Pricing E-Books

[VydorScope]

So I am almost ready to put my second book on the market. Book one has "sold" between 8 and 9k copies. "Sold" is not really the right word as it is listed for free, but thats the idea.

I was thinking of releasing book two for either $1.99 or $2.99... but figured I would ask first, how do you price to a e-book? I am not interested in getting rich, I have a okay paying day job, but would like some spare cash to help with bills, and buying big boy toys.

[DavidRM]

Last week I posted on my blog about my evolving ebook price strategy:
9 Months of Indie Publishing – Ebook Pricing Addendum

In summary, here's how I set my ebook prices:
* $0.99 – Short story (or a small collection of flash fiction, <10K words)
* $1.99 – Long short story or short collections (10K-20K words) (unused so far)
* $2.99 – Collections, short novels (20K – 50K words)
* $4.99 – Novels, collections (>50K words)

-David

[VydorScope]

Hmm book 2 is approx 85k words... I never considered charging more then $2.99? I was wondering if $2.99 was too greedy, but by your scale I should charge $4.99.

Interesting. I'll have to read your write up and see how you came up with that.

[Native]

I see you're at Smashwords, but if you plan on ever dealing with Amazon the price needs to be $2.99 or more to get the 70% deal. Below that, your cut drops WAY off.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Native

I see you're at Smashwords, but if you plan on ever dealing with Amazon the price needs to be $2.99 or more to get the 70% deal. Below that, your cut drops WAY off.

Amazon represents around 75% of my book distribution right now, so already with them and book 2 will release on Amazon and Smashwords at the same time, and other sites weeks later as the Smashwords gets it pushed out.

[Tome Keeper]

I would say $2.99 for a relatively unknown author was too high, although a lot of it is dependant on personal opinion. I would pay about $1.99 for a novel by a little known author if the summary really appealed.

I know David has done a study on how his books sold with price, but I would suggest that for most people $4.99 is a lot for an e-book novel. I also don't agree that e-book pricing should be solely determined by word-count.

Vincent, I am actually reading (with the aim of reviewing) your first book at the moment and I would say that a price for your second book, taking into account it's part of a series would be best set at around the $1.99 mark, those who have read and enjoyed your first book will be happy to pay a bit more, but it is still low enough for unfamiliar readers to 'take a chance'. Also are you aware that The Enemy of an Enemy is priced at 69 p (UK Amazon) but is free on Smashwords? Is that deliberate?

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Tome Keeper

Also are you aware that The Enemy of an Enemy is priced at 69 p (UK Amazon) but is free on Smashwords? Is that deliberate?

It is free on the US Amazon. It is supposed to be free everywhere, but Amazon does not allow self-publish to sell for less then 0.99 USD. It was free on Amazon UK yesterday, so I do not know why its 0.69p now??? Amazon made it free (with out asking) a month ago on all their sites to "price match another store." I was happy when I saw that, but did not know they jacked the price back up on the UK store. *sigh*

I can not control that since 0.69 p is already as low as I can set it. If you complain with their price match feature they might lower it again since B&N, Apple, Sony, Smashwords, etc all offer it for free.

[Tome Keeper]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

It is free on the US Amazon. It is supposed to be free everywhere, but Amazon does not allow self-publish to sell for less then 0.99 USD. It was free on Amazon UK yesterday, so I do not know why its 0.69p now??? Amazon made it free (with out asking) a month ago on all their sites to "price match another store." I was happy when I saw that, but did not know they jacked the price back up on the UK store. *sigh*

I can not control that since 0.69 p is already as low as I can set it. If you complain with their price match feature they might lower it again since B&N, Apple, Sony, Smashwords, etc all offer it for free.

I will try that. Was just wondering about the discrepancy is all .

[apbschmitz]

It strikes me that the free sample download puts readers in a place where they have enough information to justify spending $2.99-$4.99 on a novel over 50,000 words. I don't think that's excessive for a product that will take hours to consume. Of course there's so often a vast difference between what's true and what seems like it should be true.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Tome Keeper

I will try that. Was just wondering about the discrepancy is all .

Thanks, if customers complain they might do something... they do not really listen to authors.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by apbschmitz

It strikes me that the free sample download puts readers in a place where they have enough information to justify spending $2.99-$4.99 on a novel over 50,000 words.

True, but the price will also be a factor in whether they click through to read the blurb or not, and without that first click they will never get to read the sample.

But for the second book in a series, where the first book was free, I don't think price within that range will be the determining factor. More important would be the number of people who read the first book rather than just downloaded it, and how many of those who liked it notice there is a new one.

Too late now, but it would have been an idea to harvest contact details of people who read the first one so that they could be told about the new one on release day. A mail-in offer for a free story or some other incentive.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Too late now, but it would have been an idea to harvest contact details of people who read the first one so that they could be told about the new one on release day. A mail-in offer for a free story or some other incentive.

No idea how you could do that and still be listed on Amazon and the other major retailers? I would love to have those 8-9k readers emails to let them know when book 2 comes out!

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

But for the second book in a series, where the first book was free, I don't think price within that range will be the determining factor. More important would be the number of people who read the first book rather than just downloaded it, and how many of those who liked it notice there is a new one.

So are you saying 2.99-4.99 is a good range? Not sure I know which range your referring to.

[HistoryWes]

I've tried different prices and I've now gone to a two price point system-- a lot of indy authors are using the same. Either .99 or 2.99. If I want a book to move, or it's relatively short, I go with .99. Ninety-nine cents is still a bargain and still a good impulse price. As was noted above, any books below 2.99 on Amazon don't benefit from the 70% royalty program. So my bigger books are 2.99. There's not much sense in going 1.99. You lose the royalty bump and possibly lose some of the sales you would have had at .99.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

No idea how you could do that and still be listed on Amazon and the other major retailers? I would love to have those 8-9k readers emails to let them know when book 2 comes out!

Put the offer at the back of the book. Nobody vets content when it is published, but it's a farily well established marketing strategy anyway so I doubt they would care.