Book Publishing…A Business of Ministry?

Book publishing can be a very confusing industry to navigate whether you have written a book for the Christian audience or not. As a Christian book publisher I have found that many authors struggle with separating the ministry of a book’s content from the business side of publishing.

I have found that a lot of authors will cut corners during the publishing process just to have their manuscript put into a book format because they believe that "the book will sell itself once people hear about it and it ministers to them." So the end result is a poorly produced book that sits on a shelf because no one wants to read it because the cover is not appealing, the interior is hard to read, or worse the pages are falling out.

Another problem many Christian authors struggle with is pricing their book. Some authors will price their book too high and others price it too low. If a book is priced too high no one will purchase it, and if a book is priced too low the author stands the chance of never recovering his or her investment.

When it comes to publishing a book, especially when you are on a budget it is important to understand the business aspects of the industry so that you can properly prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and financially for the journey.

So what is ministry as it pertains to book publishing? Well it’s simple…the manuscript God told you to write is ministry as it should have ministered to you first. Being able to put the manuscript into a book format is ministry because your book can cross oceans and touch people you will never meet. When you conduct seminars or conferences based on the content God gave you – that is ministry. Our everyday life should be a ministry from the way we walk, talk, and interact with people. Understand that if God told you to write the book, the content is going to minister.

When it comes to book publishing it is important to remember that it is a business. An industry where Americans spend over $30 million dollars a year (Book Industry Study Group, 1995). Every part of a book has monetary value:
- Book Cover: A good book designer will charge between $250-$500.
- Interior Text Formatting: Unless you know how to format your manuscript so it will fit neatly and attractively between the covers of your book, you will need to hire a typesetter who charge between $250-$300.
- An Editor is a necessity if you are wanting to create a strong impression. Everyone is not fortunate to have a book editor in their family who will not charge for making their manuscript error free, so an editor will be in order. Some editors charge per word (three to five cents) while others charge per page (two to three dollars). You may also find some editors who charge according to the number of pages in your book. You can expect to pay $250 or more for this process.
- An ISBN or International Standard Book Number is needed if you want to get your book into bookstores. This number allows your book to be placed into an international database so that your book can be ordered by bookstores around the world. You must order these numbers from R.R. Bowker and they are sold in bulk. The smallest number you can order is ten and will cost $250. There are some companies that will "sell" individual ISBN’s to people for $25-$100, but know that it is illegal to sell ISBN’s in this manner.
- The Barcode is created from your ISBN and is used by bookstores to track the books that are sold in their store. Your book cannot get into bookstores without the barcode. Barcode designers do not cost much but the charges begin at $25.
- Printing Costs: your manuscript won’t be considered a book until it is printed and bound into book form. Book printing costs are based on the number of pages you have in your book and the size of your book. Some printers allow you to print one book at a time and other require you print in quantities as low at 25 or as high as 250. You can expect to pay between $3.00-$5.00 per book – the cost can be higher or lower depending on the printer, the number of colors used on your book cover, and the number of books you order.

So I’ve given you a quick run down of some of the immediate expenses you can expect to encounter when publishing your book. These are not all of the expenses and we will cover them in this series, but your having this information up front will help you to budget effectively.

It isn’t necessary to purchase all of these at one time, if you begin early enough in your process you will be able to budget each month to acquire one of these "book essentials."

About The Author:
Tamika Johnson is the CEO of Anointed Word Media Group an award winning Christian publishing company. She is the founder of Anointed Enterprise Magazine, a Christian business magazine, launching September 2007, and is an award winning author. For more information log onto: www.publishyourchristianbook.com or www.tamikajohnson.com.