Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Nemo
There is a lot of chatter in the writers section about how much we think our efforts are worth and how much we should charge etc. I would be interested to hear what readers and buyers of ebooks think on the subject. So how much would you be prepared to pay for an ebook written by an independent author that you weren't familiar with?
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Well, I'm a bit heterodox in that I don't believe in the absolute $9.99 ceiling, don't hate agency pricing, and don't get much into the production costs of a DTB vs. an ebook debate.
If I want to read a book, I want to read it. Many, many factors will go into how much I'm willing to pay. Some of them mean that, even if it's free, I still won't want to read it.
To your question, essentially, what figures in to giving a new author a try (independent or not)?
First, they must pass the bar of something that catches my interest. I'm a pretty omnivorous reader, so that's not too hard; but, I don't read an awful lot of romance, "christian" lit, or non-fiction besides science, history, or cooking.
Being in my "interest zone" as a given, what can you do to stand out:
1) Don't be obnoxious in your self-promotion. Seen too many spam-style, "try my book" plastered over the other boards I frequent. (Folks on mobileread are pretty good about this, actually.)
2) Make some sort of sample available. This assures me that you're serious about customer-friendly marketing and gives me a chance to assess the level of quality in the formatting, editing, and writing.
3) Except for promotions, steer clear of selling yourself short. My eye tends to glance over the $0.99 and less titles; experience has just shown me too many non-professionals at that end of the pool.
4) Make sure any descriptions/marketing copy are clean, professional, and free of basic grammar, spellings, and punctuation errors. If you can't handle a paragraph, I'm not inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt on a whole book.
5) Multiple platforms. I'm a NOOK owner. I'm more inclined to chance something on the B&N site due to one-click ease than to hunt down something at Smashwords or another site that I then have to download. It never hurts to play on my laziness.
6) Pricing. I'm inclined give more of a chance to unknowns in the $2.99 - $5 range. Unless I know your work or it gets really stellar reviews from sources I trust, I'd keep it below $8.99.
I'm coming at this from a reader's perspective.
If I put my (aspiring) writer's hat on, I have to say I haven't reached the level yet to have an honest opinion as to what mix of standard pricing, promotions, and marketing would hit the sweet spot.
I total snowball guess would be around $2.99 - $3.99. Once you build enough of a following, maybe hold the prices on backlist and put out newer books at $5.99. Of course, always throwing freebies and cheap deals out there as a way to hook more new readers.
If you can develop a loyal fan base, I see nothing wrong in theory with charging in the same range as the mainstream publishers. My gut says you wouldn't need to, but could build and hold an audience by staying just a bit less expensive, without having to stay at $2.99 forever.