Should the availability of a sample affect the price of a book? - Page 3

J. Strnad · 06-30-2010, 12:51 AM

This is the kind of discussion for which "YMMV" was created!

Blue Tyson · 06-30-2010, 05:54 AM

One chapter? Webscriptions has multiple chapters, generally.

My opinion is if people can't see any of it, it is for one of these reasons

1) It is crap
2) The author is an idiot
3) The publisher is incompetent
4) The retailer is technologically challenged

Xenophon · 06-30-2010, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

[SNIP]

I just don't see quantity being much of a substitute for quality, is all.
I've grown used to the BAEN and Amazon approach of one sample chapter, so anything longer stands out; anything beyond *three* chapters and I start to wonder *why*? As in, what's the catch? Am I expected to go *that* far before recognizing quality?

[SNIP]

Ummmm... I believe that the Baen approach is to make the first 25% of the book available as the free sample. That's usually rather more than 1 chapter.

Xenophon

Tim_A · 06-30-2010, 01:18 PM

If the free sample is half the book, then the price for the rest should be less surely, because you're only buying half a book... To charge extra is tantamount to saying "I have you over a barrel, and I' m going to fleece you for as much as I can", and although I might buy the book once, I'd definitely think twice about buying from that author again.

astra · 06-30-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim_A

If the free sample is half the book, then the price for the rest should be less surely, because you're only buying half a book... To charge extra is tantamount to saying "I have you over a barrel, and I' m going to fleece you for as much as I can", and although I might buy the book once, I'd definitely think twice about buying from that author again.

Very weird point of view.
Accordingly to your POV it is better not to give you any samples at all, only then you agree to pay a full price.
Don't you think there is a flaw in your thinking?
You pay for the whole work. Whether the sample is 2 chapters or half a book, it doesn't matter. What if the writer would say: Read the book, if you like it pay for it. If we follow your way, then we would pay nothing because we finished the book and there is nothing left to pay for.

nashira · 06-30-2010, 04:14 PM

I'm willing to pay a fair price for a book, especially if I like it. But, Authors I know and love aside I will not pay for a book without a sample. If I go to the bookstore, I can carry books around, flick through them, read a few chapters, the blurb, etc. I'm not asked to pay more for the book simply because I do this. I see no reason to.

Ankh · 06-30-2010, 04:21 PM

A sample is quickly becoming the norm in ebook world, a marketing vehicle. But it is NOT a reason for hiking up the price of the book. At least it isn't for me.

The final price should not be affected by the existence of a sample, IMHO.

Theta Head · 06-30-2010, 04:27 PM

I've just uploaded a free sample of Theta Head to my site. It is the whole of Part 1 comprising Chapter 1 - 6. My publisher, which is a small British company, were fully behind the idea and there was no question of charging more for the full book. We embraced the idea and we're working on adding some video to it and promoting it as vigorously as the full novel, not only on kobo, amazon etc, but also using it to try and get reviews. It has many uses.

Greg Dawe
Author of Theta Head - a neuroscience thriller
gregdawe.com

J. Strnad · 06-30-2010, 10:22 PM

"If the free sample is half the book, then the price for the rest should be less surely, because you're only buying half a book..."

Well that's just silly. What if you sat down in a store and read the first half of a print book. Would you go up to the counter and say, "I only want to pay for half of this book because I've already read half"? Or would you try to negotiate a lower price because the first half is now "used"?

theducks · 06-30-2010, 10:58 PM

Free Sample, how soon we forget!
I refer to the days you walked into a book store and picked up a book, read the blurbs, maybe read part of a chapter before making the "buy" decision.
Now, the Author wants top dollar for a book, sight unseen?

With Internet and E-Books, the "Sample" replaces the thumbing through process.
No sample... (probably) No Sale

Some of my favourite authors style changed over time. Sometimes it diverged from my tastes. Sometime, my tastes changed

How big a sample? Big enough to get a sense of Style, and Story (first impressions count). Usually a chapter or 2 should do it as a sample. Depends The author should suggest how much to sample.

Baen has the right idea. Samples work for print books also.

dkb · 06-30-2010, 11:17 PM

I buy about 8 books a month--this doesn't include free books. Right now I have 77 unread samples on my Kindle. There are also 96 books waiting on my Kindle that were free. The book I'm currently reading and the next 4 in line were all $8 - 10 and from authors I know I like.

