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What Is The Cost Of Publishing A Book In Nigeria

January 30, 2020/ Chukwuma Okeke / Bestselling Author, Book Publishing And Marketing, Book Publishing In Nigeria / 9 comments

One answer: it depends.

Let’s go in detail and why it all depends on what you are willing to pay, especially if the quality is the first goal. Today, we are going to be discussing every side cost of publishing in Nigeria maybe becoming a successful Nigerian author
Many will start with money aspects but let’s do it from the beginning. Time.
Time
What time are you willing to commit to the writing of your book. Let’s say you are planning to publish a 100-page book. Usually, you will be typing about 30,000 words. How many days are committing to generate this number of content? If it’s 30 days, then you must do 1000 words in a day. What time of the day is your most writing peck time? Morning or night. And how fast can you write? Anytime you choose means you have to forsake other things. It is cost. And it can as well be added as the cost of publishing your book.

More stuff to read on best time to write More here & there Read more on how to write faster Highly recommended book

Manuscript

When you have successfully written 1000 per day and met your goal of 30,000 words. The next thing is giving it to an editor to look over. There’s some editor that will charge per word or a flat charge. For instance, editor A might say N3 per word and your bill is 90,000 Naira while some will tell you to pay 50,000 flat without much consideration of the word count. Another option is whether you want simple editing or thorough editing. The cost is not the same. Another is proofreading. To make sure everything is entirely in their place. Let’s say another N20,000. Cost estimate for editing and proofreading is 100k

Read on how to choose your editor and the kind of editing you might need

Book Cover Design

This is where you have to put your very best. We can say in Harmony Publishing that we are excellent in book cover design. Let’s say you want it to do it yourself. Please hire a great graphics designer. You are probably going to spend around 20,000 to N50,000. It all depends on your negotiations skills. Don’t be tempted to do it yourself. You are an author, not a designer. Let’s come to the middle and say 25,000. Add the cost of ISBN, which is not much for one. It is around 3000 and cheaper in bulk
Links —how to hire a good graphics designer for your book

Printing cost and how the printing press works in Nigeria

This is our work. The challenges of printing in Nigeria is that it is an expensive per copy if you do less than 1000 copies. Why? Because the same process of doing 100 copies that’s used in printing 10,000 copies. Let me brief you a little how printing works in Nigeria. Now, your book is typeset, and layout is approved for impression. We do the plate. It is the process of impressing your words on a metal plate-like your eating plate in the house. Then the plate is taken to the machine and link is applied to the surface of the plate, then pressing it with the paper will give result to your book. This is just the beginning. After that, the paper is inspect to make sure it is okay. The paper is folded and collected. Please note this is sometimes a seperate occupation. Some people do only collecting and another folding of the print out paper. Then there’s the binding after binding then trimming or cutting the book to make it look sharp. It hasn’t ended yet. Packaging the book is not a child’s play. Doing 10,000 copies can take 4 to 6 hours. It depends on how many people doing it. Then last, shipping. Doing less than 1000 copies is not worth time and energy many of the printing press unless you are willing to pay more. I can tell you right now that it is not worth it, especially if you will be selling your book to make money. Some people might ask why? It is where we are now. Some countries have the machine to print 100 copies at affordable prices because all the labour force has been reducing or eliminate. As an author, you can use print on demand services by Amazon or use Okadabooks to put your books out for the public. The only disadvantages that many readers still prefer physical books to ebook. Amazon services will be expensive for your readers who are in Nigeria. Many will not be willing to pay for the International shipping fee. Publish your ebook here for very low price.

Now, what is the cost of the publishing 30,000 words 100-page book? It depends again: What is the quality of the paper: cream or white bond paper? Cream bond is more expensive than the white paper. Few people do use matte paper. It is mostly used in magazine publishing and printing. Let’s say you use cream bond paper. Harmony Publishing, as a self-publishing company can give you a cost estimate for being around 350,000 to N400,000 for 1000 copies. It all depends on so many things. Also, have in mind that if there are images on the book, the cost estimate will increase.

Packaging and shipping fees

We don’t charge our customers for packaging their books. We give our customers the original packaging. Many publishing company or printers just put in your books in wasted paper and dispatch. What is the cost of shipping? If you are in Lagos, it should be between 10 to 15k while outside Lagos is 15k to 25,000.

In conclusion, what is the cost of publishing in Nigeria? We can say that you should budget 500,000 to 1m for a premium quality book that meets up with the international standard. I hope you found this helpful. You can leave your question, and we will get back to you soon.

Are you ready to publish your book?

Harmony Publishing plays a pivotal role in publishing in Nigeria, is a provider of self-publishing services aimed at helping authors realize their dreams while minimizing the encumbrances associated with getting published. Getting published has never been more convenient and better professionally handled than you get at Harmony Publishing, as we offer high-quality writing, editorial and production services at affordable rates. Our publishing services cover professional editing, illustrations, graphic designs and generation, as well as and print production. Each service is delivered to give you more value for your money.

For more enquiries, kindly call 07032212481 or send mail to publish@harmonypublishing.com.ng. Visit our site to get started and click on get published to submit your manuscript and begin your publishing dream.