Readers - What Will You Pay For An eBook?
The high and the low of eBook pricing.
When I put my
first novel up as an eBook, I priced it high because of its length. Now that my
second novel, Relative Malice, has just been released, I’m wondering once more
about what to charge for it.
Do I reduce novel
#1 now that the new one is out? Should I bring down the price of both books?
Many people advise not charging more than 2.99 for an eBook, and many readers say
they will not pay more than $2.99 for one.
I need your help.
I’d love some input from both authors and readers on the following questions.
1.
Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook
should be priced?
2.
Are you only wiling to pay more for a book
written by a famous author?
3.
Should older releases by an author be priced
lower than newer ones?
4.
Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for
those that are free?
5.
Are free books worth a look-see?
6.
How often do you find a gem among the free
offerings?
Dear Readers,
Please take a minute to express
your opinions. Pricing is an issue many authors are struggling with. My spouse
keeps telling me that a quality product should be priced accordingly, and I
keep telling him the eBook market is a new dog on the block. No one knows for
sure what it is or how friendly it’s going to be!
Hope all of you had a loving
Valentine’s Day.
Thanks for your help,
Marla
Writer Dave Here, the author of ebook, Web of Guilt.
ReplyDelete1. I think until you have name recognition, you should stay at $2.99. Once you have five ebooks out there you can price them a bit higher!
2. I have paid more, not necessarily by a famous writer.
3. Older releases should stay the same price.
Questions 4, 5, and 6, I haven't had any experience with, as yet!
HI, Dave,
DeleteYou're always my first responder! thanks for sharing your opinions with us.
I have gotten copies of suspense books when they came up for free, and my experience
has been for every one that I truly enjoy, there are about nine others that I just can't read.
Have a super weekend,
Marla
I agree with Dave. Word of mouth and free promos build the author's platform. Once the author has a substantial following, the price point can be tweaked a bit.
ReplyDeleteHi Tanya,
DeleteThanks for your opinion! Looks like I may need to lower my prices. Other author's I know have varied thier
prices with no big difference in sales. However, we're all relatively new authors with one or two books out.
Appreciate your help.
Enjoy your Sunday,
Marla
I'm in the same leaky boat, Marla. I did lower the price of my novel Dear Crossing over the holidays, but it didn't seem to have any effect either way. The book has received five-star reviews from people who paid the full price as well as from people who said they received their copy free. It's awfully hard to figure out which approach to take.
ReplyDeleteI'll be looking for more answers among your blog comments, too.
Hi Marjorie!
DeleteNice to see you here. I haven't lowered either of mine yet. It's really hard to know what to do. I think
if there were an eBook that really looked good, I would pay $4.99 for it. It is a dilemma. But a lot of people seem to thing they should not be more than $2.99.
We'll see what everyone says.
Marla
I lowered mine thinking that a smaller royalty from 2.99 is better than no royalty at 4.99. haha. My book, Chronicles of Caldor: Redemption has done pretty well in paperback, but not as an e-book, so I am hoping this works for my sales. The fact that this is my first book and nobody knows who I am probably doesn't help either. haha Good Luck to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Eric!
DeleteI'm surprised. My experience has been selling eBooks and very few print books. The only reason I bother with the print books is for friends who will never be digital book readers and to get my book in the local library system. Marketing is a tough job. Today's eBook market is horrendously competitive, so you have to work at getting your name and book recognized. I'm hoping the feedback here will help me decide on pricing. Keep at it! I've found KDP to be about the best way to get your book noticed.
Have a great day,
Marla
So far KDP is the only place that my book is available in e-book. The sales were pretty good right off the bat, but so far since lowering the price I have only sold on copy. I need a genie or something to help me with marketing/marketing costs. haha. Best of luck to you.
DeleteI am not an author, but I am a small business owner and a reader of books. I love books, but have a small budget as I'm also a single mom struggling on a shoestring budget at the moment. My overall opinion though is formed from being a business owner as well.
