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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)

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)