Honest opinions on my price?

[Zero Angel]

Hello all,

I have been having doubts about the price of my novel.

My doubts are not that my book is not worth US$6.99, but rather that self-published eBooks are rarely that high.

When pricing my novel, I assumed it was worth as much as the cheapest paper books available: the mass-market paperback. These 50K-100K print run books clock in at between $6.99 and $8.99. If there is a book that I am interested in that is mass-market, I will probably buy it as readily as I would check it out at the library.

So that is why I priced my eBook at $6.99.

I've seen everything from people saying that self-published eBooks should be free, to no more than $2.99, to no more than $4.99, to no more than etc.

What are your thoughts?

If it influences your decision, my pricing plan for all my books is the following:

• New Novels: $6.99
• Old Novels: $4.99
• Novellas: $2.99
• Short stories: $0.99

Definition of "old" would be when the sequel comes out lower the price point of the earlier in the series to $4.99.

 

[Steerpike]

I don't know, Zero Angel. It strikes me as too high, but I've never tried that price point (it wouldn't work on my children's book anyway). The good thing is, you can change price easily. You could start it at that and if it isn't selling, tweak the price point and watch your sales to try to find the sweet spot.

 

[Ankari]

There are mental barriers that you have to consider. The obvious example being the use of $XX.99 instead of $7.00. In the case of your pricing, you'll find people not buy it simply because it's beyond the $5 soft cap. I would set it at $4.99 and see how it goes.

 

[BWFoster78]

I plan to buy it at some point, and the price of $7 vs $5 is not a deterrent. However, I'm going to buy it because I know you from this forum.

If I were coming across your book at random, the $7 price tag would give me pause. It's gotten to the point for me that I think about whether I should purchase books that are continuations of series from established authors that I am already invested in reading when the price point is in the $7 to $11 range.

If it's at all obvious that your book is self published and you do not have ton of glowing reviews, your price point is absolutely ridiculously high, IMO.

 

[Telcontar]

Price wherever you want, but don't be afraid to change it. No one has heard of you, and that is both a good and a bad thing - it is good because you have the freedom to experiment without pissing anybody off.

That being said, I priced my debut novel at $6.99, but have since lowered it to $5.99 after deciding I wanted more space between myself and the $9.99 "Trade Pub" price point that Amazon wants to espouse. Of course, I may change it again - up, down, whatever. Whatever I think is best for me in the long run.

 

[Devor]

Seems high to me for a self-published work. I would go with something closer to 4.99.

You've got to remember, self-publishing means you're not endorsed by anyone, making you a bigger risk to a customer. That factors into the price.

 

[JCFarnham]

I have to admit this... I barely buy ebooks for $5 (or the equivalant I should say). I have no income, that certainly factors into it (though I'm willing to admit I have room for books in my budget I'm just a whimp when it comes to spending haha)

Let me look at the issue outside the haze of poverty . I would probably price at 4.99. It's not an awful lot of money in the grand scheme of things is it. Higher than that and people, or at least I, would start to wonder why I can't just buy something from a famous author instead. I do have an urge to keep reading the Dresden Files at some point...

I can't say whether my reactions to ebook pricing are justified or not. From a marketing stand point however I see a lot of worth in pricing products cheaply (its the old adage of selling lots of cheap stuff can add up to more profit than selling a few expensive things. ymmv). There's a point just before people start thinking "it's too cheap, why bother?". That's where you want to be. Like everyone else is saying.

Unfortunately its usually different for different products. Lower the price, see what happens.

 

[Zero Angel]

I don't know, Zero Angel. It strikes me as too high, but I've never tried that price point (it wouldn't work on my children's book anyway). The good thing is, you can change price easily. You could start it at that and if it isn't selling, tweak the price point and watch your sales to try to find the sweet spot.

Thank you. I guess right now I just don't have the data to figure out if the $6.99 price point is hurting me or having an effect.

