Self publishing budgeting and funding

How much should you be budgeting for nice book covers, professional editing and proofreading?

Here are some guidelines taken from The Society of Authors and the Freelance Fees Guide:

Paying someone to do a simple proofread will only eliminate the spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. Work with a proofreading rate of about 10 pages per hour with approx 300 words per page.

A copy-editor will spot weaknesses in your style, factual mistakes and inconsistencies. Work with an editing rate of about 4 to 6 pages per hour with approx 300 words per page.

The below prices are starting points for negotiating rates depending on your needs.

Say you have a 300 page manuscript. Your budget for proofreading would be 300 pages / 10 pages per hour = 30 hours x £21 = £630

Your budget for copy editing would be 300 pages / 5 pages per hour = 60 hours x £24 = £1,440

Then you need £400 to £500 for a jacket cover design...

A budget of £2,500 wouldn't be far off...

And not forgetting a few optional extras like book formatting and some basic membership to Author services to help with marketing the book on SEO services and social media platforms... let's say another £500.

I have to admit when you write the numbers down and process them, it's a little scary!

If you're feeling quirky and creative (oh, and broke!), check out the following crowdfunding websites for financing your self publishing endeavours:

www.kickstarter.com

www.pubslush.com

www.indiegogo.com