Writing a story is difficult; still, so many accomplish this daunting task by trying hard.
However, where story writing is easy to resolve, its next step presents another hurdle: publishing.
Nowadays, making and publishing a novel proves hard because it is a costly process.
From developing the story to deciding its availability and conducting marketing, each step presents another cost.
However, these intimidating statements are in no way a reason to give up on writing stories.
If you’re passionate about publishing a book one day, we’re here to help.
This article lists steps you can take to make a book on a low budget:
Make a Clear Plan
One thing to know about book writing; it can go extremely off-track if not managed properly.
When a costly process goes off-track, it ends up taking more time and resources.
Mapping a precise process from the beginning helps you avoid distractions.
Determine your project goals, narrow down to a genre and narrative, and map out a structure: all these steps give you a precise direction to follow all the way.
Most importantly, knowing the genre and audience helps finalize and make cost-effective decisions because your answers are focused on a range of themes and reader expectations.
Therefore, having a strategy prevents you from wandering into possibilities that exhaust resources.
Hire Affordable Ghostwriting Services
Contrary to common belief, hiring a ghostwriting service isn’t a useless expense; the key is finding affordable ghostwriting services.
The expertise of ghostwriters covers the entire process of writing, proofreading, and editing; some organizations also guide clients through publishing.
By using affordable ghostwriting services, you cover half the process of making a book, only needing to worry about publishing and marketing.
Where you might lack a sense of expenses in the writing process, the ghostwriting service has experience working in the field and could help you manage your budget adequately.
Most importantly, you get an error-free, high-quality copy of your work at an amazing price!
Editing Yourself
Another way to save expenditure is by editing yourself.
Editing is a crucial step as it ensures your manuscript has no grammatical errors, misspellings, or wrong structure.
Removing the step is not a wise decision.
To include editing without having an extra expense, it is advised to use low-cost and free editing software to review the work for grammatical errors.
If you require feedback, reach out to close friends, family, and acquaintances; they can provide you with constructive criticism at a low price or free of cost.
This way, you do not need to compromise on your work’s quality to save money.
Design the Book Cover
Don’t judge a book by its cover is a popular quote; sadly, its teaching applies to everything but book covers.
Readers look well and hard at book covers before deciding to purchase the novel; good cover design is essential.
Hiring an illustrator or service for book cover design produces an additional cost as it involves seeking external help. To reduce the cost, you can design the cover yourself.
Designing may seem like a daunting task, especially when you have no experience. However, today you can find plenty of online software that makes designing easier.
By using online tutorials and design software, you can illustrate a captivating book cover for your story.
Most importantly, a book cover by the writer makes the novel unique and adds a compelling layer of personalization to the project; everything about the book is a signature to you.
Use Affordable Publishing Options
The evolution of the publishing industry has allowed for its steady and vast growth.
As the industry is present on a large scale, you will find a range of publishing houses.
Having multiple options makes it easy to find an affordable publishing house; they get your work published just like any other company but at a very reasonable rate.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is one great example of such a company; using this or similar options saves you from spending on upfront costs.
ISBN and Copyright
A novel’s protection and recognition are as important as its creation.
After putting days, months, or even years into a book, copyright secures the work under your name.
Although all books get copyrighted upon their completion, taking an extra measure to secure the work results in long-term protection.
Therefore, if you’re on a low budget and deciding on your priorities, it is suggested to keep registration with a national copyright office on the list.
Where safety is a priority, you also want to ensure your book is identifiable.
ISBN stands for “International Standard Book Number”; the value makes your novel easy to find and manage in a plethora of worldwide publishing.
Luckily, many publishing platforms provide free ISBNs, which you can find and use for your work.
Consider e-Books
Printing and shipping are costly; the former proves expensive because thousands of pages and illustrations need to be physically created. The latter is expensive because shipping worldwide requires time and labor.
If you’re scared of approaching eBooks due to sales, it is important to note that the majority prefer things online; from buying groceries to investing in NFTs, everything is on the internet now.
The best thing about eBooks is they save you from covering the cost of printing thousands of copies and papers or needing to pay for paperback and hardcover editions.
- Pocket-Friendly Marketing Tactics
One thing to know is that marketing does not need to be over the top to make people buy your book; it just needs to be convincing.
Social media and email marketing are two tools that are free of cost; both allow you to advertise your work, and all you need is a compelling strategy.
As digital platforms receive immense traffic, using these tools also guarantees outreach to a large audience.
To Conclude
The expense of bookmaking can make one hesitate, but with options such as free ISBNs, affordable ghostwriting services, email marketing, etc., you have a fair shot at accomplishing the task on a low budget.