Pricing an e-book

[Irina Shapiro]

I've checked out some of the books offered by the competition and couldn't help wondering.  Is it better to price an e-book as low as possible to get more sales or to price it at what you actually think it's worth?  Are readers willing to pay the same for a self-published book as they are for a book that has been published and promoted by a big publishing house?  Any thoughts?

 

Irina Shapiro

www.irinashapiro.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irina-Shapiro/307374895948375

[Alison M.]

As a reader, I'm really cautious about books that are always priced really low. To me, that makes it seem like you have a very cheap product and I'd probably not get it because I've read very crappy self pub books before.

Maybe make it a bit more expensive ($4 and up?) and occasionally have sales ($0.99 or even free) that way readers feel like it's a good quality book and that they're getting a steal on it.

[Irina Shapiro]

Thank you.  I tend to agree with you.  I am also suspicious of very cheap books.  Guess we'll have to start raising prices.  LOL

[Rebekah Campbell]

To me, if the blurb sounds really interesting and the book cover looks pretty good, I'm more inclined to go for a cheap book. Probably about £1 or something? It it's priced about £6 I generally ditch it because I can't justify that type of money for a book that you can't physically hold

RB

[Richard Lee Byers]

After reading a number of books and articles that address this question, I have decided that no one really knows the answer.

My opinion is that an indie writer, particularly an indie writer who is just starting out and has yet to build an audience, probably had better price his or her ebook lower than a comparable product from a traditional publisher.

Say a new indie author writers a thriller, and it costs just as much as the new Jeffrey Deaver or James Patterson novel. Odds are, most customers will go with Deaver or Patterson. But if the indie thriller is priced significantly lower, the new author has a shot.

When pricing, one thing to be aware of is that if you price an ebook on Amazon at less than $2.99, your royalty rate drops. So if you go that route, you have to sell a lot more copies to come out ahead. But hey, maybe you will. It really is a guessing game.

[Irina Shapiro]

I wasn't really thinking of pricing the same as well-known authors.  I was just thinking of pricing more than the recommended minimum.  I attended some marketing seminars and they suggested using the lowest price to sell the most and get your name out there.  That might be good advice from a marketing standpoint, but it undervalues the work.

[Richard Lee Byers]

I don't think of books as having an intrinsic "value" defined by some sort of perfectly calculated price. I just try to set a price that will maximize profit and/or help advance my career by maximizing readership.

In other words, I think pricing a book IS purely about marketing. But like Dennis Miller used to say, that's just my opinion, i could be wrong.

[Irina Shapiro]

You are not wrong.  That makes perfect sense.  It is a marketing decision and it's important to get it right.

[Kevyn Sexton]

Kindle Nation Daily has an advertising category for the books $1.99 or less.  A donation of only $49 is required.  I would like to have my book featured on KND, so I lowered the price to $1.99.  An agent that recently spoke at a RWA meeting said she plays with the prices to see what works so I guess that is what needs to be done.

[Irina Shapiro]

Have you actually used the Kindle Nation Daily yet?  I was wondring if you were happy with the results.  I've actually just booked a promotion with them.  Waiting to see how it goes.

[Indie Writing Blog]

Here is a pretty interesting blog post about  how to price your book. I personally believe that even with a debut novel indie writers shouldn't under value their work. I too am wary of self published books priced really low-- unless they are being offered as part of a sale or special promotion.

[Kevyn Sexton]

That was a waste of my time and told me absolutely nothing.  Some of his comments are completely inconsistent with what professionals in the industry say.

[Tome Keeper]

I personally won't try a unknown author if the book is more expensive than £1.99, even then I prefer to spend only 99p till I know the author and the quality. 

I'd say set a price point of under £4 then have a few sales at 99p.