Quick answer
The fixed fees to publish a book yourself can be close to zero: Amazon KDP gives free ISBNs for print books, the Library of Congress control number has no charge, and KDP prints on demand, so you don't have to pay any costs upfront or carry any inventory. Owning your ISBN costs $125 for one or $295 for ten, and online copyright registration costs $45 or $65. Editing, cover design and formatting are not on any official price list, so their cost depends on who you hire.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, so it is not in any fee comparison. See where Nation fits.
How much does it cost to self publish a book?
Publishing a book yourself has two kinds of cost. The first is fixed fees set by official price lists: ISBNs, copyright registration, printer setup and revision fees, and proof copies. The second is the work on the book itself: editing, cover design and interior formatting. The first group is known in advance. Only you can price the second group, because it depends on who you hire.
If you use Amazon KDP's free ISBN, skip copyright registration and order one proof, the fixed cost of a print book is close to the price of that proof plus shipping. KDP and IngramSpark both print on demand: KDP says you don't have to pay any costs upfront or carry any inventory, and IngramSpark says it costs you nothing to sign up and upload a book. Printing is paid per copy, out of each sale.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Copyright registration is handled by the federal US Copyright Office, while rules for selling books yourself, such as sales tax, vary by state and city.
Self-publishing cost, line by line
The table lists each fixed cost a US author can meet, with the price from the official source. Items marked optional are choices, not requirements.
None of these fees is required to publish an ebook on KDP. A print book on KDP needs an ISBN, and the free one covers it.
How much an ISBN costs: one, ten or free
Bowker sells a single ISBN for $125 and a block of ten for $295. Because you need one ISBN for each edition and format of your book, a book published as a paperback, a hardcover and an ebook uses three. The block of ten is the cheaper buy as soon as you need more than two.
Amazon KDP and IngramSpark both offer a free ISBN. The free KDP ISBN can only be used on KDP, and the book is listed with the imprint Independently published. An ISBN you buy from Bowker can be used to publish the same book on other publishing services. An ISBN also conveys no legal or copyright protection, so it does not replace copyright registration.
How much it costs to publish a book on Amazon: printing
KDP charges nothing to publish. It takes the printing cost out of each sale using the formula Fixed cost + (page count * per page cost) = printing cost. For a black-ink paperback in a regular trim size sold on Amazon.com, books of 24 to 110 pages cost a flat 2.30 USD per book, and longer books cost 1.00 USD per book plus 0.012 USD per page. For the same books in a large trim size, the per-page cost is 0.017 USD per page. KDP's own example: 4.60 USD for a 300-page book.
IngramSpark uses the same kind of formula: COST PER PAGE x NUMBER OF PAGES + COST PER UNIT = COST PER BOOK. A small black-and-white paperback on 50lb white paper costs $1.33 per cover plus $0.0146 per page. IngramSpark's price sheet also lists a market access fee of 1.875% of the local list price at the time of sale for books sold through its distribution network.
Worked example: a 250-page paperback and an ebook
Example: a 250-page, 6 x 9 inch black-ink novel, sold as a paperback on Amazon.com and through IngramSpark, and as a Kindle ebook. The author orders 1 proof and 10 author copies. Editing, cover and formatting are left as your own inputs.
Printing cost per copy on KDP
1.00 USD per book plus 250 pages at 0.012 USD per page. Example result: $4.00 a copy, taken from each sale, not paid upfront.
Printing cost per copy on IngramSpark
$1.33 plus 250 pages at $0.0146. Example result: $4.98 a copy.
ISBNs
Free if you use KDP's ISBN for the paperback. For the Kindle edition, KDP says: You don't need an ISBN for eBooks on KDP. To own the ISBN and use it on both KDP and IngramSpark, buy a block of ten for $295, which also covers a later hardcover or new edition.
Proof and author copies
On KDP, each copy costs the printing cost: We can't offer additional discounts. Example: 11 copies at $4.00 come to $44.00, plus shipping and any tax. Proof and author copies don't qualify for free or Prime shipping, so check the shipping total at checkout.
Copyright and LCCN
Online copyright registration costs $45 for a single-author work. The Library of Congress control number has no charge.
Add your own editing, cover and formatting
Write in the quotes you receive for editing, cover design and interior formatting. IngramSpark's FAQ says "we do not currently offer editing, typesetting, or design services", and KDP's tools are free, so these costs are whatever you pay a freelancer, or your own time.
What the example adds up to
Example totals for the 250-page paperback and its ebook, before editing, cover and formatting. Printing for sold copies is not included because it comes out of each sale.
Example: with these inputs the lowest-cost route is $44.00 plus shipping, and the own-ISBN route is $384.00 plus shipping, before editing, cover and formatting.
Editing, cover design and formatting: the costs you set
This page does not quote these costs, because no official price list exists for them. Rates depend on the freelancer, the length of the manuscript and how much work it needs. Ask at least two people for a written quote based on your word count.
Some of this work can be done without paying anyone. KDP offers free and simple tools to self-publish your book, and IngramSpark has a free book-building tool. Doing the work yourself costs time instead of money.
- Editing: ask which kinds of editing the quote covers, for example a structural edit, a copy edit or a proofread.
- Cover design: ask whether the quote covers the full print cover (front, spine and back) as well as the ebook cover.
- Interior formatting: ask whether the quote covers both the print interior and the ebook file.
- Marketing: ads and review copies are optional, and you set the budget.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. It is not a book publisher or printer, so it is not in the cost tables on this page.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. Nation does not publish or print books and is not in the cost tables.
Describe what you makeQuestions about the cost of publishing a book
How much does it cost to publish a book on Amazon?
Publishing a book on Amazon KDP costs nothing upfront. KDP gives a free ISBN for print books, and an ebook needs none. Printing is taken out of each sale: a regular-trim, black-ink paperback of 110 to 828 pages sold on Amazon.com costs 1.00 USD per book plus 0.012 USD per page. Proof and author copies cost the printing cost plus shipping.
How much does an ISBN cost for a self-published book?
An ISBN from Bowker, the US ISBN agency, costs $125 for one or $295 for a block of ten. Each format needs its own ISBN. Amazon KDP and IngramSpark offer free ISBNs, but the free KDP ISBN can only be used on KDP, and IngramSpark owns its free one.
Do I have to pay to copyright my book before publishing?
Paying to register copyright for a book is optional. The US Copyright Office says a work is protected the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form, and registration is voluntary. Online registration costs $45 for one author and one work, or $65 otherwise. You must register if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.
Is a Library of Congress control number free?
A Library of Congress control number for a self-published book is free: there is no charge through the Preassigned Control Number program. Only U.S. authors and book publishers can apply, and the number is assigned in advance of publication. A number is not a promise of cataloging: the Library of Congress is under no obligation to provide preliminary or final cataloging information.
Does IngramSpark charge setup or revision fees?
IngramSpark charges no setup fee: it costs you nothing to sign up and upload a print book or ebook. You can upload as many revisions as you need at no cost. After you approve the eproof, each change to files is subject to a $25 revision fee, so check the proof before you approve it.