Pricing e- books

[Brian W. Foster]

It depends where you are in your writing career I guess. Those scifi books in the top 20 are more expensive because they most likely have a built in fan base who are willing to pay, rather than being successful because they cost more. With hundreds of books on promo pricing or free giveaways each day that makes the competition even harder. If there's a load of books with lots of reviews at $2.99, and yours has only a modest amount of reviews and is $3.99 or $4.99, then the buyer will most likely pass, unless they have a reason not to (eg they've heard about it already, been recommended etc).

I released my first novel a few months back and the harsh reality is that a) Amazon adds hundreds of thousands of books each year for people to choose from and b) as a new author no one knows who you are or cares who you are. If you have a high existing social media presence already (eg a blog with hundreds of hits a day, thousands of Twitter / Facebook followers) then that's a great way to start, but if you're going in cold then getting any traction at all can be slow going after the initial spike to people you know.

Still, with Amazon it's easy to adjust pricing at any time which makes experimentation fairly straightforward.

That all said, best of luck and hope it goes well! It only takes one active fan who knows someone influential and the sky's the limit!

I'm not sure I fully agree with this post.

I'm an unknown prawny prawn. I released my epic fantasy with no email list or much in the way of promotion. It's priced at $4.99 and has, as of yet, never been discounted.

Okay, so it's not exactly a NYT bestseller or anything, but it's sold over 250 copies. And that's despite the reviews being ... lackluster.

If your cover and pitch work and your book solidly fits in a genre that readers are buying, I don't think it's that hard to get some traction. If a book isn't selling, most of the people who seem to know what they're doing say the problem is either:

- The book doesn't fit into a genre that people are buying.
- The cover isn't right.
- The pitch isn't right.

(Note: Considering the forum, I'm talking about SFF, not other genres.) Granted, you can't price your book way above the market and an unknown indie probably isn't going to command the $11.99 some of the big names do, but I don't think that $3.99 or $4.99 is unreasonable.

 

[Keith Taylor]

Granted, you can't price your book way above the market and an unknown indie probably isn't going to command the $11.99 some of the big names do, but I don't think that $3.99 or $4.99 is unreasonable.

I don't think I'd ever have the balls to try, but I wonder what would happen if an unknown (with a great, professional looking cover and a tight blurb) DID price around $11.99 to compete with the big trad authors, maybe after a brief $0.99 launch sale to secure a little visibility. I expect the book would quickly drop off the map, but you never know. There's a lot to be said for the *perception* of quality, and $11.99 screams out 'this book is worth the price.' As a reader I think I'd at least take a second look, and maybe wonder if this was an author I should have heard of.

#won'tbetryingthis
#stillneedmoneyforfoodandstuff

 

[Brian W. Foster]

I don't think I'd ever have the balls to try, but I wonder what would happen if an unknown (with a great, professional looking cover and a tight blurb) DID price around $11.99 to compete with the big trad authors, maybe after a brief $0.99 launch sale to secure a little visibility. I expect the book would quickly drop off the map, but you never know. There's a lot to be said for the *perception* of quality, and $11.99 screams out 'this book is worth the price.' As a reader I think I'd at least take a second look, and maybe wonder if this was an author I should have heard of.

#won'tbetryingthis
#stillneedmoneyforfoodandstuff

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the business aspect of writing. As a businessperson, I feel like I should base my writing and pricing on my best objective understanding of what my readers want and will pay. Unfortunately, it's hard for me to get past what I want and what I would pay.

Right now, I can't think of a single author that I'd pay $11.99 for. I seriously pause over $7.99.

And it's not like it's the money as much as perceived value. I've paid $3-5 for so many books that I've really enjoyed that it's hard for me to justify paying more.

On the other hand, there's not a lot of difference between $2.99 and 4.99 in my mind. I can't think of a time when I've thought, "Man, this $5 book sounds good. If it were a buck less, I'd be all over it."

Weird how the mind works ...

 

[Ed Ryder]

Perceived value is very odd really. Many people will happily spend ££ on a cup of coffee at Starbucks but balk at a few quid for a book.
Going back to pricing, someone I know who bought my book told me straight that they never spent over £2 on novels from authors they didn't know, which was one reason why I put mine at that price. Now I have a few more reviews in perhaps I should revisit that one...

 

[Brian W. Foster]

Perceived value is very odd really. Many people will happily spend ££ on a cup of coffee at Starbucks but balk at a few quid for a book.
Going back to pricing, someone I know who bought my book told me straight that they never spent over £2 on novels from authors they didn't know, which was one reason why I put mine at that price. Now I have a few more reviews in perhaps I should revisit that one...

