Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I certainly take the view that, sales apart, an author who prices a book at 99p apparently places little value on his or her own work, and that makes me wary.
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I haven't noticed a correlation between higher-priced indie books and higher quality; indie books vary widely in quality regardless of price. My understanding is that authors are trying to maximize their profits and there just isn't a single foolproof formula for doing that. If I think I can sell a hundred copies at a dollar (or pound or euro) each rather than eight copies at ten dollars each, I'll sell them for a dollar regardless of how much I value my work. There's probably a point between one dollar and ten dollars that would give me a better overall return than either one, but the ability to write a novel doesn't necessarily confer mathematical ability (and I can attest that mathematical ability hasn't allowed me to write a compelling novel).
Writing a good book takes skill and effort, but so does planning a marketing strategy. Indie authors without an effective marketing strategy often have to compete by setting a low price.