Publishing a Book in California — What It Actually Costs and How It Works

I work with a lot of California authors. Los Angeles writers finishing their first novel. Bay Area entrepreneurs turning business knowledge into books. San Diego retirees finally writing the memoir their kids have been asking about.

Most of them come in with the same fear: I do not want to get scammed, and I do not want to lose the rights to my own book.

Fair enough. Here is how we do it at Harmony Publishing.

What We Do

You write the book. We do everything after — editing, cover, layout, ISBN, printing, distribution. Your book ends up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, and a few dozen other platforms. You keep 100% of what it earns. You keep your copyright. No fine print tricks.

Packages (Real Prices, No Hidden Fees)

Essentials — $699. Your manuscript is already edited? Great. We format it, assign an ISBN, set up your seller accounts, and submit to Amazon and IngramSpark. Simplest path to getting your book out there.

Complete — $1,299. Gets you 25 printed copies, eBook conversion, and a basic promotion push. Ideal if you want books to hand out.

Premium — $2,499. Most popular. Includes professional copyediting (up to 60,000 words), 50 copies, a deluxe cover, social media graphics, and Amazon SEO. This is the package I recommend to first-time authors.

Rockstar — $4,999. Full developmental edit (up to 80,000 words), 100 books in hardcover or softcover, an author website with free hosting for a year, and 30 days of marketing after launch.

Legend — $9,999. Everything. Ghostwriting if you need it, 500 books, audiobook, press releases, video trailer, VIP event planning. Designed for people who want to treat their book like a product launch.

How Long Does It Take?

Six to eight weeks from the day you finalize your manuscript. Faster if your draft is clean — we have turned books around in three weeks.

Stuff People Ask

Do I have to come to your office? We are based in Nigeria, actually. Everything is remote. Dashboard, email, video calls.

Can I do my own marketing? Yes. And we will help — but the heavy lifting is yours if you want it.

What if my book is not ready? We will tell you. No reason to take your money and publish something that needs work.