📚 What is the cost to self publish a book?

Self-publishing a children's book on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing involves real upfront costs. Deciding whether to DIY your book or hire professional illustrators and formatters changes your financial picture completely. Use this calculator to estimate your total initial expenses and figure out exactly how many months of sales it will take to break even.

These are your essential expenses to legally publish and create your book. Author Harleigh Rose bought 100 ISBNs for $575, though she notes Bowker says that you can buy an ISBN individually for $125 for one ISBN. By taking the DIY route for illustrations and formatting, she spent about $191 on software and training.

Hiring professionals costs significantly more. Author Harleigh Rose estimates the ballpark for illustrators typically is between $500 and $5,000. She also adds you don't need to pay $200 to $500 for formatting services for a children's book, because that is wild. Instead, she paid for Canva Pro, which is $12.99 a month, and that got all her books formatted.

You also face costs for promotional materials and launch hype. Keep this budget near zero at first. Author Harleigh Rose explains that if people see you on social media that you're self-publishing a children's book, they're going to tell you it only costs like $50 per review or like $100 to $200 for a book trailer. She warns right now. You do not need to pay for that crap.

Your expected monthly royalties dictate how long it takes to recover your initial investment. Be realistic about your early sales outcomes. Author Harleigh Rose reveals her grand total for her first month's sales is $63.42, which meant she was in the hole $767.56. Because of this, it took her about a year and a half to make back her money.