ReplyDeletePeople buy what they want!!! NO MATTER what it costs them. I'm not saying be unfair with your pricing, but hey, you have to make a living a too. If selling in ebook form it is cheaper than print for you, but you still put a lot of hard hours and sweet into that book. You should get something back if it's a worthy read.
Coming from the mind of someone living on a shoestring budget. Yes, I often bybass paid for books for free ones to have something to read. I have found a few gems in the pile, and it did spur me forward to read more of that authors books. And I've paid as much as $14.99 for them. So we are back to my original point. Although, I'm on a shoestring budget and did bypass many paid books to get the free ones... once I found that "gem in the pile" I invested my hard earned cash to read more of that same great content.
I think you are all are generally pricing yourselves pretty low. Granted, I don't understand the nature of book pricing and ebook pricing as I'm not a book seller or author, but $.99 seems like to little. If it's going to be $.99 it might as well be free.
What I've found is an effective method is when the author offers me a partial book for free 3 to 6 chapters and sometimes even half the book. By then I'm hooked, and want to finish reading. So I'm more apt to buy it. The first chapter is usually not enough alone to entice me to buy the rest of the book unless it's a really awesome first chapter, but let's face it many books take more than that to get into the good stuff.
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced? NO
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author? NO - I don't remember names anyway... if the book promises to be a good read and I feel it's worth it then I'll buy it. See give part of book away suggestion above...
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones? Not necessarily, but I have noticed a lot of authors do that. Be different and price yours all the same and see what happens.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free? YES, but again I can be tempted to buy them if a tempting offer is made. See above suggestions...
5. Are free books worth a look-see? Of course.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings? I've actually find quite a few this way.
Best of luck to you!
Rhonda
Hello Rhonda,
DeleteThank you so much for your valuable feedback! I love books too and read at least one a week. It's interesting that you suggest publishing a few chapters to tempt the readers to buy. I haven't tried that yet, so it sounds worth considering. I've found a few great reads among the free books, too. Probably should make note of the author's names to catch their new releases!
I was a single mom, too, and usually read books through the library, but also bought paperbacks when they were popular. I remember what a big treat it was to buy a book and have that to look forward to on a long weekend.
I appreciate the time you put into your reply, as do my readers. Pricing is something many of us authors struggle with!
Keep reading, and thanks for stopping by,
Marla
I forgot to mention. I think your husband is in the right mindset here. Even if ebooks are a new market and wavering at this point. It is the way of the future for authors, and you should be publishing ebooks at this point.
ReplyDeleteIf you are undervaluing your own work then why would anyone else value it any higher. Show confidence in your work and price it accordingly. I think you'll be amazed at the results. I bet the higher priced ebooks are doing better than the lower priced ones on the broader scope.
Thanks,
Rhonda
Hee hee! Your add on made me chuckle because I often have to do a P.S. in my comments. And on voice mails.
DeleteI love this comment, of course, and have been pricing my books higher than $2.99, except for the occasional free days I do to get them noticed. One thing authors need to take into consideration is who their target audience is. I write suspense with women protagonists, so I see my audience as women mainly (although I've many male readers also) age 30 and older. I believe this age group to be less concerned about a couple of dollars difference than the younger reader.
So genre and audience is another consideration.
Once more, a whopping thank you!
Marla
Marla, Yes, I often have to add a PS. I seem to always have a lot to say. I do try to keep it relevant though and find myself editing my comments before posting to ensure I don't go off to much on a tangent. LOL!
DeleteOf course there are many things to consider when pricing your books, and I'm glad to hear you do price higher.
Interesting audience I bet. ;)
Best of luck to you, and thank for connecting with me on Facebook.
Rhonda
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced?
ReplyDeleteNo.
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author?
No. Good stories or good ideas sell me.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones?
No.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free?
No.
5. Are free books worth a look-see?
Yes.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings?
Occasionally.
