Would you buy an electronic book for under $2

[jbcohen]

Some of my pals are rather suspicious of a novel that is priced under $2 and think that new authors that price their work under $2 must be terrible writters. Personally I am constantly looking for new authors with the hopes of following that one author for his/her carreer and that price point is a cheap and easy way to find those new great authors. Would you buy a book priced under $2?

[Pablo]

Over the last months I've purchased some low-priced books that turned out to be real jewells.
Examples: The Sentence of Marriage series by Shayne Parkinson (4 books, the first one free, the rest $1.99 each when I got them, now, $2.99 each). Boomerang, by Alan Hutchenson, is great and just $0.99.
The price of a book is not necessarily an indication of its quality.

[avantman42]

I would and I have. There are plenty of reasons why an author may choose to price their books at less than $2.

The following were $0.99 each:
False Refuge by Steve Anderson
Besserwisser by Steve Anderson
Trio of Horrors: Three Tales from the Holocaust
The War of the Worlds: Aftermath

I'm currently reading False Refuge. I've read and enjoyed all the others listed above. I have several more books in my collection that cost less than $2 but which I haven't read yet.

[rhadin]

Yes! I rarely buy an ebook that costs more than $2. There are a good number of ebooks that are $1.99 or less, including free, that are excellent.

[ATDrake]

Sure, and I do it all the time when they're available and interesting.

Mind you, I mostly do it for published backlist authors whose works I've already read or who have a good reputation and I've been meaning to try out.

A totally new self-published indie author would have a bigger barrier to hurdle to convince me, but I wouldn't be averse to spending money on someone whom I turned out to find was a good and enjoyable author, even if their writing could maybe use a bit more polishing.

But in that case, usually I'd have to try a lot of free stories or a full free novel (even if it were only via time-limited promotion) before I'd be able to decide, simply because I'm averse to impulse spending even low amounts on a total unknown without at least the vague indication of some form of pre-publication vetting and more-or-less quality assurance that even a small-press imprint brings.

[Catlady]

Only if I am familiar with the author already, or if the book is from a major publisher, or if it's a nonfiction niche book that covers some esoteric subject I'm interested in.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Over the last months I've purchased some low-priced books that turned out to be real jewells.
Examples: The Sentence of Marriage series by Shayne Parkinson (4 books, the first one free, the rest $1.99 each when I got them, now, $2.99 each). Boomerang, by Alan Hutchenson, is great and just $0.99.
The price of a book is not necessarily an indication of its quality.

I would, and I do. I, too, read Ms. Parkinson's series and it made me a fan for life. I've read some great books, novellas and short stories that were given away (not as a deal or coupon or sale, just plain ol' free) that I loved, and several in the "$2 or less" category.

I wouldn't write off a low-priced book as low-quality any more than I would assume McMoney's latest high-priced release must be high-quality. Yes, sometimes you do get what you pay for, but other times you get a whole lot more or a whole lot less than you pay for.

[Xanthe]

Yes. I've tried the $2 and under books. Some of them were quite good.

[bhartman36]

Yes, I've bought books for under $2, some of which were very good.

Also, as an author with 2 short stories on Kindle, I hope people will spend less than $2 on a Kindle purchase. I couldn't justify charging > $2 on a story at a time.

[DMB]

I don't think it's rational to have a prejudice against cheap books. But I'd never buy one just because it was cheap.

[crich70]

Like avantman42 I would and as many of the books I have were free at the time I purchased them I can say I have indeed bought books that were under $2.00 in cost. Just because a book is priced low doesn't mean it's not worth the electrons.

[caleb72]

Absolutely.

[amward]

Constantly.

[wyndslash]

definitely if it fits into my interests

[neilmarr]

Do remember from the seller's POV that -- even in the US -- Amazon takes a 65% or 70% sales commission on Kindle books listed with a cover price under $2.99. It's a major consideration if the remaining 30% must be shared out among various royalties holders, say author, editor, designer, artist. A DIY author might do well with even a 99 cents book, though. Amanda Hocking did well, for example. But she was running several titles and was tireless in promotion. Neil