How Much Does it Cost to Self-Publish a Book in 2026?

Reviewed and updated October 2026.

How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book in the UK in 2026? 

The cost of self-publishing varies on two factors: how you choose to self-publish and the specifications of the book itself, but typically the cost of self-publishing can vary from £0-£3,000+. For instance, some authors opt to DIY self-publish, which can be done for free. Others may opt for assisted self-publishing, where you publish on a free platform but pay for selected services. Others may opt for full-service self-publishing, which will cost more, but lead to a high–quality print product. The cost can also vary according to factors such as the format you choose, whether your book includes images, and the length of your book (just to name a few!)

In this article, we will explore some of the different routes to self-publication and give an idea of how it impacts the cost.

What Are The Different Self-Publishing Routes, and How Much Do They Cost? 

The three main self-publishing routes are DIY self-publishing, assisted self-publishing and full-service self-publishing. All of these have varying price points. 

Route	Human Support?	Professional Services?	Cost?
DIY Self-Publishing	None	None	£0
Assisted Self-Publishing	Varies	Varies	Varies according to services & book spec, £150 - £1,000+
Full-Service Self-Publishing	Yes, thoughout	Yes	Varies according to services and book spec, £650 - £3,000+

Cheapest: DIY Self-Publishing 

Releasing a book on an online platform such as Amazon KDP can be free to publish initially – but only if you have done all the work to create, design and upload the book yourself (perfect if you want absolute control of the project or if your market is mostly online). 

Although the financial cost is free, authors opting for DIY self-publishing should be ready to invest a significant amount of time in editing, cover design, typesetting, and marketing their book. 

To read more about the pros and cons of Amazon KDP Publishing, check out our article on the subject here. 

Mid-Range: Assisted Self-Publishing 

A good middle ground financially is when an author opts for a free self-publishing platform, like Amazon KDP, but combines this with a range of paid services, such as editorial, cover design or marketing, in order to increase the quality of their publication and improve their chances of success. 

All of these services will have a cost, but that cost will depend on the company, service or freelancer you are employing. Brands such as Libero can offer these one-off services for independent authors. However, managing a range of one-off services can be more time consuming for an author to manage the process of – particularly if you are using multiple different providers for different services, where costs can quickly spiral out of control without effective budgeting.

Here are some example costs to help you gain an understanding of the rough pricing you could expect. 

How much does copy edit cost? 

A copy-edit for a novel of 90,000 words would be around £850 excl. VAT. 

How much does cover design cost? 

The cost for a cover design can start from £150+VAT. 

How much does typesetting cost? 

The price for a professional typeset is around £300+VAT 

How much does ebook conversion cost? 

The price of an ebook conversion starts from around £250+VAT. 

Highest Cost: Full-Service Self-Publishing

Finally, there are full-service self-publishing companies, like Troubador, who are completely bespoke and can handle all parts of the process – design, print, marketing, sales and distribution – for you, which means you get a skilled and professional team of book production and marketing specialists working with you on your book, plus a flexible range of services that can suit your specific project. 

The cost of full-service self-publishers varies from company to company. Some will offer set packages that include the costs to produce and print your book, whereas others, like Troubador, will offer a bespoke pricing model. This means the cost of your publication will vary, depending on your book’s length, if it has any images, what formats you opt for, what services you decide on, and so forth. Understanding exactly what you’re paying for is really important before you commit to a full-service self-publisher. 

We do offer a range of example prices, so authors can gain a rough understanding of pricing 

How Much Does It Cost To Publish with Troubador? 

Please note that these are only examples! 

For authors who want their book available as an ebook only: including publishing an ebook, professional cover design, ISBN registration and international retail availability: circa £650

For authors who want around 300 page paperback novel and no illustrations (including all the production work, cover design, 200 copies printed upfront and the set-up of enhanced metadata to prepare the book for distribution to bookshops): circa £2500 

For authors who want a hardback version of the same book, with a dust jacket: circa £3100 

For authors who want the same production process but using print-on-demand technology: circa £1200 (please note, that POD does have a higher print unit cost: see our article about the differences between print on demand and print runs to ascertain the pros and cons of each). 

While these are all ballpark figures, they illustrate how the decisions an author makes about what their book looks like can have a huge impact on the cost.

Additional Services

In all the above, most authors would also look at adding additional services – such as proofreading or copy editing, marketing services or cover enhancements for the front cover of their book. The Troubador team take great care in advising authors on the services they might benefit from depending on their objectives and always ensures that the author is the one making the decision about what they require, not the publisher.

You can learn more about our pricing here. All the prices given here are examples only, the actual cost would depend on the materials used, the work required in producing the book, the number of pages and the additional services opted for. While many of our authors opt for similar services, no two book projects are identical, but the benefit of bespoke is that we can help you shape your book to your budget.

Where Do I Start with Self-Publishing?

When considering self-publishing, whether that be with Troubador or another supplier, be honest about the budget you have. 

We strongly recommend that authors do not borrow money or spend money they cannot afford on self-publishing – not all self-published authors recoup the money they have invested in their book through sales. Trade discounts and book set-up costs all come out of the selling price of the book, so unless you sell directly, the cover price on your book is not the financial return you will receive on a sale. Each of the routes and costs to self-publish discussed here has their own pros and cons – the best way forward is to understand exactly what you want to get out of the book publishing process and to do your research thoroughly to make sure you are making an informed decision about what is best for you.

If you are aiming for a book available to buy via bookshops, you need a product that will compete with other high-quality titles on a shelf, with the correct distribution in place. If you want a book to be available online only, that opens up a different route and price point for publishing. It is essential to understand your budget, to know what you are getting for the money you are spending, to understand the risk, and to be honest about what help you need in creating the very best book and getting that to the market.

Getting Started with Troubador

Our customer service team has many years of experience in advising authors on the best route to publication, and so to ensure the very best pricing on a book, we ask to see your manuscript. This way we can learn more about what you are looking to achieve with your publishing, understand your budget and curate the perfect range of options for your book. We also encourage authors to get quotations from different companies to compare so that you can understand what you will get for your money and decide what is right for your project.

If you are interested in learning about what authors working with Troubador can expect to spend, our pricing page gives examples based on the most common objectives our authors come to us with. These are just examples, however, as all our projects are quoted on a bespoke basis. If you'd like us to provide a no-obligation quote to give you a more specific idea of what you can expect, getting started couldn't be simpler by speaking with a member of our team of experts. Just click the banner below.