Hi Jackson,
DeleteThanks so much for your input. And for the SurveyMonkey suggestion. I appreciate that you
answered all the questions for us! Like you, I find a great book among the freebies now and then,
but I'm always surprised at how many of the entries read like they have used NO editing. I don't have
a lot of patience with those, although I'm rather forgiving about an occasional typo.
Have a great day,
Marla
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your very enjoyable blog. I am also an author who is waiting on news that will determine whether my literary journey goes down the route of traditional publishing or self-publishing. Here are my answers to the questions you posed above:
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced?
No. I have bought ebooks up to $15, however, for a reader to pay that much they have to trust you, and to trust you, they have to know you, so it might be an idea to work on increasing your book's visibility at the same rate as the price. (Free-$2.99= not that much marketing required. $15- a lot of marketing required to build reader's trust. Where do you feel you are with that?)
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author?
No. I bought an ebook last week that cost $3.50 from someone I never heard of. It was only 30 pages long and I loved every page of it. Excellent content is the key here.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones?
Yes, for your benefit. I might even suggest that you offer your older title free for a couple of weeks, in conjunction with the purchase of the newer title- free stuff always encourages sales.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free?
No. I love a free book but I am not a skinflint. If I see a recommendation of your book or I like it from the blurb etc, I'll pay for it. Don't feel guilty for asking reader's to pay. They are getting something worthwhile, it's a fair exchange of energy.
5. Are free books worth a look-see?
Yes! Everyone loves a freebie, right? And in this day and age, the fact that it is free doesn't mean that it is too bad to be sold.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings?
Frequently.
Good luck with your book! I'll keep up to date with your blog and books and I'll happily be a paying customer. xxx Lauren www.angellauren.wordpress.com
Hi Angel,
DeleteI really appreciate your thoughtful response! I hope your book goes the way you want it to. I've never tried the traditional route because I decided I was too old to spend twenty or more years trying to find an agent or publisher. Also, self publishing lets you make your own decisions.
What is your genre?
Increasing a book's visibility is the real challenge Indies face. Of course, you need an excellent product but also an element of luck!
Yes, I'm probably going to run another free promo on She's Not There, soon. You have an excellent idea too, to offer it with a purchase of the new book.
Great to meet you Lauren (or is it Angel?),
Keep in touch, let us know how your book goes,
Marla
I personally think that ebook prices should be equal to paperback prices. It isn't the author's fault that the reader chooses an ebook & authors need money to continue to write good books. If we want to continue to have good authors in the future we simply must quit this 99 cent ebook thing in my (vehement) opinion.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteOn behalf of all of us authors, I laud your opinion! I agree with your opinion of 99 cent pricing. What happens, though, is in the midst of staggering competition, an author is desperate for a route to getting his/her book noticed. It's difficult. But you're right; I think the good authors will stick it out and rise to the top if they keep working at it.
Thanks for your comment!
Marla
As an author, I want to thank you, Marla, for this blog post and for posing such relevant questions. And I want to thank all who responded for their insightful answers and for generously sharing their time. What a great group y'all are!
ReplyDeletePatricia Obermeier Neuman
Nice to hear from you, Roz and Patty!
DeleteYes, my responders are super! I'm thrilled with all their wonderful feedback. These quesions have
provoked some thoughtful answers to my (and other authors') dilemma of how to price.
Thanks for visiting,
Marla
1. No — $2.99 is my "sweet spot," but there are circumstances in which I'd pay more.
ReplyDelete2. Admittedly, yes, especially if I *knew* that the book was well edited. Nothing distracts me more than spelling and grammar errors.
3. IMHO, yes. Chances are the buyer has already purchased the hard copy at some point in the past and just wants the ebook to re-read the book.
4. Nope! I buy a lot of these.
5. In many cases, yes. In fact, I keep an eye peeled for these.
6. Eh, about 1:5 times, it's a keeper. But to be fair, I'm a very picky reader. Free ebooks give me the opportunity to find out if I like a new author. If I do, I'll probably purchase something by the author in the future.