Another weird thing about the human mind, we tend to give way too much weight to anecdotal evidence ...

 

[Ed Ryder]

works for me!

(well, when I'm not at work anyway)

 

[ralphkern]

You might find the link on post 16 useful, the smashwords author survey. It provides quantative data to assist with many of the points you're working through.

In summary though, $3.99 appears to be the price point where price meets sales volume. Much higher and there's a sharp tail off.

 

[CWScott]

I think of 60k as on the lower end of full novel length rather than a novella. It's been a while since I bought a paperback, but when I lived in the west I don't remember every paying less than £5 (around $7.50 at the time) for a book, and it felt like a good deal. $3.99 is pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

Something I forget. Can't remember the last time I paid less than $6.99 for a paperback. And I never had a problem paying $25 for a hardback for authors I liked since I didn't want to wait a year for the paperback.

 

[Cathbad]

I stopped buying hardcovers after Talisman. That book drove up the costs well above my meager wages. I've mostly stuck to paperbacks since.

 

[Keith Taylor]

Something I forget. Can't remember the last time I paid less than $6.99 for a paperback. And I never had a problem paying $25 for a hardback for authors I liked since I didn't want to wait a year for the paperback.

Yeah, me too. I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan and I always ran out on launch day to grab a copy of anything new in whichever format it was available. If the only options were a hardback at $25 or a three month wait for a paperback at $6.99 I'd have friction burns on my thigh from pulling out my wallet too quickly. The value of a new Pratchett book to me was literally 'whatever I have in my pocket, but it'd be great if you let me keep the bus fare home.'

It's not quite so easy for self-pub authors these days. Many of us kind of fall for the idea that our books are worth less because they're presented in the form of electrons and magic rather than lovely, nice smelling paper that feels amazing in your hands, and we tend to err towards lower prices as if we're embarrassed to charge more. The problem with that is that I never bought a Discworld novel because I liked the feel of the paper. I bought it because I knew it would be an awesome story that would transport me to another world for a day or so. If you write a great story you should charge whatever you damn well please (within reasonable limits, of course) without fear that readers will balk at the cost

I released the first two novels in a new series last week. New pen name, new genre, zero established fanbase. I priced the first at $0.99 just to get my name out there, and the second at the standard price of $3.99 (both are around 45k words). I just woke up to find that book one is at #688 in the store, #13 in post-apocalyptic sci-fi and #45 in sci-fi overall. Once the rest of my paid promos have run I'll up the price to $3.99 and leave it there forever, because it's a decent story and I don't like the idea of too many readers seeing a $0.99 price tag beside my name. Hell, I might even up the price of book two to $4.99. This ain't a charity

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Don't forget - the higher the price of your book, the greater rankings boost it gets for a sale. So you also need to balance that in. I've just put my price for Inish Carraig up by a dollar - based partly on this thread - and I'll see what happens. So far, sales are down but it's a slow time in any retail, the mid-August slump (except back to college stuff) so I'll give it some time. I also have a 99p week available if I want it in Sept and am thinking that the bigger discount will look better.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Jo, I've heard that too, but also that the effect isn't as great as some believe. Hard to assess without having an inside line.

 

[Vertigo]

Don't forget - the higher the price of your book, the greater rankings boost it gets for a sale. So you also need to balance that in. I've just put my price for Inish Carraig up by a dollar - based partly on this thread - and I'll see what happens. So far, sales are down but it's a slow time in any retail, the mid-August slump (except back to college stuff) so I'll give it some time. I also have a 99p week available if I want it in Sept and am thinking that the bigger discount will look better.

When you say sales are down do you mean by quantity or value or maybe both? The thing about selling eBooks is that it costs you no more to sell 10,000 rather than 100. So financially it's all about how much you, the author, are taking, but in terms of building a 'fan' base it's all about the number sold. That can be a pretty difficult tightrope to walk.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

When you say sales are down do you mean by quantity or value or maybe both? The thing about selling eBooks is that it costs you no more to sell 10,000 rather than 100. So financially it's all about how much you, the author, are taking, but in terms of building a 'fan' base it's all about the number sold. That can be a pretty difficult tightrope to walk.

In this case, quantity.

