Ha! I actually do most of the editing myself (Which is common, but I put in a lot of extra effort.) On top of that I have someone that donates a first edit for each book, putting in a huge amount of work, which IS for free. Then (this is new) I go over it again when I get that back, which leaves my blind spots. Then the people here help with that, to keep the costs down that way.
So, thanks to the people being willing to read and mark things here, that part actually is free. For me. Most authors don't have that kind of backup.
The book covers cost about a thousand dollars apiece, however. That's my largest book production expense, as long as I don't need a new computer or legal copy of word. Little things really do add up, so every bit of help makes a difference.
(Thanks, everyone!)
My goal right now, with editing is to get good enough that I can reduce or eliminate the need to bother others for that kind of thing. Improvements have been made, over time, but it's still really helpful. (Which, just means that, when I get good enough, I can trade advance copies for reviews, so people can still get their's free, if they want.)
In the last days, I did a review of all time sales and... I haven't had a book sales drop off, like I expected! In fact, things are about the same, ever all.
At the same time, the income coming in has dropped by a little over half.
What's going on here? Well, it's Kindle Unlimited. I have just as many books going out, over time, but the slow speed of reading (compared to the big ratings push of a book being bought) combined with the lower amount made per book in KU AND the recent (last summer, I think) retooling of what is counted as a page, has lowered the amount coming in a lot.
*Then, we all knew that things like that would happen. It probably will, until authors flee Amazon and they are losing out on new sales because they lack books for it.
To fix this, I'm actually trying to work out sensible (as opposed to wasteful... Which I have done as well...) advertising strategies, as well as a release program that will, hopefully, double or tripple the amount of books being sold and borrowed.
To give everyone an idea of how significant this is, about 70% of all books read right now are coming from Kindle Unlimited.
Which is why, from now on, everyone will be pestered a bit when books come out to leave reviews, if they like the book as well as to actually tweet about it and to mention it online and to their friends! If I do that kind of thing, I'm the annoying author... If you do it, then you're a good friend who is actually helping others find good reading material!
That isn't a small point either. If I told ten thousand people that I have a new book out and it's good, I'd get about twenty or so sales. If someone else does the exact same thing, that goes up to about a hundred. That's power, there.
This is a business, even if I'm not that great of a businessman. (What with the willingness to give things away and all that.Plus, I honestly feel that sales coming from advertising are cheating, on a deep level. Which is silly, but still there, inside of me for some reason.)
Eventually, the book writing business will be done, as for being able to make a living at it. Probably within the next fifteen years. I'm hoping to keep going through that time, while setting up what I need for a graceful transition to something else. That's just life though, and we all need to be aware that things are changing in ways that will require adapting too. having a head start is a great advantage!
*Also, Crystal Core is out for the first "other eyes" edit, right now. I figure I'm three or four days from being able to have it for people here to look at, which is taking a lot longer than I like, let me tell you! (It's all me, trying to be very careful as to editing, as mentioned above.)
The next three books will, hopefully be coming at a faster pace.
