Pricing
How Much Does It Cost to Publish a Book?
What moves a quote up or down: length, condition, illustration and format, explained plainly.
September 25, 2026 · 1 min read
There's no honest flat number for this, and anyone who gives you one before reading your manuscript is guessing. What follows is what actually moves the number, so you can reason about your own book instead of hunting for an average.
Length sets the baseline
Editing and typesetting are generally priced against word count or page count, because both scale with how much text there actually is to work through. A 40,000-word novella and a 120,000-word novel are different jobs at every stage, not just at printing.
Condition matters more than length
A clean, well-structured manuscript needs a lighter edit than an early draft with structural issues — and that difference in condition can move the cost more than a difference in length does. This is the whole reason a real quote comes after a read, not before one.
Illustration changes the math entirely
Full-colour and illustrated books — children's books especially — take considerably more design and production time than text-only manuscripts, because every spread is its own piece of original art rather than a layout template applied to text.
Formats each need their own setup
Paperback, hardcover, eBook and audiobook are not variations on one file — each needs its own preparation, from typesetting to file specification to distribution setup. Producing more formats is more work, not just more printing.
The only honest way to get a real number
We quote per manuscript, after we've read it, for exactly this reason: two books of the same length can need genuinely different work. If you want a number that means something, send us the first three chapters and we'll tell you what your specific book needs.
Key takeaways
- Length sets a baseline; the manuscript's condition moves the number more.
- Illustrated and full-colour books take significantly more production time.
- Every format — paperback, hardcover, eBook, audiobook — needs its own setup work.
- A real quote comes after someone has actually read your manuscript.
Start here
Send us the first three chapters.
We will read them and tell you honestly what your book needs. No cost, no obligation, no pitch deck.