Before collections, I didn't realize just how many books I actually had on my Kindle. I knew there were a lot of pages, but I thought they were mostly samples. The point is that just offering a sample or even a freebie--is not a guarantee that your book will be read. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't even download a sample, if the cost of the book is more than I'm willing to pay for a particular genre/author. I know that I'm influenced by price and I would be more likely to download/read something by an unknown if it were relatively cheap.

Another thing I noticed when I was organizing my books into collections was that a lot of the books that were free when I downloaded them, are no longer free. I have a feeling they were offered free long enough to get good ratings and/or get in the top 100 best selling free books. So my advice would be start out cheap--you can always raise the price later!

J. Strnad · 07-01-2010, 12:16 PM

As an author, the biggest investment you are asking people to make in your book is their time. Getting people to read your work is the hard part; getting them to pay for it is easy by comparison, once they are interested.

I used to think that giving my book away for free would result in more readers. I don't believe that anymore. People look at a free book and, unless it's a public domain classic, they think, "If it was any good, they'd be charging for it." They don't feel it's worth their time.

I'm still laughing about the idea that you should charge less if you've offered a long sample, because you're selling "less book." I can imagine that scenario in a restaurant: "Excuse me, waiter...I've already eaten half of this meal, so I should only pay half price, right? Oh, wait...I just took two more bites, so I'm down to about 40%. If I just sit here and eat the whole thing, is it free?" Life imitates Monty Python....

neilmarr · 07-02-2010, 05:37 AM

Hate to spoil the party.

Extracts, samples, cover notes, reviews, are NOT free gifts. What they are is promotion on the tried-and-tested suck-it-and-see principle used to sell pounds of cheese in the supermarket by offering a morsel on a toothpick as a taster.

Unlike that scrap of cheese, though, a book's flavour can only be deduced by investing some time.

If you like what you've read, you stump up for the full monty. If you don't, you're not a penny out of pocket.

You gonna ask for a discount on a movie theatre ticket because you already saw the good bits for free in a trailer before last week's A feature? Get real!

In marketing terms -- and I hope any other terms -- a free taste is a square deal as long as it's offered honestly as fair representation of the entire product.

Cheers. Neil

HarryT · 07-02-2010, 07:17 AM

Given that it takes time and effort to produce the sample, clearly it can only make the book more expensive as a result.

mr ploppy · 07-02-2010, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I used to think that giving my book away for free would result in more readers. I don't believe that anymore. People look at a free book and, unless it's a public domain classic, they think, "If it was any good, they'd be charging for it." They don't feel it's worth their time.

It isn't really that. It is all the other free books (and parts of books) that are competing for the same (often restricted) reading time. Paid for books do tend to jump the queue, but that is more due to how much they have been looked forward to by the reader rather than any monetary value they place on reading them.

06-30-2010, 04:27 PM	#38
Theta Head Theta Head Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: London Device: kindle	Shifiting paradigm I've just uploaded a free sample of Theta Head to my site. It is the whole of Part 1 comprising Chapter 1 - 6. My publisher, which is a small British company, were fully behind the idea and there was no question of charging more for the full book. We embraced the idea and we're working on adding some video to it and promoting it as vigorously as the full novel, not only on kobo, amazon etc, but also using it to try and get reviews. It has many uses. Greg Dawe Author of Theta Head - a neuroscience thriller gregdawe.com

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06-30-2010, 12:51 AM	#31
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	This is the kind of discussion for which "YMMV" was created!

06-30-2010, 05:54 AM	#32
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	One chapter? Webscriptions has multiple chapters, generally. My opinion is if people can't see any of it, it is for one of these reasons 1) It is crap 2) The author is an idiot 3) The publisher is incompetent 4) The retailer is technologically challenged

06-30-2010, 01:18 PM	#34
Tim_A Member Posts: 17 Karma: 36 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: England. Near the station. Device: Ipad, PRS-600	If the free sample is half the book, then the price for the rest should be less surely, because you're only buying half a book... To charge extra is tantamount to saying "I have you over a barrel, and I' m going to fleece you for as much as I can", and although I might buy the book once, I'd definitely think twice about buying from that author again.