Thanks, Austin Gal, appreciate your thoughts. I just read somewhere that the average price of eBooks is seven dollars and change. I was surprised by that number because of how many eBooks are out by Indies and very few are more than $5. The answer must be the sheer numbers of books sold by the "big" names, whose titles sell for about 12 - 15 dollars.
DeleteLike you, I'm a picky reader. I've worked so hard to get my writing cleaned up and improved, that I've become very annoyed when I download a book and find it's loaded with errors, or the beginning is just plain boring. I seldom read beyond chapter one. My ratio is even worse than yours, about 1:8, but i must say that there are beginning to be more books that are great reads among the offerings.
Nice to hear from you,
Marla
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. I don't believe that at all. I believe that books have value at all levels of pricing. Some people won't buy food unless it's cheap also. That doesn't mean that there should only be cheap food, or that the cheaper food has more value than the more expensive food.
ReplyDelete2. No, how famous you are has nothing to do with whether a book is good or not. In my opinion, Stephanie Meyers is a hack. I'm not saying I am a better writer than her. I'm saying that as a reader, her writing is not very good. It is very popular though.I want to buy good reads. I will pay whatever price to get those. Not worried about how much something is, or how famous someone is.
3. I think it is up to the writer what his books should be priced at. Big publishing doesn't worry if they charge you the cost they do for a book that is from many years ago. Why should an indie writer or publisher? Since when does an older book have no value?
4. I never pass up a book of .99 for a free book. If I want a book, I buy it, if I can afford it. If I want it and it cost more than I can afford, I save so I can by it.
5. Free books are definitely worth a look. There are some mid-list authors who put their books up for free and these books are very good.
6. Many times.I just picked up Joe Kimball's book Timecaster. J. A Konrath as Joe Kimball. I have picked up entire 4 packs of novels by Scott Nicholson, a very good horror writer.
Sorry I deleted my last post. I misspelled some stuff. I need an editor to follow me around wherever I go LOL
Hi Jason,
DeleteSo good to hear from you! Like you, I need an editor to follow me around at all times. And I'm the world's worst proofer.
I'm thinking, as you said, price should be up to the author. I think it's okay to try a free or 99 cent promo, but other than that, your book should be priced reasonably.
I'm happy to hear most of the readers that responded give free books a chance, yet are willing to pay for a book they find intriguing.
Thanks a bunch for your input,
have a wonderful weekend,
Marla
Hi Marla
ReplyDeleteI have close to a dozen books for sale on Amazon (under my own name as well as pen names) ranging in price from $.99 to $9.95. The highest priced books tend outsell the others. So, obviously, I disagree with your first question.
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced?
No, not at all. If you have a great product people are willing to pay more.
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author?
No, absolutely not. Some of the best books I've ever read were written by authors I never heard of. I generally read the sample (if provided) to get a feel for the book before a purchase. I get a feeling whether or not I want to continue reading the book and proceed accordingly. The price is of little concern unless it is exorbitantly high, say $15 or more.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones?
Actually, I would say older books should be priced higher than new ones. A) Older books have (hopefully) had the kinks worked out of them and are of a higher caliber than new releases and B) if someone likes your new book they are liable to be willing to pay a bit more to read more of your stuff.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free?
Personally, I do not believe in giving my books away. I know other authors have had some success with that format but I feel an author should be compensated for the time they have put into writing a book. In my mind, selling a book for $.99 is basically giving it away.
As I said, I generally read the preview sample and if it grabs me, I buy it. The price doesn't matter to me so much as the quality of the writing. So no, I would never pass up a book priced at $.99 or more for a free book if the free book is inferior.
5. Are free books worth a look-see?
Truthfully, I have downloaded a ton of them. Though I have started to read just about every one, it is the rare freebee that I finish. I decide there was a reason why it was free.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings?
