Congratulations! You've written a future best-selling novel - or have you just finished a potential YA chart-topper; a memoire; a recipe book; a children's book; a photography volume fit to grace the fanciest coffee-tables in the land or perhaps a stirring, globe-trotting travelogue to conjure a fervid wunderlust in even the most cautious, home-loving heart?

Well, you have done the hard part. The creative part. Now you need to get it out into the world. Let us handle the design, artwork and layout. We'll print and distribute your book. We can even make an eBook or audiobook version and make it available in the usual places.

Layout for a novel is generally easiest, thus quickest and so cheapest. A book with many elements, illustrations, graphics, headings etc. will require more work and thus be more costly - it all depends on total length of course. Scroll down for an example using a well-known medium to long novel - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Whatever you have written however, we can make into a book:

In print - We can create all the cover artwork, graphics or photographs necessary and complete the layout to make your book print ready. We can arrange the first edition and subsequent print runs, organise registration with Bokinfo and then either you can distribute your book yourself or we can do it via one of the industry's main distribution organisations. For eBooks - We can convert your manuscript into an eBook on Apple Books, Google Play Books and Amazon Kindle. We can also make an audiobook - either a standard narration or with full sound production including SFX, music etc. We can even make an ePub with text-follow audio.

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So how much?

You can choose any or all of the services we offer - the cost is the same for all of them - an hourly rate for the work we put in. That rate is 750SEK per hour plus moms (VAT). (see the cost example below).

^*The cost for printing has to be added depending on the type (POD or offset), number of copies, paper quality, hardback/paperback etc.. We'll include a quote for various options.There are a few small costs involved in running a simple website - again, we'll give you an idea in the quote.

Here's a simple cost example:Let's use an actual book as an example, say, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.
The Picador 1973 paperback edition (a tie-in with the Jack Nicholson film from that year) is 255 pages long. It has approximately 13 words per line and an average 42 lines per page. So around 136500 words. Quite a long novel.

Layouting:I estimate that it would take 5 or so hours to create a 255 page novel type layout in InDesign from a manuscript.5 x 750SEK plus moms

Artwork:I estimate another 5 or so hours to design a cover and create necessary artwork. For any further design ideas or artwork add on extra hourly costs.5 x 750SEK plus moms

Proofreading/Editing:Choose between a straightforward proofreading or an editorial proofreading.A A straight proofread will look for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, missed words and so on. The idea being to check that what the writer intended to write, corresponds to what appears on the page. A book this length will take approximately 11 hours to read in this manner (depending of course, on how many errors there are in the text).11 hours x 750SEK plus momsTo save money you can do this yourself. I recommend reading aloud and to be even more thorough, recording yourself and listening back while looking at the text.B An editorial proofread will, as well as looking for the types of errors described above, also look out for problems with continuity, logic, pace and language. The editor will look at the storyline, the characters, the beats of the story. The editor might notice something which should be developed further or indeed, something that might be omitted for clarity.It's rather hard to estimate how many extra hours editing might take over and above the straight reading of the book. Each book is different after all.To save money you can do this yourself. Leave the manuscript aside for a month or so and then re-read it with fresh eyes. Ask your friends and relatives to read it and provide you with some feedback. The more feedback you get, the better.

So for the layout and artwork for our 255 page novel we have:

If we add proofreading:

What's next?At this point, pending any changes necessary following the proofreading/editing of the manuscript, and if you are happy with how it looks, it is ready to be sent to the printer and/or turned into an eBook, audiobook etc. The world is your oyster.Any questions? Get in touch!

Email us the first three chapters or 50 pages and we'll provide an approximate price for print, ebook, audiobook and a breakdown of the costs for all our services (check the 'services' page to see what we do). In your mail attach photos of any cover art of existing books that you have in mind for your own, so that we have an idea what you are looking for.

There's no obligation of course, so go ahead! Send us your manuscript. We're keen to see what you have been creating and to help you publish in a way that is just as professional as a large publishing house but that doesn't cost a fortune!

We've both been in the book business for 25 years. We jointly run BirdyCat books to provide an affordable service to authors who want to publish their own books. Between the two of us we can do more or less everything necessary to publish your book. Get in touch and lets discuss how we can help you.

If you have any questions about the services we offer or about book production, distribution, promotion etc., then get in touch via the form below.If you want to submit your manuscript to us, then send it via email and we'll give you a cost estimate based on how you want to publish - print, ebook etc.. (see the 'submit' link at the top)