It really depends on where you're trying to get published and who you're trying to get published by. For most reputable publishing houses, they offer their services for free. You deliver the manuscript, they take care of the rest.Raven Song wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:44 pm What sort of investment cost does one need to publish a book... asking for a friend (she says not actually asking for a friend and remembering she now has 1 post left before hitting her important number...)
But then you also get vanity publishers, who only publish as many copies as you are willing to pay for. I'm not sure of the exact cost, since I've never used them, but they vary greatly, and usually aren't worth the price.
There are also "print on demand" publishers, who are cheaper than vanity publishers, but only print copies as they get ordered, so results vary greatly depending on how popular your work is, and what kind of marketing is being done (if at all).
If you're trying to get published in South Africa, you're quickly going to discover that all the publishing houses are stuck in the stone age. None of them (last time I checked) accept manuscript submissions via email, so you have to send them a PHYSICAL manuscript through the POST OFFICE. Can you imagine what Ander will cost like that? Just printing out 3800 pages would cost a fortune in ink and paper, and posting something that heavy would probably cost a pretty penny, as well. Also, most of them don't send your manuscript back after they're done evaluating it, so you have to send one to EVERY PUBLISHER you want to court. It's ridiculous.
Edit: I actually am kinda curious to print it out now. Just to see what a stack of 3800 pages would look like... >_>