Seldom. Most of the free books I have started to read are full of mistakes, poorly edited, or just plain silly. I remember writing to an author whose book I had downloaded and started to read, only to find it full of mistakes. I took a bit of time to outline some of them. She got very defensive with me. She said, oh, that is one of my old books. I don't care if there are mistakes in it. I'm too busy writing something new to go back and fix them anyway.
I thought, wow. Myself, I am continually updating my books. Often times, I will put a new release out there for $.99 while I get some distance from it. Even though I've had several proofreaders go over it and given it to beta readers for their opinions, I just know there are some mistakes in the manuscript. When I get enough distance from it that it seems to have been written by someone else I will go over it again, sometimes reading it aloud. I always discover either mistakes or better ways of saying what I want to say.
Once I have made improvements, I raise the price to $2.99 and put it back out there. I am always happy when someone writes to me to point out errors or to just let me know they enjoyed my work.
Anyway, thanks for the great questions and good luck with your writings!
Dan
Hi, Dan,
DeleteLove your answers! Particularly interesting is your opinion that older books should be priced higher. I've just invested in a proofer to redo my first book, which is a good story, but I have to admit not as error and grammer problem free as my second book. And I'll have to pay again for formatting. So you are right, it probably pays to leave the first book at the same price or somewhat higher if an author is trying to maintain his/her quality in their written products.
Glad you mentioned reading your work out loud. That is such a good habit to get into. I recently realized I'd gotten out of it, and have started to do it again. I catch so many things that way!
Your pricing system is intriguing. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!
Nice to meet you here,
Marla
Here are my two cents Marla
ReplyDelete1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced?
No, e-books can be priced higher but I don't pay more than around $5-6 for an e-book. E-books are very cheap to produce and they should be priced accordingly. However, Amazon has changed the algorithms to favor higher priced books. I would say pricing your book at $0.99 is to be avoided unless it's part of a well thought out promotion. In any case many authors claim that 2.99 is the sweet spot in terms of volume of books sold and price, but it all depends on the book and the author. Some authors do price pulsing. This means you lower the price when the book begins going down in the ranks and then raise again when it begins going up again.
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author?
Lately all I read is Indie authors and most of them understand that e-books should be priced lower. Famous authors tend to have a traditional publisher pricing e-books for them, and the publishers price the e-books high to defend the paper business.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones?
Not necessarily but this helps sell books if you are writing a series.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free?
Not necessarily. I don't buy books, I buy authors (see 5).
5. Are free books worth a look-see?
Yes, but no one should download free books randomly. They should check the sample pages, the reviews, the reviewers, and read the author's website (i.e. sample the author's writing) before downloading a free book.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings?
All the time because I don't read randomly. In my opinion if you end up reading a lousy book you have no one but yourself to blame.
HI Rolando,
DeleteThanks so much for your commentary! You remind me that I don't take the time to read the first chapter before downloading a free book. If it's on a free day, and in my genre, I tend to go ahead and download it. Then I end up with a whole Kindle full of books! Oh, I do read the blurb. And even if I like the blurb, I may not even consider the download if the blurb is full of mistakes. And it happens! So, because of that, I don't find too many gems among the free books, but the ARE there. The others I just delete.
It amazes me how many authors don't take the time to be sure the first few pages are engrossing.
Thank you so much for your input. Much appreciated,
Marla
I think you should price your book at whatever price your heart wanted to do at first. You can always come back and change the price of it if it doesn't work out :)
ReplyDeleteHI Kay,
Deleteyou've added another no-nonsense approach! I think at first I didn't really have a stong feeling about it. I just wanted my book to sell. Now, from what hear from other authors, it hasn't made a great impact on sales to move the price around.
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Marla
There isn't a right answer - fix the price to suit you. There's always someone who will tell you to make it cheaper/more expensive. So fix it, then forget it, and enjoy tackling the next book.
ReplyDeleteRealistic advice, Jo! I've discovered lately that it doesn't make a huge difference. Within reason, of course. I think raising a price to more than $5 makes a book harder to sell, but who knows? Seems there are not any hard and fast answers.
