Let the reader set the price?

Anders · 10-05-2010, 05:36 AM

Hello,

I hope I am not duplicatong an existing thread.

My question is about a topic that may be regarded as impolite, namely money. Don't worry, I am not asking about how much you earn, only about which "model" you believe in. In particular those of you debuting with an ambition to make a living on writing.

As far as I can see there are a lot of ways to distribute e-books. It is fairly easy to get the book on the market, even to advertise it. But what I would like to ask about is pricing. Not how much you can possibly charge for the e-book, rather if you can distribute the book for free and let the reader decide the price (if she/he feels like paying at all).

This may sound crazy. But I can see two arguments why this is not as stupid as it sounds.
1. As a debuting writer you have to make yourself a name. And free is if anything something that should spread your work to most potential readers.
2. Experience in other artforms say you can earn more through donations than charging for it. An example would be the movie "Sita Sings the Blues":
http://questioncopyright.org/sita_distribution

I have tried this with my comic book. Since july donations or mershandising have brought me about 70 euros. It may very well mean that this particular book does not have any value except for very few people. My sole experience does not say much about this distribution model. So I wonder if this has worked for anybody here.

What do you think about letting the reader set the price? If you think it is the wrong way to go, what is your approach?

(Sorry if the spelling is bad, I am not a native english speaker)

kcmay · 10-05-2010, 08:28 AM

Sort of like share-ware software -- most people won't pay even if they love it. If you don't care whether you ever make a dime, give it a try! However, if you want to see money from sales, I wouldn't advise the set-your-own-price model.

That said, I might try it for my novella instead of selling it for $0.99 and offering a 100% off coupon. I honestly don't care if I never see a dime for that story, but I had to charge $0.99 to list it on Amazon.

mr ploppy · 10-05-2010, 08:48 AM

Smashwords will let you do that, but I don't think the time of purchase is the ideal time for someone to decide how much it is worth.

DavidRM · 10-05-2010, 12:44 PM

As someone who has 14 years experience selling what used to be called "shareware" (and is now called "business as usual on the Web"), I can assure you: If you don't put a price tag on your work, on one else will.

If you want to offer the book for free for a while, do that. Then raise the price later.

Put a price on your work that seems fair to you. Then stick by it.

-David

neilmarr · 10-05-2010, 03:52 PM

And there's a subtle difference between 'pay what you like' and 'pay what you can afford'. This second offer has paid dividends, I read. Cheers and good luck. Neil

Anders · 10-06-2010, 12:27 PM

Thank you all for the kind replies.

I suppose this is not an alternative then. I will consider that for my future works. As for this one I will leave it as it is. Anyway it was about copyrights so it kind of fits to the subject to distribute it for free.

neilmarr · 10-06-2010, 12:30 PM

Set a fair price. Stick to it. If the price is zero -- well, that's how you value your work. N

crich70 · 10-06-2010, 12:51 PM

I'd think that since you wouldn't have to worry about binding and shipping the product (since ebooks are all electronic media) that you will already stand to make more $$ in actual profits from a given work. So therefore you can set a fair price that won't break the budget for potential readers and still stand to make some money from it. I mean while money isn't the only reason why a person writes most of us can't afford to give the product of our labors away entirely for free either. I'd say somewhere between .99 and $9.99 for the average book is a good price. Most paperbacks run about that these days if not a bit more, and some potential readers might figure that if you're giving it away for free then it must not be very well written. After all if the author doesn't see his/her writing as worth charging for how good can it really be? Just my opinion of course.

Notre Dame · 12-14-2010, 11:33 AM

If you give them it for nothing, and they like it, they will baulk at paying for the next one. As DavidRM said " If you don't put a price tag on your work, on one else will." Which is just as good a way of saying: "I'm giving you this for free. It's not worth paying for." How often have you really valued what you've been given for free? So why should those readers? However high the price you ask for your work, it will never be adequate financial recompense for all the hours you put in. Unless you're a huge name. Most of us aren't and we accept that. But don't devalue yourself.
http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

Luke King · 12-17-2010, 05:18 PM

From memory, I think the survey they did on "set your own price" at Smashwords showed that 85% of people take the book for free. 15% pay something.

