Side by side
| Do it yourself | Agency or freelancer | Perfect Year HQ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | Tools from $0 to $300 a year (BookFunnel $30, $200 or $300 a year; StoryOrigin free, or $10 a month / $100 a year), plus any ads and promo fees you choose. | Typical, not quoted: ads management $50–$175 an hour excluding ad spend; about $1,000 per advertising project; book marketing services about $900 on average ($650–$2,600). See sources below. | $50 a month or $550 a year, everything included, no per-pen fee. |
| Your time | All of it: planning, swap admin, tracking, copy. No public benchmark exists, so we do not put a number on it. | Brief and review, mostly. Time depends on the scope you buy. | Approve drafts; nothing goes out without your yes. You still write the books and post your own marketing. |
| What you control | Everything. | You set scope and budget; the specialist runs the work. | Everything goes out only on your yes. |
| Plan for the year | Whatever you build in a spreadsheet. | Varies by provider. | A 12-month plan from your real pace, re-fitted every quarter. |
| Real sales tracking | Manual KDP reports. | Depends on the provider. | KDP units, page reads and royalties synced hourly, per pen name. |
| Swap admin | Manual booking, chasing and link-gathering. | Varies by provider. | Bookings arrive from Bookclicker; emails drafted for you to send. |
| Reader demand for your genre | Your own research. | Varies by provider. | Live TropeSmith demand data, per pen. |
| Runs your ad account | You do. | Yes, this is what you pay for. | No. It drafts ad plans for you to run. |
| Best for | Authors with more time than money. | One-off jobs: ad setup, publicity, a launch push. | Romance authors on KDP who want one place for plan, numbers and swap admin. |
Costs are not like for like: Perfect Year HQ is a flat subscription, an agency price depends on the scope you buy, and the DIY figures cover tools only. Check each vendor’s current price before you decide.
What you get for $50 a month
When an agency is the better choice
If you need a person to run Amazon or Meta ads, handle publicity, or build a launch push for one book, hire one. Perfect Year HQ does not do those jobs, and a subscription cannot match a specialist for a defined project. The sensible pairing is Perfect Year HQ to know what the year needs and a freelancer for the pieces you do not want to do.
When doing it yourself is the better choice
If you have the hours, one pen name and a settled routine, free tools and a spreadsheet will serve you. Perfect Year HQ earns its place when swap admin, tracking and re-planning have started to cost you writing time.
Sources
- BookFunnel plans: bookfunnel.com/pricing ($30, $200, $300 a year), read 19 Oct 2026.
- StoryOrigin plans: storyoriginapp.com/pricing (Basic free; Standard $10 a month or $100 a year), read 19 Oct 2026.
- Reedsy freelancer rate guide: reedsy.com/freelancer/how-to-set-your-freelance-marketing-rates (ads management $50 to $175 an hour excluding ad spend; $1,000 per advertising project), read 19 Oct 2026.
- Writers’ Online, citing Reedsy: book marketing services about $900 on average ($650–$2,600), converted from the source’s £700 (£500–£2,000) at October 2026 rates; one-off service; read 19 Oct 2026.
- Perfect Year HQ price: perfectyearhq.com/pricing.
Questions authors ask
Is Perfect Year HQ a book marketing agency?
No. Perfect Year HQ is a planning and tracking service with done-for-you admin: it builds your year, syncs your real sales, books and drafts your swap admin and hands back finished drafts of marketing work. It does not run your ad accounts or post as you. If you want a person to do those things, an agency or freelancer is the right choice.
How much does a book marketing agency cost?
It varies widely and most do not publish prices. Reedsy’s freelancer rate guide lists ads management at $50 to $175 an hour excluding ad spend and a $1,000 per-project figure for advertising. A UK writers’ magazine citing Reedsy puts book marketing services at about $900 on average ($650–$2,600), for a one-off service.
What does doing book marketing yourself cost?
The tools are cheap and the hours are not. BookFunnel lists $30, $200 and $300 a year plans and StoryOrigin lists a free plan and a $10 a month or $100 a year plan. You then pay for any ads and promo features, and with your own time, which no public source prices for you.
What does Perfect Year HQ cost?
$50 a month or $550 a year, everything included, with no pen limit and no per-pen fee.
Does Perfect Year HQ replace BookFunnel, StoryOrigin or Bookclicker?
No. It does not deliver your files. It reads your connected Bookclicker bookings and BookFunnel links, and does the planning, tracking and drafting on top of them.
Can I use Perfect Year HQ and an agency together?
Yes. You can use a plan and a tracker for the year and a freelancer for a specific job such as ad setup. The plan tells you what the freelancer should be hired for.