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More CEOs are deciding to invest resources in becoming published authors today than ever before. For many, the desire to position themselves as thought leaders, to create a marketing asset, or to leave a legacy is driving this interest.
If you’re exploring authorship, understand that a book is a strategic business investment that can transform your personal brand, establish you as a thought leader, and spark new business opportunities. However, this investment can be significant.
Many aspiring authors underestimate what it takes to produce a well-written and produced book that enhances their reputation and brand.
There are several steps involved in writing, editing, producing, printing, and marketing a book, each with a wide range of potential fees. While being frugal is always smart, be sure that you’re not scrimping in areas that will have a direct impact on the quality and appearance of your book.
Book Writing and Editing Costs ($32,000-150,000)
Most entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, and subject matter experts are very capable of writing their own books. They’re smart, articulate, and have deep insights.
That doesn’t mean that they want to spend their time writing, however. Some business leaders don’t enjoy writing. They can do it, but they’d much rather be doing something else.
Others are so busy that they can’t carve out time on their own. But when they have an appointment with someone who is being paid to work alongside them to write it — such as a ghostwriter — the book gets done.
Hiring an experienced ghostwriter can range anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000 or more. The higher the fee, the more books you can expect the ghostwriter to have written. Higher-priced ghosts often have bestsellers and/or awards to their name.
Also, the more you spend on a ghostwriter, the less you’re likely to have to spend on an editor later. After your manuscript is drafted, it is smart to pay an editor to revise and polish it. Most publishers will include at least one round of editing as part of their process, so it’s possible you won’t have to pay extra. However, if your publisher is not planning to do that, you should.
Various levels of editing, from developmental to copy to line editing, can range anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000, depending on how much work is required. On top of that, a round of proofreading is also a good idea, to be sure that what you expect to be on the page is there and that previous corrections have been addressed. It’s a last check before layout.
Production Costs ($0-8,000)
Traditional publishers cover all production and printing costs, so if you’re working with a major publishing house, your cost for this is $0 unless you make last-minute changes that drive costs up unexpectedly.
Hybrid and independent publishers will charge you for all of the work required to turn your manuscript into a book. This can include:
- Design of your cover
- Interior page formatting
- ISBN registration
- Copyright registration
- Index
- Beta readers
- Formatting and uploading the e-book to Amazon
This stage is essential. Don’t opt to release your book only as an e-book if you plan to do any public speaking or you want to use your book as a marketing tool. Sure, you’ll save on printing costs with a digital release, but you’ll blow your chance of generating word of mouth with prospects.
You want a printed book.
Printing Costs ($10,000-25,000)
The cost to print your books will vary widely, depending on the trim size (size of your book), number of illustrations, whether you have any four-color printing, and quantity.
Setting up an offset printing press to produce even a small quantity of books has a fixed cost, so once the press is running, you’d be smart to print as many as you think you’ll need in the first year. Yes, you can print more if you run out, but you’ll pay that set-up fee again, which is hefty.
Your cost per book declines the more you print at one time, however, you don’t want to overestimate and tie up thousands of dollars in cases and cases of books you have to store in your basement.
Talk with your publisher about a reasonable first-run quantity. I would guess it would be in the 2,000-5,000 copy range, unless you have upcoming speaking gigs that will get you in front of thousands of people.
Keep in mind that as books start to sell, there may be distribution expenses. Hybrid publishers, for example, typically take 15% of sales, just like a literary agent would. If you use a fulfillment house to ship out copies, there may be a storage and handling fee as well.
This all assumes offset printing.
Another printing technology is print on demand (POD), which looks and feels like a photocopier. Offset printing is generally considered superior because the ink is darker and higher contrast on the page, which makes it easier to read. The big benefit of POD is that you can print books as they sell, rather than having to guess how many copies you may need.
Marketing and Launch Plan ($10,000-50,000)
Unless you already have a marketing and public relations (PR) team working on your behalf to promote your personal brand, you should consider investing in marketing support for your book.
Contrary to what some authors think initially, no publisher will market your book. Even traditional publishers today are relying on you to promote your book.
For that reason, it’s up to you to identify marketing professionals who can help raise your visibility and identify opportunities for you to increase awareness of you and your book. But the work to do that begins before your book is released.
You can hire a branding firm, marketing agency, or PR firm to work with you or you can explore whether your hybrid publisher can provide such services — many can and do.
Your marketing team can assist in creating social media accounts, designing and scheduling online ads, scheduling book launch events, exploring podcast and speaking gigs, as well as broadcast and news opportunities.
One thing to keep in mind is that marketing and PR activities need a runway of several months. You can’t flip a switch and expect media coverage to happen overnight. It doesn’t. So expect to pay for at least 3-6 months of marketing support, if not more.
All in all, you should expect to spend at least $50,000, at the low end, to write and produce your book. You’ll get an early career ghostwriter, a POD printer, and limited marketing support at that level of investment.
Many CEOs spend much more than this, however.
The investment in publishing a book increases when you opt for an experienced ghostwriter, a turnkey hybrid publisher, and a robust marketing program. But the upside potential is also much bigger when you do that, potentially resulting in media coverage, new business opportunities, speaking gigs, consulting engagements, adjunct teaching invitations, and more, on top of book sales that you make to your fans and community of supporters.
Successful CEO authors view publishing not as an expense but as a strategic investment in their personal brand and their company’s thought leadership positioning.
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