Notre Dame · 12-18-2010, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke King

From memory, I think the survey they did on "set your own price" at Smashwords showed that 85% of people take the book for free. 15% pay something.

I think that's a pretty small percentage, don't you?

http://www.chrisscottwilson.co.uk

GoblinWriter · 12-18-2010, 08:07 PM

Here's the blog post from Smashwords in case you're interested (though Luke nailed the stats!):

What Happens When Ebook Customers Choose Their Own Price?

Steven Lake · 12-19-2010, 10:20 PM

Yeah, I agree. I've had a "pay what it's worth" scheme going on with Oort for a while. I give it away for free, and if you think it's worth something to you, drop something in my tipjar. I've had several hundred downloads, and two donations. That's it. So yeah, set your own price doesn't work. Even Stephen King tried it and people did the same thing to him. It's the fact that most people are naturally cheap, and quite a few more will snatch anything they can get for free and will only part with their money if forced to.

Alm Hlgh · 02-23-2011, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidRM

As someone who has 14 years experience selling what used to be called "shareware" (and is now called "business as usual on the Web"), I can assure you: If you don't put a price tag on your work, on one else will.

If you want to offer the book for free for a while, do that. Then raise the price later.

Put a price on your work that seems fair to you. Then stick by it.

-David

Ditto, and I will add that if you are using Smashwords and decide to change the price of the book later; know that you will be in for the fight of your life to get the eBook pricing changed at all of SW distributors (Kobo, Diesel, Sony, etc.). I write this from experience. After over three months of sending emails to SW about updating the pricing of my ebooks, there are still some books that are priced at old rates. That would be fine if Amazon didn't respond to the competitive pricing where they will lower the price of your book to beat out competition. My point is to be careful when pricing your eBooks for free on SW or take them out of premium catalog distribution so that they don't get stuck at a lower price. I am still trying to get some of my eBooks priced right.

Worldwalker · 02-23-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

It's the fact that most people are naturally cheap, and quite a few more will snatch anything they can get for free and will only part with their money if forced to.

I'm curious how the number of people paying relates to other, similar books. That is, did the same number of people download this book as downloaded fixed-price books, but only a few of them paid, or was the number of people who paid for it similar to those who bought fixed-price books but many more downloaded it, or (as I suspect) was it somewhere in between?

The reason I'm wondering is because people will often scoop up anything that's free, even if they don't actually have a use for it. So I'm wondering how many of the people who downloaded the set-your-price ebook would have done so at any other price, versus how many of them were ordinary buyers who would have bought the book at a fixed price. I think that may be more of a significant number.

10-05-2010, 05:36 AM	#1
Anders Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 572 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Sony PRS-300	Let the reader set the price? Hello, I hope I am not duplicatong an existing thread. My question is about a topic that may be regarded as impolite, namely money. Don't worry, I am not asking about how much you earn, only about which "model" you believe in. In particular those of you debuting with an ambition to make a living on writing. As far as I can see there are a lot of ways to distribute e-books. It is fairly easy to get the book on the market, even to advertise it. But what I would like to ask about is pricing. Not how much you can possibly charge for the e-book, rather if you can distribute the book for free and let the reader decide the price (if she/he feels like paying at all). This may sound crazy. But I can see two arguments why this is not as stupid as it sounds. 1. As a debuting writer you have to make yourself a name. And free is if anything something that should spread your work to most potential readers. 2. Experience in other artforms say you can earn more through donations than charging for it. An example would be the movie "Sita Sings the Blues": http://questioncopyright.org/sita_distribution I have tried this with my comic book. Since july donations or mershandising have brought me about 70 euros. It may very well mean that this particular book does not have any value except for very few people. My sole experience does not say much about this distribution model. So I wonder if this has worked for anybody here. What do you think about letting the reader set the price? If you think it is the wrong way to go, what is your approach? (Sorry if the spelling is bad, I am not a native english speaker)

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10-05-2010, 08:28 AM	#2
kcmay Addict Posts: 363 Karma: 500001 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Kindle2	Sort of like share-ware software -- most people won't pay even if they love it. If you don't care whether you ever make a dime, give it a try! However, if you want to see money from sales, I wouldn't advise the set-your-own-price model. That said, I might try it for my novella instead of selling it for $0.99 and offering a 100% off coupon. I honestly don't care if I never see a dime for that story, but I had to charge $0.99 to list it on Amazon.

