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What self-publishing costs in 2026

By R. S. Breed · Updated

You can self-publish a book for nothing. KDP is free to use, and so is listing a book on Bervet. Everything you pay for is a choice about quality or reach, and it's worth knowing what each choice costs before you start spending.

Prices here come from each organisation's own pages, checked in September 2026. They change, so check before you pay.

The costs at a glance

Item What it costs Can it be free?
Publishing on KDP Nothing Yes
Editing (80,000-word novel) About $960 to $2,800 per round, depending on the kind of edit Partly: beta readers and critique partners
Cover Varies widely; get quotes Possible, but it shows
Formatting Nothing with KDP's Kindle Create Yes, for text-heavy books
ISBN (US) $125 for one, $295 for ten Yes, with limits
ISBN (Australia) A$44 for one, A$88 for ten, plus A$55 once Yes, with limits
IngramSpark print distribution Setup free; 1.875% of list price per sale Setup, yes
ARC readers Nothing to $575 per title Yes
Promotion About $10 to over $4,000 per deal email Yes: your newsletter

Editing: the cost that matters most

The Editorial Freelancers Association surveys what its members charge. Its 2026 rate chart (over 1,100 respondents, rates charged in 2025) gives these ranges for fiction:

Kind of edit Per word 80,000 words
Developmental (story, structure) 3.0 to 3.5 cents About $2,400 to $2,800
Line editing (sentences, style) 2.7 to 3.5 cents About $2,160 to $2,800
Copyediting (grammar, consistency) 2.0 to 2.7 cents About $1,600 to $2,160
Proofreading (last typos) 1.2 to 2.0 cents About $960 to $1,600

These are survey ranges, not quotes: an editor's price depends on the manuscript and the editor. Few indie authors buy every kind of edit. If your budget covers one, the choice is usually between a developmental edit (if the story needs work) and a copyedit (if it's close).

The free part: beta readers and critique partners can do much of what a developmental edit does, if you choose them well. And an advance copy on Bervet shows you how many readers reached each chapter and where they stalled, which tells you where the story sags.

Cover

Cover prices vary too widely to quote honestly: premade covers, custom illustration and photo composites are different jobs. Get quotes from designers who work in your genre, and look at their covers at thumbnail size, the way shoppers see them. Covers, blurbs and pricing basics covers what a cover has to do.

Formatting

KDP's Kindle Create is a free download from KDP that prepares "an eBook and paperback with the same manuscript file". KDP says it's "designed for text-heavy books with a simple layouts (e.g., novels, essays, memoirs)", and it has limits: no tables, footnotes or endnotes in paperbacks, and you can't change the paperback margins or font. For a novel, it's usually enough.

ISBNs

KDP and IngramSpark both offer free ISBNs, but each only works on its own platform (IngramSpark's is also only for US self-publishers). Buying your own costs, in the US through Bowker, $125 for one or $295 for ten; in Australia through Thorpe-Bowker, A$44 for one or A$88 for ten, plus a one-off A$55 new publisher fee. You need a separate ISBN for each format. ISBNs without the traps has other countries and the catches.

Print distribution beyond Amazon

IngramSpark sets up a title for free and, since 1 January 2026, revisions are free too. Its market access fee is 1.875% of list price on each sale through its print distribution: about 19 cents on a $10 book. IngramSpark: when it's worth it.

ARC readers

Advance review copies can cost nothing or several hundred dollars. NetGalley's pay-per-title listing is $575 for six months. BookSirens charges $10 per ARC plus $2 for each reader it finds (your own readers are free), or $100 a year. BookFunnel's ARC delivery starts on its $200-a-year plan. ARC services compared goes through each.

Hosting your ARC on Bervet is free, with your own readers or readers who ask from the Advance copies page.

Promotion

Deal emails charge per feature. BookBub Featured Deals run from about $122 to $4,216 depending on genre and price; smaller sites such as The Fussy Librarian charge $10 to $79. Book promotion sites lists what each costs and what to expect.

The free promotion that works best is your own email list. After that: a free first chapter readers can try (on Bervet, your book's page and chapter 1 are free), your share kit, and being useful in reader communities.

A realistic budget

  • Nothing: KDP, Kindle Create, a free ISBN, beta readers, a free ARC on Bervet, your newsletter. It's possible, and plenty of authors start here.
  • A few hundred dollars: add a proofread or a premade cover.
  • A few thousand: a professional edit and a custom cover. This is where most of the money goes, and where it shows most.

Spend on the book first, then on getting it seen.

Sources

Platforms change their rules often. If something here is out of date, tell us in the forum and we'll fix it.

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