cover design

What’s An Author to Do?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

So, self-publishers, you have written your book and have had all of the creative “fun” in doing so. Then, the real work begins—the cover design, the formatting, the back cover matter, the e-pubs and so on.

And, it’s not just the hours of work involved, it is also EXPENSIVE.

What’s an author to do?

Well, I want to give a shout out to Dave Chesson of Kindleprenaur who has developed two TOOLS that will put you back in the driver’s seat:

Publisher Rocket and Atticus Formatting.

I won’t attempt to explain these two helps, here. I will just say that for the money, they are excellent. Dave has MANY, MANY tutorials on these two and on a number of other topics that benefit authors.

You’ll want to check these out!!!

The Going Rates

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I recently had a request to ghostwrite a memoir. While I was considering the offer, I checked to see the going rate for such an endeavor.

You might find it interesting that ghost-writing rates vary. For 2023, they were between $12K to $42K for biographies and memoirs; $1,500 to $5K for children’s picture books; $6,500 to $26K for action and adventure—all of which depend on genre and expertise of the writer.

If you need a writer, you must decide if you want to self-publish your book or go through a traditional publisher.

If you self-publish your book, you must pay the cost of a ghostwriter whereas a traditional publisher might cover that fee for you.

Remember, there are other costs involved in publishing, such as transcription, editing, interview-related activities such as travel and legal agreements. Cover design, formatting, and a host of other fees will typically apply.

If you have knowledge that will help others or an interesting story to tell—and if you lack the writing skills necessary to do your own work, hiring a ghost-writer just may be the way to go.

If your budget allows, that is.