10-05-2010, 08:48 AM	#3
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Smashwords will let you do that, but I don't think the time of purchase is the ideal time for someone to decide how much it is worth.

10-05-2010, 12:44 PM	#4
DavidRM Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 1007768 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Device: Kindle	As someone who has 14 years experience selling what used to be called "shareware" (and is now called "business as usual on the Web"), I can assure you: If you don't put a price tag on your work, on one else will. If you want to offer the book for free for a while, do that. Then raise the price later. Put a price on your work that seems fair to you. Then stick by it. -David

10-05-2010, 03:52 PM	#5
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	And there's a subtle difference between 'pay what you like' and 'pay what you can afford'. This second offer has paid dividends, I read. Cheers and good luck. Neil

10-06-2010, 12:27 PM	#6
Anders Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 572 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Sony PRS-300	Thank you all for the kind replies. I suppose this is not an alternative then. I will consider that for my future works. As for this one I will leave it as it is. Anyway it was about copyrights so it kind of fits to the subject to distribute it for free.

10-06-2010, 12:30 PM	#7
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Set a fair price. Stick to it. If the price is zero -- well, that's how you value your work. N

10-06-2010, 12:51 PM	#8
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I'd think that since you wouldn't have to worry about binding and shipping the product (since ebooks are all electronic media) that you will already stand to make more $$ in actual profits from a given work. So therefore you can set a fair price that won't break the budget for potential readers and still stand to make some money from it. I mean while money isn't the only reason why a person writes most of us can't afford to give the product of our labors away entirely for free either. I'd say somewhere between .99 and $9.99 for the average book is a good price. Most paperbacks run about that these days if not a bit more, and some potential readers might figure that if you're giving it away for free then it must not be very well written. After all if the author doesn't see his/her writing as worth charging for how good can it really be? Just my opinion of course.

12-14-2010, 11:33 AM	#9
Notre Dame Magus Posts: 46 Karma: 530322 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle	If you give them it for nothing, and they like it, they will baulk at paying for the next one. As DavidRM said " If you don't put a price tag on your work, on one else will." Which is just as good a way of saying: "I'm giving you this for free. It's not worth paying for." How often have you really valued what you've been given for free? So why should those readers? However high the price you ask for your work, it will never be adequate financial recompense for all the hours you put in. Unless you're a huge name. Most of us aren't and we accept that. But don't devalue yourself. http://chrisscottwilson.co.uk

12-17-2010, 05:18 PM	#10
Luke King Member Retired Posts: 173 Karma: 200000 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kindle 2	From memory, I think the survey they did on "set your own price" at Smashwords showed that 85% of people take the book for free. 15% pay something.

12-18-2010, 08:07 PM	#12
GoblinWriter vizsla wrangler Posts: 73 Karma: 120000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Seattle Device: Kindle 3G	Here's the blog post from Smashwords in case you're interested (though Luke nailed the stats!): What Happens When Ebook Customers Choose Their Own Price?

Advert

Advert

12-19-2010, 10:20 PM	#13
Steven Lake Sci-Fi Author Posts: 1,157 Karma: 14743509 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Michigan Device: PC (Calibre)	Yeah, I agree. I've had a "pay what it's worth" scheme going on with Oort for a while. I give it away for free, and if you think it's worth something to you, drop something in my tipjar. I've had several hundred downloads, and two donations. That's it. So yeah, set your own price doesn't work. Even Stephen King tried it and people did the same thing to him. It's the fact that most people are naturally cheap, and quite a few more will snatch anything they can get for free and will only part with their money if forced to.