DeleteThanks so much for visiting,
Marla
I have recently read that books under 5 dollars sell easily. If books are higher than that, readers hesitate and may not buy. I also will buy books in the 5 dollar range. This is why I set my own book, Paper Thoughts at this price.
ReplyDeleteHi Vanessa,
DeleteI agree with the $5 rule. Not sure any price makes selling easy, though. Seems like it takes hard work and a bit of luck!
Hope you sell lots of books!
Marla
I set both my ebooks at $3.99 Malla. I think that's not too high and not too low.
ReplyDeleteI myself buy ebooks at all sorts of different prices because if I see something I want then I'm willing to pay the price. Being able to get it in 60 seconds is a buzz for me.
Me, too! And if you use Amazons quick purchase method it's more like two seconds. I love reading on my Kindle, and buy and aslo get many books free. I've got my two books at $4.99, and am probably going to leave them there, but considering reducing the first one.
DeleteThanks for leaving your comment!
Marla
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced?
ReplyDeleteNo. But $2.99 is increasingly the norm for Indie writers. In any case, I’m not sure that ebooks should be priced as high as traditional books. Having a lower price helps more people have access to more books. I know that the authors work just as hard as traditionally published authors, possibly harder but the royalty paid to the author is higher for ebooks (thanks to Amazon and other retailers) than it is from traditional publishers.
I’ve varied my prices between 99 cents and $2.99 and have decided, for now, to stop wasting my time by chopping and changing them. I’m keeping them at $2.99. A series may be different. I am about to release the third in my ‘The Lost King’ series. Advice says sell the first cheap and the later ones more expensive. But I wonder if that isn’t a bit disrespectful of your audience.
2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author?
I’d rather not but I often have no choice. What counts for me is not the fame of the author but the quality of their work. If a great writer charges more I’ll pay it.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones?
I can’t see the logic of this. I know that all books have errors in them and they get ironed out over time. But I wouldn’t like readers to get the notion that authors are putting out poorly edited books in the first place.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free?
No. The subject and the author are the determining factor. I no longer expect new authors to go out at 99 cents merely because they’re new, however.
5. Are free books worth a look-see?
I gave away 1,000 copies of my novel Artful. Those copies were no better or worse than the copies which now retail at, you’ve guessed it, $2.99. So clearly free books are worth looking at. Having said that I very much doubt I’ll give away so many copies in the future. I believe it has made customers begin to under-value books. And if a book was being given away permanently I’d begin to wonder why.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings?
Sometimes. But not as often as at £2.99.
Martin Lake
Hi Martin,
DeleteThanks for your answers! I'ver really enjoyed the responses I've been getting. They are making my pricing decision an easy one
I agree about famous author's works; they should cost more than an unknown author. I find occasional free gems, but not many. It pays to read a few pages before downloading.
I applaud you for doing a series! As a reader, I realize a series can be tricky and so far have avoided dong one, although I've used some of the same characters in smaller roles.
Thanks for stopping in and good luck with your series,
Marla
I ponder over pricing as well. Two of my books are with a small e-press with print options and are priced at 7.50 for an ebook on Amazon. My third I self published at 3.99. I see no difference in sales. It's all about good writing AND an audience. Sometimes you can build it but they don't come. How can they when they don't know you exist. Currently, I'm concentrating on letting people know I exist. So...
ReplyDelete1. As people are willing to pay 7.50 for an ebook, my answer to this is "No". I think 2.99 is the lowest you should price your ebook. Anything lower and you're devaluing your writing. It says "I am not confidant in my story." That said, I wouldn't pay over ten dollars. 5.99 seems a reasonable price for a good read.
2. No. I find (sometimes) that later books by famous authors aren't as good as earlier ones. They sell by name recognition and don't have to work as hard. Not saying all...but some. Best rule of thumb, read some of the book and decide on your purchase based on the writing. I never buy a book based on the blurb. If the blurb is intriguing, I'll read some of the book, then decide. Some authors can't write a good blurb to save their lives, but their book writing is good. Blurbs and story writing are two different animals.