06-30-2010, 04:14 PM	#36
nashira Addict Posts: 219 Karma: 73734 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I'm willing to pay a fair price for a book, especially if I like it. But, Authors I know and love aside I will not pay for a book without a sample. If I go to the bookstore, I can carry books around, flick through them, read a few chapters, the blurb, etc. I'm not asked to pay more for the book simply because I do this. I see no reason to.

06-30-2010, 04:21 PM	#37
Ankh Guru Posts: 714 Karma: 2003751 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ottawa, ON Device: Kobo Glo HD	A sample is quickly becoming the norm in ebook world, a marketing vehicle. But it is NOT a reason for hiking up the price of the book. At least it isn't for me. The final price should not be affected by the existence of a sample, IMHO.

06-30-2010, 10:22 PM	#39
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	"If the free sample is half the book, then the price for the rest should be less surely, because you're only buying half a book..." Well that's just silly. What if you sat down in a store and read the first half of a print book. Would you go up to the counter and say, "I only want to pay for half of this book because I've already read half"? Or would you try to negotiate a lower price because the first half is now "used"?

06-30-2010, 10:58 PM	#40
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,094 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Free Sample, how soon we forget! I refer to the days you walked into a book store and picked up a book, read the blurbs, maybe read part of a chapter before making the "buy" decision. Now, the Author wants top dollar for a book, sight unseen? With Internet and E-Books, the "Sample" replaces the thumbing through process. No sample... (probably) No Sale Some of my favourite authors style changed over time. Sometimes it diverged from my tastes. Sometime, my tastes changed How big a sample? Big enough to get a sense of Style, and Story (first impressions count). Usually a chapter or 2 should do it as a sample. Depends The author should suggest how much to sample. Baen has the right idea. Samples work for print books also.

06-30-2010, 11:17 PM	#41
dkb ebook enthusiast Posts: 85 Karma: 40466 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Midlothian, VA Device: Kindle 2, iPhone, Sony PRS-350, Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch	I buy about 8 books a month--this doesn't include free books. Right now I have 77 unread samples on my Kindle. There are also 96 books waiting on my Kindle that were free. The book I'm currently reading and the next 4 in line were all $8 - 10 and from authors I know I like. Before collections, I didn't realize just how many books I actually had on my Kindle. I knew there were a lot of pages, but I thought they were mostly samples. The point is that just offering a sample or even a freebie--is not a guarantee that your book will be read. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't even download a sample, if the cost of the book is more than I'm willing to pay for a particular genre/author. I know that I'm influenced by price and I would be more likely to download/read something by an unknown if it were relatively cheap. Another thing I noticed when I was organizing my books into collections was that a lot of the books that were free when I downloaded them, are no longer free. I have a feeling they were offered free long enough to get good ratings and/or get in the top 100 best selling free books. So my advice would be start out cheap--you can always raise the price later!

07-01-2010, 12:16 PM	#42
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	As an author, the biggest investment you are asking people to make in your book is their time. Getting people to read your work is the hard part; getting them to pay for it is easy by comparison, once they are interested. I used to think that giving my book away for free would result in more readers. I don't believe that anymore. People look at a free book and, unless it's a public domain classic, they think, "If it was any good, they'd be charging for it." They don't feel it's worth their time. I'm still laughing about the idea that you should charge less if you've offered a long sample, because you're selling "less book." I can imagine that scenario in a restaurant: "Excuse me, waiter...I've already eaten half of this meal, so I should only pay half price, right? Oh, wait...I just took two more bites, so I'm down to about 40%. If I just sit here and eat the whole thing, is it free?" Life imitates Monty Python....

07-02-2010, 05:37 AM	#43
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,215 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hate to spoil the party. Extracts, samples, cover notes, reviews, are NOT free gifts. What they are is promotion on the tried-and-tested suck-it-and-see principle used to sell pounds of cheese in the supermarket by offering a morsel on a toothpick as a taster. Unlike that scrap of cheese, though, a book's flavour can only be deduced by investing some time. If you like what you've read, you stump up for the full monty. If you don't, you're not a penny out of pocket. You gonna ask for a discount on a movie theatre ticket because you already saw the good bits for free in a trailer before last week's A feature? Get real! In marketing terms -- and I hope any other terms -- a free taste is a square deal as long as it's offered honestly as fair representation of the entire product. Cheers. Neil

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07-02-2010, 07:17 AM	#44
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Given that it takes time and effort to produce the sample, clearly it can only make the book more expensive as a result.