It's a very difficult tightrope. But I've done well with Inish Carraig (and I'm focusing on IC for the purposes of this thread as, for Abendau, Tickety Boo set the price and get the detail of the sales breakdown,), have managed - somehow! - to get it into the hands of thousands of readers and hit profit on it. Now I'm focusing more on three things:

1. Actually getting fair payment for the books sold

2. Targetting free copies to people I think will enjoy it, and who might spread the word. Word of mouth seems to be building for it - and the consistently good reviews are definitely part of that battle - but I need to make more of that. So, for instance, I now include in the blurb that it was Hugo nominated - since I don't know very many indie authors who have had that. I'm not sure how much it's adding but it seems, to me, to be more of an accolade than that it's been an Amazon bestseller - because everyone claims that. I also would like to get my review numbers up - I now have over 50 5* reviews but they're in all different places.)

3. Building my mailing list. After Abendau's Legacy comes out this year I won't have a new book out for about 9 months. Which is fine as during that time I have several audio books coming out, and a possible novella (a much truncated version of the book you betaed years ago). But Waters and the Wild is gaining some notice, because it's my first fantasy - and I think lots of people think my writing might suit fantasy better - and because it's getting some good early feedback from those who've betaed.

It is, as Ralph has pointed out before, building not just sales of one, or two, or four books come next month (crikey!) but building my brand, for what it's worth, although I hate the term. To make a career out of this, I have to be seen as someone people want to buy books by. Now, I'm getting there with that, and have a great following, but pricing is something I need to walk the tightrope of to keep building over the next year and launch my next book with more of a bang than I've managed in the past. (My publisher is also very focused on that, which is great, and I feel in very safe hands to do this.)

 

[Brian W. Foster]

Something I forget. Can't remember the last time I paid less than $6.99 for a paperback. And I never had a problem paying $25 for a hardback for authors I liked since I didn't want to wait a year for the paperback.

It's hard for me to remember the last time I bought a physical copy of a book (other than my own paperbacks, cause it's just kind of fun to have something I wrote in print form ). I do vividly recall rushing to the bookstore the moment the newest Wheel of Time book came out and plunking down the $20+ for the hardcover. Right now, though, I read very few traditionally published authors, mainly due to the lack of perceived value. If I can get the entertainment value I want for $5, why should I pay $8?

There are, however, a few series that have hooked me, and I do still pay the $8 when new releases come out.

 

[Dan Jones]

Just coming to this thread.

There's one specifically to avoid - I think it's £1.99.

This is intriguing - do you know why?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Just coming to this thread.


This is intriguing - do you know why?

Nope - it's just based on Smashwords survey (it's $2.99, actually)

 

[Keith Taylor]

Just coming to this thread.


This is intriguing - do you know why?

£1.99 (or $1.99 in the US store) is KDP no man's land. You don't qualify for 70% royalties when pricing below $2.99, and at 35% there's no significant difference in your income whether you're getting a royalty rate of $0.70 a book or $0.35 unless your volumes are excellent. $1.99 will also dissuade readers looking for bargain books.

In short, $1.99 means that you're in direct competition with a stack of $0.99 books but you're only getting about a third of the benefit of a $2.99 price point. It's the worst of all worlds. You might as well price at $2.99 and sell fewer copies but take the larger royalty cut.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Don't know about UK prices, but I've seen a lot of discussion on this from indie authors in US prices. The general consensus seems to be:

- $.99 doesn't sell as well as it used to.
- $2.99 is the minimum level for 70%, so a lot of authors go with it. Because so many do it, though, it's almost like it's become the new $.99 in signaling "may not be well done."
- $4.99 seems to be the price they think is best.

Important caveat: The thoughts above are just general observations. Genre and other factors can greatly influence things. Almost everyone says that your best bet is to experiment and see what happens.

That being said, I start all my novels at $4.99.

£1.99 (or $1.99 in the US store) is KDP no man's land. You don't qualify for 70% royalties when pricing below $2.99, and at 35% there's no significant difference in your income whether you're getting a royalty rate of $0.70 a book or $0.35 unless your volumes are excellent. $1.99 will also dissuade readers looking for bargain books.

In short, $1.99 means that you're in direct competition with a stack of $0.99 books but you're only getting about a third of the benefit of a $2.99 price point. It's the worst of all worlds. You might as well price at $2.99 and sell fewer copies but take the larger royalty cut.

I'm feeling like someone ought to come up with a definitive answer for those following the thread....

so....

$2.99 and £1.99 are the starting point for 70% royalties. So not below $2.99. But... smashwords suggest it's not as good a pricepoint as $3.99.

Gigaom | What’s the best price for a self-published ebook? $3.99, Smashwords research suggests

so, avoid $2.99.

 

[Gonk the Insane]

Don't forget - the higher the price of your book, the greater rankings boost it gets for a sale.

Wait, what? I'd always assumed the Amazon rankings were based entirely on sales volume. Is this humungously wrong?