tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post5878814866529297224..comments2024-03-29T03:06:01.745-04:00Comments on Write to Publish: Pricing - What to do...what to do.Robin Sullivanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-52699296736972461042011-02-09T20:46:40.904-05:002011-02-09T20:46:40.904-05:00Thank you for the post, and I look forward to seei...Thank you for the post, and I look forward to seeing the data you consulted to reach these conclusions. I'm thinking of releasing my next book at a higher price point. Maybe I can be a success you can track. LOL I hope. :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07802462399298945211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-23508081574957571162011-01-30T08:13:35.629-05:002011-01-30T08:13:35.629-05:00@Cathy - I'll definitely make this my next pos...@Cathy - I'll definitely make this my next post. When Lightning Source came out - there was NO ONE that sang its praises higher than me. But CreateSpace has beat them at their own game and is the hands down winner - More to come soon.Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-84464478699345111792011-01-30T08:12:22.649-05:002011-01-30T08:12:22.649-05:00@David,
I use $4.95 because it might showup a &quo...@David,<br />I use $4.95 because it might showup a "smidge" lower than $4.99 when people are searching based on price. It makes little difference in the "overall scheme of things" but gets you a bit higher - kind of like naming your company Acme Plumbing to be first in the phone book.<br /><br />I've also seen A LOT (mainly mainstream publishes) using $5.00 I totally don't underand this "very round number" - The only thing I can think of is at a "corporate level" they feel they would be diminshing perceived values if they were under $5.00.Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-5782435629731041692011-01-29T23:31:21.424-05:002011-01-29T23:31:21.424-05:00I'm curious as to why you believe CreateSpace ...I'm curious as to why you believe CreateSpace is a better way to go for print books than Lightning Source. I hope you do blog about your opinion on this in the future.Cathy Keatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18356112948372149785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-49532734160310066382011-01-28T13:45:22.314-05:002011-01-28T13:45:22.314-05:00Robin:
Thanks again for the great info. I've ...Robin:<br /><br />Thanks again for the great info. I've tried my first novel at $0.99 and $2.99. Now that I'm publishing more short fiction at $0.99, I decided to raise the price of my novel to $4.99.<br /><br />But I noticed that you use $4.95 instead of $4.99. Why is that? Did you experiment with both, are is that part of positioning the price against traditionally published books?<br /><br />I've also noticed some traditional publishers discounting their ebooks to a flat $5.00.<br /><br />Interesting.<br /><br />DavidDavid Wiseharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01438917127132239969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-74012232311540758652011-01-26T11:17:33.320-05:002011-01-26T11:17:33.320-05:00Robin,
You know I like numbers
This file (click ...Robin,<br /><br />You know I like numbers<br /><br />This file (click 'download' for pdf) has the data:<br />http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/entertainment-media/publications/future-of-ebooks.jhtml<br /><br />See figure 12:<br />Below $2 is only 17% of the market and not very profitable. Above $8 and the market starts to dry up.<br /><br /><br />Note: I disagree with figure 20. Then again, that link's data is already behind current ebook market share. ;) Warning... it takes a long time to really absorb that link.<br /><br />Neilwannabuyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04297458705683991405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-36468033546079780372011-01-24T14:08:50.836-05:002011-01-24T14:08:50.836-05:00I am following with great interest the different s...I am following with great interest the different sides of the best way to price books and doing my best to learn about marketing.<br /><br />Thank you for this informative post and for your insight.<br /><br />I haven't published anything yet but plan to.Robert Mardahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02674153091901315583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-36882290051787329222011-01-24T13:31:42.452-05:002011-01-24T13:31:42.452-05:00Great post, Robin. Thanks for having it here. I...Great post, Robin. Thanks for having it here. I've been following your posts elsewhere as well, and a lot of your advice has founds its way into my draft business plan.<br /><br />I agree that 2.99 feels too low for a novel price, if only because I respect my own time/level of effort and work more than that.Jim Johnsonhttp://www.popcornfalls.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-57984248352807435512011-01-24T12:59:14.093-05:002011-01-24T12:59:14.093-05:00Robin said:
"I do think that if you have a no...Robin said:<br /><i>"I do think that if you have a novella or short story you must CLEARLY state so on the cover (not just the blurb) and price it much less than a full length novel."</i><br /><br />I absolutely agree. All of my short fiction is clearly labeled as such on the cover - can't think of a better way to annoy a reader than to not let them know what they're getting up front.Leigh Saundershttp://Www.camdenparkpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-70107972509722535562011-01-24T10:35:43.247-05:002011-01-24T10:35:43.247-05:00Excellent post, Robin. I'm awaiting completion...Excellent post, Robin. I'm awaiting completion of new cover images for my novels. When I have the images, up the prices will go to position my books with comparable titles in the genre.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.suzanneadair.com" rel="nofollow">Suzanne Adair</a>Suzannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624472793275282926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-12187027149369909702011-01-24T06:22:09.472-05:002011-01-24T06:22:09.472-05:00I don't represent any novellas or short storie...I don't represent any novellas or short stories so I didn't cover that in my post. This blog tends to be reflective of areas that I have first hand experience with.