Pricing Decisions

pdurrant · 05-27-2010, 12:54 PM

I enhanced my copy of Kim (by Rudyard Kipling) that's here on Mobileread, and put it up on the Kindle Store.

There are, of course, loads of versions of Kim on the Kindle store, but, not to be modest, mine's the best, in terms of the quality of the text and the formatting. And mine also has some rather nice illustrations done by Kipling's father.

It's been up in the store for a month now. I priced it at $2.99, more expensive than the cheapest editions up there, but cheaper than many. It sold 4 copies.

Not too good. Some of the cheaper (but much nastier) editions have (judging by the sales rank) been selling many more copies.

So, I've just lowered the price. To $0.99. I'll leave it there for the next month and see how things go. Hopefully I'll sell enough more to make up for the reduction in price.

I must admit that one of the things that prompted the change in price was that I was vastly impressed by our own alvico's success with her novel, Thin Blood, a mystery/thriller. Of course, a lot of that success must be down to it being an excellent novel (the sample I read certainly impressed me). But the price probably didn't hurt either. And I suppose an unknown publisher has some of the same difficulties as an unknown author.

For those who've missed her announcement in the Shameless thread - Thin Blood is currently hovering at the #16 point in the whole of the Kindle Store!

I'd be pleased just to see my edition of Kim start outselling those quick & dirty Gutenberg text conversion editions!

David McAfee · 05-28-2010, 03:18 PM

Shameless Thread? What's that?

Sorry, Mobileread noob here.

pdurrant · 05-28-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David McAfee

Shameless Thread? What's that?

Sorry, Mobileread noob here.

"The Shameless Promotion and Endless Plug-Your-Novel Thread":
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76829

jaxx6166 · 05-29-2010, 09:03 PM

It's an interesting discussion to start. A lot of the epubbers I've looked into go between $2.99 to $6.99 depending on the word count.

The interesting thing is, according to The Inflation Calculator, dime store novels cost $2.20 today.

I'm referring, of course, to the 1920's style dime store novels, or penny dreadfuls, or whatever you want to call them

But, along the same token..my 1948 copy of "Border Kid" by Max Brand would cost $26.00 by today's inflation.

DaringNovelist · 05-29-2010, 10:53 PM

Here's a stat I trot out when I want to illustrate how mass production and economy of scale hasn't worked in the publishing industry:

When I was a kid, my friends and I would go into town with two bucks each. We'd get a Big Mac meal for 99 cents, and with the other dollar, we could buy TWO paperbacks, or one paperback and a fistful of comic books.

A few years ago, you could buy two Big Mac meals (with larger fries!) for the cost of a paperback. (In the past couple hears, fast food has caught up a little in the inflation, but still a paperback costs a whole lot more than a fast food combo.)

TC Beacham · 05-30-2010, 02:59 PM

Best of luck pdurrant!

Happy Memorial Day Everybody!

05-29-2010, 09:03 PM	#4
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	It's an interesting discussion to start. A lot of the epubbers I've looked into go between $2.99 to $6.99 depending on the word count. The interesting thing is, according to The Inflation Calculator, dime store novels cost $2.20 today. I'm referring, of course, to the 1920's style dime store novels, or penny dreadfuls, or whatever you want to call them But, along the same token..my 1948 copy of "Border Kid" by Max Brand would cost $26.00 by today's inflation. Last edited by jaxx6166; 05-29-2010 at 09:36 PM.

05-30-2010, 02:59 PM	#6
TC Beacham Great Beach Reads! Posts: 202 Karma: 300000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Best of luck pdurrant! Happy Memorial Day Everybody! Last edited by TC Beacham; 06-14-2010 at 03:05 PM.

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05-27-2010, 12:54 PM	#1
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,510 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	Pricing Decisions I enhanced my copy of Kim (by Rudyard Kipling) that's here on Mobileread, and put it up on the Kindle Store. There are, of course, loads of versions of Kim on the Kindle store, but, not to be modest, mine's the best, in terms of the quality of the text and the formatting. And mine also has some rather nice illustrations done by Kipling's father. It's been up in the store for a month now. I priced it at $2.99, more expensive than the cheapest editions up there, but cheaper than many. It sold 4 copies. Not too good. Some of the cheaper (but much nastier) editions have (judging by the sales rank) been selling many more copies. So, I've just lowered the price. To $0.99. I'll leave it there for the next month and see how things go. Hopefully I'll sell enough more to make up for the reduction in price. I must admit that one of the things that prompted the change in price was that I was vastly impressed by our own alvico's success with her novel, Thin Blood, a mystery/thriller. Of course, a lot of that success must be down to it being an excellent novel (the sample I read certainly impressed me). But the price probably didn't hurt either. And I suppose an unknown publisher has some of the same difficulties as an unknown author. For those who've missed her announcement in the Shameless thread - Thin Blood is currently hovering at the #16 point in the whole of the Kindle Store! I'd be pleased just to see my edition of Kim start outselling those quick & dirty Gutenberg text conversion editions!

05-28-2010, 03:18 PM	#2
David McAfee Live from East Tennessee Posts: 18 Karma: 32 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Knoxville, TN Device: Kindle	Shameless Thread? What's that? Sorry, Mobileread noob here.

05-29-2010, 10:53 PM	#5
DaringNovelist Addict Posts: 197 Karma: 1010202 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: iPod Touch	Here's a stat I trot out when I want to illustrate how mass production and economy of scale hasn't worked in the publishing industry: When I was a kid, my friends and I would go into town with two bucks each. We'd get a Big Mac meal for 99 cents, and with the other dollar, we could buy TWO paperbacks, or one paperback and a fistful of comic books. A few years ago, you could buy two Big Mac meals (with larger fries!) for the cost of a paperback. (In the past couple hears, fast food has caught up a little in the inflation, but still a paperback costs a whole lot more than a fast food combo.)

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