Self-Publishing Budget Calculator

What a first book actually costs, at three levels of investment. Prices checked October 2026 and quoted in US dollars. Editing costs are for an 80,000-word novel at the Editorial Freelancers Association's 2026 fiction rates and Reedsy's 2026 quote data; scale them by your word count.

Not every line applies to every book. Audiobook production and a custom cover are the two that most often turn a manageable budget into an unmanageable one — decide about both before you commit to anything else.

Sources: EFA 2026 Rate Chart for editing; Reedsy's 2026 cost guide for covers, professional formatting, ISBNs, narration (AI narration at the low end, $200–$400 per finished hour above it) and marketing; the US Copyright Office for registration, which rises to $55 and $85 in mid-November 2026 unless Congress intervenes. DIY formatting is free tools, Atticus ($147) or Vellum (about $250). Premade covers are listings checked on The Book Cover Designer, BookCovers.com and BookCoverZone in October 2026; those prices are for the ebook front cover, and a paperback wrap adds $20–$60.

Revenue Projection

Project conservatively. The purpose of this is to find out how long break-even realistically takes, not to produce a number that makes the budget feel justified.