3. Older releases should be priced the same. The book did not devalue due to age. However, if an author wants to give out an older release to entice new readers to purchase the new ones, that's fine. But I would make it clear that that is the reason you're giving it away or selling it cheap. Let the readers know it's still valuable. It's merely a gift.
4.I have to opt out of this one. I have never bought a 99 cent book or downloaded a free one. Reason: I don't have an electronic reader. Yes, I'm still reading paperbacks. lol
5. Based on comments made by a friend who reads a lot of 99 cent and free ebooks, you do find an occasional gem. But there's a lot of drivel to go through to find it.
And that's my take. I reserve the right to make a typo in this reply as my editor is on vacation. :)
*confident . . . I told you my editor was on vacation. :)
DeleteHello Linda,
DeleteI appreciate your thoughtful answers. I encourage you to get an ereader. I got mine as a gift (but was planning on buying one) after I published my first eBook. They are great to read with, and I have to admit, as a lifetime book reader, I was not enthused at first.
I agree with your comment about famous authors. They lose their appeal sometimes, I agree, and I think get self-indulgent with their plot lines. Sometimes I skip some in a series altogether for that reason.
I agree it is hard to find a gem among the free books, although I've put mine for free occasionally just to get them noticed. I've been fortunate to have many thousands of downloads and even hit the number one slot for eBook suspense.
I also have a problem with my editor! Ha Ha. My proofing skills are lacking.
Thanks for commenting!
Marla
1. Do you believe $2.99 is as high as any eBook should be priced? Not necessarily. Price makes a difference on what I will buy. For me 99 cents is an easy impulse buy, $2.99 is easy if I think I'm going to like it, will pay more if I KNOW I'm going to like it but that is an extremely rare purchase for me. (As in I have hundreds of ebooks and read a few books a week on average but only pay above 99 once every few months and there are maybe 10 ebooks in the collection above 2.99.) One exception for me on pricing was that Deborah Grace Staley had her first one out for free or 99 cents and I paid something like $10 for the next two in the series.
ReplyDelete2. Are you only wiling to pay more for a book written by a famous author? Not at all. For all I know I'm the only one who took Staley up on her $10 price. And I refuse to buy beloved authors Jim Butcher and Nora Roberts at their ebook prices because for that much money I'm gonna have some damn paper to keep. Indie authors/only available in eformat are more likely to get more money in ebook from me - but again only if I'm really sure I'm gonna love it.
3. Should older releases by an author be priced lower than newer ones? Not necessarily. Only if you feel like there is a quality difference OR (more importantly) you are trying to seduce readers into a series.
4. Do you pass up books priced at 99 cents for those that are free? If it's free I will almost always download it. At 99 cents I've learned to download the free sample first before committing.
5. Are free books worth a look-see? I've found some awesome authors/series through free ebooks.
6. How often do you find a gem among the free offerings? Probably one in ten, but that includes filtering out things right off the starting line and then just out of the ones I actually read.
Great questions. I hope this helps you figure out where to set your pricing. :)
Hi Sue,
DeleteThanks for answering all the questions. I know many authors who have been waiting to hear what everyone had to say. Like you, I do download free books, but don't read many of them. But have found some very good ones. I don't pay for famous authors' books, but do get them through the library. I'm a big library user and donate my books to the local libraries. Like you, what I pay for an eBook depends on what it is and how much I like the blurb. I don't get the free books just to get them and stay in my own genre when I do.
Good to hear from you,
Marla
Marla,
ReplyDeleteI find a good novel with over 200pages should be at least 4.99
Look at all the ebooks from traditional publishers, they are 9.99 and often the content is not better than the author-published.
Someone who sat for many months or even years and worked hard, paid for editing, cover design etc. should be fair compensated.
PRIME Member at Amazon borrow almost never books that are less than 4.99
No one would ever work for an hour if being paid only a couple of dollars.
My 2cents...
