole thing, title and other typography included? Have you ever used an illustrator to do the cover image(s) and a separate graphic designer for all the rest?
Great questions, Miira!
I’ll put Clare on the spot during the next recording.
Cheers!
TB
Great episode. As I’m in the process of a relaunch/rebrand as an Indie, it is useful to see some comparisons of costs and so on.
Great job.
Looking forward to the series episode too, as a writer of one series, with another to come, that will be very interesting too.
Hi Nita!
I’m so glad to hear the episode was helpful and best of luck going indie. I love being my own boss. It can be stressful, but it’s also rewarding and flexible.
Thanks so much for listening!
TB