• Acceptable: $2k–$4k • High Quality: $5k–$10k • Best Possible: $15k+ PUBLISHING COST: COPY EDITING Copy editing is easy to find for cheap. The problem is that if you don’t do this right, you will look terrible. When people find bad grammar or misspelled words in your book, they literally think that you are stupid—it’s totally unfair and irrational, but true (think about it, you do it to authors as well). So make sure whoever you use, you pay enough to make sure it’s done. That’s why we recommend at least TWO different copy editors review your work. The prices below reflect only one, so double whatever it is you use. Copyediting costs are highly variable, but these totals below reflect the total for hourly pay for a 35k-word book. • Low Quality: $300 ($20 hour) • Acceptable: $450 ($30 hour) • High Quality: $600 ($40 hour) • Best Possible: $750 ($50 hour) PUBLISHING COST: COPYWRITING This is something that authors often forget about, but it is crucially important to getting people to actually buy the book. A big part of the buying decision for readers is the book description. • Low Quality: $5–$25 • Acceptable: $25–$75 • High Quality: $75–$100 • Best Possible: $150–$300 hOW MUCh DOES iT COST TO SElf-PUBliSh A BOOk? · 335