Take care, Doris @111publishing
Hi, Doris!
DeleteThanks so much for stopping in. I like your opinion, and after hearing all these comments, have a renewed confidence in the prices of my books. I agree, a book that has a lot of pages and is professionally edited should be compensated for beyond 99 cents. I have both of my novels at $4.99 and now will keep them there.
Thanks for the valuable "2 cents" worth!
Marla
I started them all at $2.99 and when I noticed my presence I changed them to $3.99. I think maybe that provided steadier sales. My sales right now are very low. I am unable to explain the days I have 32 and the months I have four except for the difference in my promo efforts which right now I am hating to do. I never did .99 although I know that is what got Amanda Hocking out there. I think that was her target market. I do freebies just to get my name out, just to get the story read. I get few but some
ReplyDeletecash sales from that. I think I have to be more vested in the process. I put out a non-fic that I thought was more a treatise than a book so it stays at 2.99 but doesn't sell much. Right now I am inching past the "average" ebook seller in cash sales. Next book always bumps em all up and I am having trouble letting that one go as I think it will be my last. But I've said that before.
hear you, Virginia! I say "never again" about a lot of things!
DeleteIt sounds like you and I have very similar marketing habits. I've priced both my suspense novels at $4.99 and have kept them there. I'd hoped the advice from readers here would help. What it's done is encourage me to leave the price alone. I know there are some readers out there who won't pay more than 2.99, but I think my target audience (women 30 to ??) won't be that picky. Answers here have been very eye-opening. There is a lot of work involved in marketing and I don't always feel like doing it.
And you're right, the more you have out there, the better.
Thanks for your feedback and have a super weekend,
Marla
Thank you so much for posting these questions and to the readers who responded. I am about to release my second book, so have been thinking a lot about pricing. I think I'm going to try giving my first away free for a month as a promotion and set the new one at $3.95 to start off.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
DeleteGlad I could help.
I have both of mine at 4.99, and after hearing all these wonderful answers, I decided to leave them there. You'll have to let us know how giving your first one free for a month works out. It's so hard to get noticed, maybe that will give your new one an edge.
Good luck!
Marla
I don't pay for hardly any of my books. I am a stay at home mother of 3 and I love to read. My husband works a very hard job and a lot of hours but our budget is still pretty tight. I take advantage of the books that are offered for free, and sometimes fall into the trap of starting a series and buying the books after the first initial free one. The most I have paid is $2.99. If I find a book that I really want to read and it costs too much then I will wait and borrow it. I think those of us that are on really tight budgets like to see the cheaper books out there. when I search for a new book the search always contains the word free, or I look in the .99$ or lower category. My children have written 3 books that are currently on amazon two are offered at .99 cents and the 3 is for $1.25, I offered the first two for free for 5 days and the downloads went way up... from 4 to over 750. My hopes in doing that was to get people to rate them, however that failed. One has one rating and the other only has two. In saying that, I also look at the customer reviews before downloading a new book. Ok and finally, I know that the big name Authors charge more for their books but I don't buy into that. There are a ton of New/Self published Authors who have wonderful talent that need a chance. I don't pay more simply because I know who the Author is. There are so many people in this world and so many that go about purchasing things differently. We are just trying a few different methods of pricing to see what will work out the best.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog link on Twitter and I must say I am enjoying it.
Hi Jamie,
DeleteGlad to hear your comment on this topic. As you can see, there has been lots of wonderful feedback. I understand about your budget, been there. My problem with buying books, is where do you go with all of them? So I'm a devoted library user, and have been all my life. Today, it is simple to use their online system and reserve books by your favorite authors. I also love reading on my Kindle and like you, have found some wonderful new authors. I do buy them also, but not as often, usually if I come across an author whose work sounds intriguing. I love suspense novels.
After all the feedback I've gotten here, I decided to leave my two novels at $4.99. I know that isn't in your budget, but I will be running a free promo this month. Stay on the lookout!
So happy to hear you enjoy the blog,
Marla