Still Thinking of Publishing A Book?

I appreciate Marilene Evans' contribution to this topic.

In an earlier article, I explained why a writer should take a deep breath before contracting with a do-it-yourself publisher if the writer's objective is to make money.

In sum, I said editorial service will cost about $5,000 and marketing will be about the same (could be more, could be less depending on the size of the book and the services authorized).  Even with a royalty of $4 per book, a writer must sell 250 books just to recover his/her investment of $10,000, let alone make a profit.  How often does that happen?  Within a flea's eyelash of never.

Some publishers make a big thing out of "you keep 100% of royalties."  They are able to say that because they make their money by providing editorial and marketing services, which are often overpriced.  Royalty income is a non-issue.  What does that tell you about how many people they think will buy your book?  Never mind that they keep telling you about your book's "great potential."

This leads to a "moment of truth" point.  All of the risk is on the writer; the publisher has no "skin" in the transaction.  He is on the way to the bank the moment a writer contracts for his (or her) services.

Publish a book as a money-making venture using a D-I-Y publisher?  Forget it, not unless you were a fly on the wall on the wedding night of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and you plan to write a full report.