<br /><br />I do think that if you have a novella or short story you must CLEARLY state so on the cover (not just the blurb) and price it much less than a full length novel.<br /><br />A collection of short stories that comes out to about the same number of words as a novel (80,000+) can be priced the same as as a novel.<br /><br />Ebook buyers get really upset if they think they are getting something "full length" and it is really really short. So make sure you set expectations appopriately or they'll be a backlash.Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-60195763842310545042011-01-23T22:50:06.407-05:002011-01-23T22:50:06.407-05:00Thanks for your informative post, Robin. You make ...Thanks for your informative post, Robin. You make a compelling argument for the >$2.99 price bracket.<br /><br />Daring Novelist mentions novelettes (novellas?) and mini-short story collections. Do you think length ought to impact the self-pub's price at the other end of the scale, e.g. with a novel approaching 100K words?ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03242190927997728930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-74394889650457847292011-01-23T21:50:32.171-05:002011-01-23T21:50:32.171-05:00Camille beat me to the punch, but I mostly agree w...Camille beat me to the punch, but I mostly agree with her - $.99 is a very reasonable price for short stories, $1.99 an excellent price for novelettes, and $2.99 is perfect for novellas. <br /><br />However, I do think you can justifiably price collections higher ($2.99 and above), depending on how much content you're including in the collection - if you've gathered a novella's worth, price it like a novella (at least $2.99); but if you've compiled a full book's worth of short stories, why not price it like a normal book?Leigh Saundershttp://Www.camdenparkpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-38309249570209994322011-01-23T21:12:51.429-05:002011-01-23T21:12:51.429-05:00Hi Robin
Great post, and thank you for so openly ...Hi Robin<br /><br />Great post, and thank you for so openly sharing your commercial information. I currently have two collections of short stories out at the $0.99 price point, and I have 3 novel length works in the pipeline.<br /><br />I was being swayed by the "has to be cheap to gain an audience" argument, and for me, as an unknown, there is still some of that feeling. However, your argument for the higher price points are compelling.<br /><br />I did some rough research amongst non-author, ebook readers, and concluded that £2-£4 UK was a legitimate price for someone to pay for a book by a relatively unknown author. £4 - £5 was the figure for a "big name". <br /><br />I guess what I'm trying to say that, as you say, putting yourself in the place of the reader means that you get a more reader-orientated view of pricing. The ebook market is in a state of flux, and ebooks published by the big houses have dropped in price from over £10 over here (and more), down to a reasonable £5 or so. At this level, there is headroom for new authors to show [i]some[/i] price advantage.<br /><br />Great authoritative post.Gerald Hornsbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08251385149878946368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-11029269485109004452011-01-23T19:58:54.583-05:002011-01-23T19:58:54.583-05:00This is such great information, Robin. I agree wit...This is such great information, Robin. I agree with you about the lemming effect. Too many authors are presuming they must price their books at 99c to be competitive, without analyzing their audience. I'd rather have readers than buyers, and my audience isn't generally attracted to cheap books. I toy with raising the price of my debut novel to $3.99 or $4.99 because a) it gets great reviews, b) it's 122,000 words long, and c) fantasy readers expect to pay more than a buck for a good story.K.C. Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084745163332121642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-53401480102726981222011-01-23T19:46:07.586-05:002011-01-23T19:46:07.586-05:00@daring novelist - GREAT POINT! I don't do sho...@daring novelist - GREAT POINT! I don't do short stories or novellas so I did not even think about posting on that - thanks for bringing it up.Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-79720875979384287542011-01-23T19:45:17.039-05:002011-01-23T19:45:17.039-05:00@Annie - It's interesting I've used the sa...@Annie - It's interesting I've used the same "indie gheto" refence and I think it is bad because it is self-enforced.Robin Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00613910688999698522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-71051119061267975942011-01-23T19:09:47.534-05:002011-01-23T19:09:47.534-05:00Thanks Robin for all the great work.
I would onl...Thanks Robin for all the great work. <br /><br />I would only point out that 99 cents and 1.99 are appropriate prices for novelettes and mini-short story collections.<br /><br />And, of course, that everyone should do their research on their genre and audience.<br /><br />CamilleThe Daring Novelisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01676188266569869059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3511332502155562886.post-24066662118649215412011-01-23T18:54:35.404-05:002011-01-23T18:54:35.404-05:00I can't wait for the next post, thank you for ...I can't wait for the next post, thank you for this one! I did my own rough research and I think that many people are pricing too low. If you look at the "also bought" lists for .99-2.99 books, they are usually populated by other cheap books. I think there is a demographic of reader that only buys cheap books. If I look at a traditionally published 5-9 dollar ebook, the "also bought" is usually populated by other books in that price range.<br /><br />It's my worry that 2.99 will become an obvious indie "ghetto", since it is, for the moment, a price mostly used by self-publishers and makes them easy to identify and, like it or not, there is still a stigma against self-publishing, for all that it is slowly fading out due to the new distribution options.<br /><br />I find the 4.95 price interesting, because my own looking at the numbers showed a gap of books on bestseller lists on Amazon in the 3-5 dollar range price-wise. So maybe you've hit the top range sweet spot on that "deadzone"?Annie Bellethttp://www.anniebellet.comnoreply@blogger.com