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'm not quite sure about that.
We would have to see some statistics about sales figures for ebooks, profit margins and such.
Your statement could have been said about apps 3 years ago as well.
I still remember the golden days, when games for Commodore 64 about 30 years ago had been 100 German Marks = 50 Euros.
Then, on iPad, we suddenly saw apps for 1 to 3 Euros. Lots of those have been rubbish and not even worth that low price. But others simply made their revenues via volume. And I guess, same (to some extent) is true for eBooks. Some unknown author, in brick and mortar bookshops might not have been able to sell a single book. Or not even make it through publishing. But suddenly, with eBooks...
I've read an interesting article about Blake Crouch (btw: I find his work repetitive and after some time quite boring). He claimed, he makes more profit now in self-publishing for some 6 Euro per book, than before with his publisher for 18 Euros per book.
He certainly wouldn't go down to 99 cent, his sales figures simply don't force him to do so. But for lots of unknown authors, with way lower expectations about their income, the calculation very well may work out.
Didn't some game studios with 99 cent games brake numerous revenue records?
So, 99 cent per book may be low. But if total revenue still explodes: Why should this be considered "low respect for ones work"? it could be considered well thought out business model as well.