When I first approached my budget for publishing Naughty Week, there were a few obvious expenses I knew I needed to consider. Self-publishing costs such as hiring a book cover designer and an editor were the obvious ones. But then certain other self publishing costs started to pop up.
Because I wanted to distribute the book wide, I needed an ISBN number for each edition. Instead of buying four ISBNs for the paperback, hardcover, audiobook, and ebook, I purchased a package of 10 because I knew I would be writing more books in the future. I purchased the 10-pack of ISBNs from Bowker for $295. I also needed a barcode for the paperback and the hardcover. That was $25 each.
Additional self-publishing costs that I didn’t consider were in regards to my online presence. I have experience building websites, so I didn’t need to hire anyone. But I did need to pay for the domain name, the web hosting, and the premium WordPress theme, so I could make it look as professional as it could be. The costs added up, but I knew it was a good investment.
I also invested in a bit of publishing software called Vellum. It came highly recommended, and I believe it’s the industry standard. It’s not inexpensive at $249 (at the time I purchased), but you have it for life and it will save you so much time doing the formatting work for you. Again, I knew I would be writing additional books in the future, so I saw this as another investment.
I set aside some money for advertising. My primary focus was going to be on Amazon Ads, so I invested in Publisher Rocket, which is a great keyword-generating tool and category finder, which also came very highly recommended.
I budgeted some money for author copies and other small expenses. The audiobook was going to be a big one, and I knew I was going to fund that with a credit card. Even though there were self publishing costs I wasn’t prepared for, everything seemed to be under control and manageable.
But then there came those other things—those random life expenses that jump out when you least expect it.
Yesterday I spent pretty much the entire day at the Toyota dealership in auto maintenance purgatory. They told me it was the water pump at first and that it would cost me $800 to repair. I figured it was going to be a big, costly job. I prepared myself mentally for it.
I had about $2000 remaining on my credit card. I couldn’t pay for it otherwise. My checking account is quite low until next Monday or Tuesday. That $2000 on my credit card was already committed to the launch of my book. $1050 for the audiobook and $950 for advertising. My advertising budget just took a serious hit. Thank goodness I haven’t been spending a lot on my Amazon book ads so far.
I planned to do some work at the car dealership. I brought both computers. I checked off a couple of items on my Naughty Week action plan, including inviting all of my Facebook friends to like my Facebook page. I was nervous about that one. I am uncomfortable with drawing too much attention on myself. I don’t know, self-promotion is awkward. It’s something you have to do when independently publishing a book, but it needs to be done effectively and subtly. I’m conscious that every post on Facebook cannot be about my book. There needs to be a balance. Otherwise, people will grow tired and numb to it.
I walked down to Gower Gulch and got a haircut at Supercuts. I desperately needed a haircut. I’m happy with the way it looks. Not too short on top. Trimmed nicely around the sides and the back. $28 on the credit card. I walked back to the dealership and did some work. I brought snacks so I wouldn’t have to buy lunch anywhere.
The service guy came out to tell me that the noise was still there and it’s probably because of the alternator and that would take $500 to repair but he could do it for $400. I couldn’t believe it. I told him I could not afford that and asked if the car was driveable. He said it was driveable but eventually the alternator would need to be replaced. There was nothing I could do. I just needed my car to work, I told him.
They pulled the car up, and it sounded exactly like it sounded when I brought it in.
“It doesn’t sound like you fixed anything,” I told him.
He reiterated that there was another noise after they fixed the water pump. I asked him again — is it driveable? He said yes. I headed back to Koreatown. I had planned to go to the library after the car dealership but then I thought it would be wise to get an oil change, so I headed over to Valvoline.
It was going to be another $100 on the credit card. Oil change and engine filter. However… They alerted me to a coolant leak. I told them I just had that repaired and showed them my invoice.
“They charged you $38 for coolant,” she said judgingly. “And they let you drive away with your car sounding like this?”
She advised me to take it back and tell them that I paid to have them fix my car and they didn’t do that and to insist that they fix the car.
I was livid. I felt taken advantage of. I’m guessing that Toyota misdiagnosed the problem and then tried to charge me $500 to fix their mistake. The woman at Valvoline also told me to ask about a recall regarding the car burning oil. I assumed that the dealership would tell me about that. No, they don’t, she told me.
Livid.
I called the service person and screamed at him. Among some of the things I stated in my rant: “$38 for coolant!?!?” He told me to bring the car back, that his manager said they can repair the alternator at no charge. I can’t believe they let me drive away with my car sounding like that.
I dropped off the car and accused the service man of hiding the recall. We looked into it together. Apparently it expired in 2016 (or 150,000 miles). He gave me the phone number for Toyota Finance. I’m going to call and get that warrantied. I have so much ammunition.
I needed lunch, so I walked over to Subway. Another $6 on the credit card. I walked back, and something wonderful happened. I wrote.
They brought my car around, and it was healed. Thank goodness. I drove my newly healed car to the library and returned The Old Man and the Sea. I picked up a Middle Grade novel, The Phantom Tollbooth. No charge.
