Self-Publishing Journey: Part 5

Yes, there’s a part 5! Well, there wasn’t going to be, but after my interview on the Twisted Tales Studio Podcast, an interesting question was asked by the audience: How did I do all the math for getting my book published? (Speaking of the interview though, you can still watch the VOD on YouTube!)

Now, if you’re like me, math is a dizzying subject at the best of times. I have a vague understanding of the math I need to function: taxes, budgeting, and baking, ha!

Here’s how I dealt with the math behind my first anthology, Phantasmias. First step? Get an Excel sheet going and list every potential cost.

Fixed Costs

Every book has costs to create it—outside of the author’s time and effort (which I think we often forget to include). I decided that, whether I made Phantasmias just an eBook or a print book, I would cover these costs. One way or another, a book can’t be made without them. For me, that was the book cover and editing. I decided on a full-wrap illustration by Nino Vecia. With editing, I had a copyedit and proofread done. Keep in mind, I was refunded the cost of the interior book design, so that cost was in the budget…but ended up being eaten by the last-minute need to find a proofreader (the CAD/USD exchange rate is rough).

Printing a Physical Copy

Remember, I wanted a silk matte cover, 6”x9” trim size, and antique white paper…all a little on the pricier end and from a local printer. These are just my particular preferences. When I crunched the numbers back in Part 2 while trying to find a printer though, I didn’t find Amazon or similar places worth the costs for the quality (for a Canadian especially, everything is in USD). I also managed to get a pick-up option in my area instead of having the books shipped to me (another perk of going local). Now, ignoring the fuss I had with the printer that cost me time, they were fairly accurate with their quoted estimate (including their overage fees).

Kickstarter Costs

I wanted at least a few rewards to go with the various Kickstarter tiers: art prints, bookmarks (including commissioned artwork), and pins. Granted, I’d made enamel pins prior to the Kickstarter, so I didn’t need to pay for the design or the set up fee since I stuck with the same company. Much like the printer, I researched a pile of places and made a list of their quotes per unit.

Keep in mind Kickstarter fees! Between Kickstarter’s cut and payment processing, assume 10% of whatever you make will be taken by Kickstarter.

Packaging and Distribution

So, the first half of this is simple, packaging. I knew I would be printing 250 books and most packaging is sold in units of 50 or 100 (from uline.ca). Even before I knew how many books I’d print, I wrote what it would cost to get 50 to 300 mailers. However, there were other things I hadn’t completely considered like printer ink, adhesive shipping labels, and exactly how much tape I’d need to use. Now, the bogus paper I chose to wrap the books in came in a roll, and I have a fair bit left over. Likewise, the cardboard mailers came in packs of 100. Well, in short, I have leftover for the remaining books and then some.

The most troubling math I had to deal with was trying to guess my shipping costs. This, for me, was brutal. I had to consider how many Kickstarter backers would be from Canada, the United States, the European Union (within Chit Chats definition), or international…and then calculate the average shipping rate. I then had to weight each average. If you’ve ever tried to figured out your marks in school (when X project is worth X% of your mark), it’s a bit like that.

So, step by step, here’s what I did.

Research shipping costs. I went through Chit Chats and, using their calculator, I plugged in two or three places furthest from me and closest to me: So, for Canadian shipping, I documented the estimate for every province in relation to where I am. For the US, I picked two or three cities in locations north, south, east, and west of me. Chit Chats has (or had when I used them) a contract with a carrier to go directly from their warehouses to most EU countries, so I documented each of those. The “rest of the world” shipping was interesting. Again, I picked two or three cities in a region I hadn’t already looked at. Keep in mind, while Kickstarter limits you to countries for shipping, some post-campaign services are more specific…do yourself the favour and estimate on the higher end to save yourself coming up short later.

Average those estimated costs. Now, with all those estimates, I averaged out the cost of shipping by region and gave myself room for any issues. Note: These are not the shipping charges I used for Kickstarter pledges! These are the estimates I made based on how many people I thought would pledge. I even weighted the Canadian average because I figured most people who pledged would know me or be in the same province (and it’s cheaper to ship within the city then further out).

In my initial calculations, my estimates came out to $15 (CA), $20 (US), $35 (EU), and $40 (rest of the world). I then used those numbers to get a total based on 50, 100, 200, and 300 books. It looked a little like this:

	1	50	100	200	300
Canada	$15	$750	$1,500	$3,000	$4,500
US	$20	$1,000	$2,000	$4,000	$6,000
EU	$30	$1,750	$3,500	$7,000	$10,500
International	$35	$2,000	$4,000	$8,000	$12,000

My assumption was that my backers would be 50% from Canada, 30% from the United States, 10% from the EU, and 10% from the rest of the world. That meant the Excel formula looked like this for a single book: =(0.5*15)+(0.3*20)+(0.1*35)+(0.1*40).

Thanks to Excel, I could do the same for each unit amount:

• For one book, the weighted average was $21.00 (for perspective, without weighting the averages, it’d be $27.50).

• For 50 books, $1,050.

• For 100 books, $2,100.

• For 200 books, $4,200.

• For 300 books, $6,300.

Now, again, I assumed I’d get between 50 to 100 backers who’d want a physical copy of the book (and need shipping). I wanted to be cautious, so I assumed (crossed my fingers) the Kickstarter would do really well and I’d need to ship 100 books, so I planned for $2,100 to be spent on shipping.

Keep in mind, I started researching a year before I actually went live with my Kickstarter project. When I redid the shipping averages, I found I could shave a few dollars from those prices. Using Excel, I could easily just plug in those new “single unit” prices and all my calculations updated.

All of this math was worth it though. I broke about even for shipping with a small reserve left over for any damages, losses, or backers who still haven’t given me their addresses (expect that as well, things change in the time a project is produced and shipped).

Bottom Line

So, for full transparency, here’s how the Phantasmias Kickstarter summed up: Total Funds ($7,549.29) - Total Costs ($6,298.34) = Total Revenue ($1,250.95).

Whether you plan to produce only eBooks or print books, your fixed costs will include writing, cover art/design, editing (at least a proofread), and formatting (even if just your time and effort).

For print books, your variable costs—dependent entirely on how many books you need printed—will include the cost of printing and shipping the books to you and from you, plus packaging (mailers, tape, labels, printer ink). Even if you’re using a print-on-demand service, they can usually provide you with a unit cost.

Kickstarter fees include what backers pay for shipping because that’s added to your total goal, that’s if you include it and don’t use a backer service to collect shipping after the campaign.

I’m thrilled that I actually made some money on this project…because I can tell you half of that has already gone to the narrator to get him started on the Phantasmias audiobook and the other half is reserved for the fixed costs of my next book! That’s really my goal is to have each project feed into the next (if I can be so lucky).

Missed the Kickstarter? You can still get a copy of Phantasmias from the ScribeCat.ca store!