There are mental barriers that you have to consider. The obvious example being the use of $XX.99 instead of $7.00. In the case of your pricing, you'll find people not buy it simply because it's beyond the $5 soft cap. I would set it at $4.99 and see how it goes.

By "soft cap" you mean it's more than a $5 bill?

I plan to buy it at some point, and the price of $7 vs $5 is not a deterrent. However, I'm going to buy it because I know you from this forum.

If I were coming across your book at random, the $7 price tag would give me pause. It's gotten to the point for me that I think about whether I should purchase books that are continuations of series from established authors that I am already invested in reading when the price point is in the $7 to $11 range.

If it's at all obvious that your book is self published and you do not have ton of glowing reviews, your price point is absolutely ridiculously high, IMO.

Thank you. I guess I need to promote less "at-random" views and more people seeking out my book because they want it. It is still cheaper than "mainstream" eBooks--which seem to be between $8.99 and $14.99(!!!).

Price wherever you want, but don't be afraid to change it. No one has heard of you, and that is both a good and a bad thing - it is good because you have the freedom to experiment without pissing anybody off.

That being said, I priced my debut novel at $6.99, but have since lowered it to $5.99 after deciding I wanted more space between myself and the $9.99 "Trade Pub" price point that Amazon wants to espouse. Of course, I may change it again - up, down, whatever. Whatever I think is best for me in the long run.

Is $9.99 the price point they are trying to get the Big 6 to shoot for?

Seems high to me for a self-published work. I would go with something closer to 4.99.

You've got to remember, self-publishing means you're not endorsed by anyone, making you a bigger risk to a customer. That factors into the price.

Great point, Devor. Risk/cost analysis is a major issue. At least with the traditional published material you have "the Gatekeepers" that had to sign off on those books (although there's a lot of crap out there in my opinion--not the best gatekeepers in the world).

I have to admit this... I barely buy ebooks for $5 (or the equivalant I should say). I have no income, that certainly factors into it (though I'm willing to admit I have room for books in my budget I'm just a whimp when it comes to spending haha)

Let me look at the issue outside the haze of poverty . I would probably price at 4.99. It's not an awful lot of money in the grand scheme of things is it. Higher than that and people, or at least I, would start to wonder why I can't just buy something from a famous author instead. I do have an urge to keep reading the Dresden Files at some point...

I can't say whether my reactions to ebook pricing are justified or not. From a marketing stand point however I see a lot of worth in pricing products cheaply (its the old adage of selling lots of cheap stuff can add up to more profit than selling a few expensive things. ymmv). There's a point just before people start thinking "it's too cheap, why bother?". That's where you want to be. Like everyone else is saying.

Unfortunately its usually different for different products. Lower the price, see what happens.

I generally don't buy eBooks I admit--which is probably partly why I am not 100% confident about my price point and why I based it off the mass market paperback price. Most eBooks I've read have been available for free. I've only started purchasing eBooks since getting on this site to check out and support the writings of the members here. As part of my discretionary spending, I don't have a lot for books (or anything).


...thank you everyone for your comments so far! I still don't know what I will do.

 

[TWErvin2]

For me, I won't pay for an ebook that costs as much or more than a mass market paperback, and that includes authors that I have read and enjoyed. I'll wait for it to be discounted or drop in price over time. Thus, for me as a potential reader, $6.99 is a barrier. Many small press novels, not only self-published, are priced under that.

The flip side is that it takes fewer readers to achieve a certain income level, but that also makes it more difficult for a novel to take off.

 

[BWFoster78]

Since this is a community of writers who, presumbably, all want to publish and market their own books one day if they haven't done so already, I think these types of discussions are extremely valuable.

I think it would be absolutely awesome, however, if other authors would share their experiences with this. Actual data from someone saying: by changing my price point from x to y, my sales dipped z%, leaving me with a positive/negative net in terms of money.

Once I publish, I will definitely share as much data as I can with y'all.

 

[Devor]

Since this is a community of writers who, presumbably, all want to publish and market their own books one day if they haven't done so already, I think these types of discussions are extremely valuable.

I think it would be absolutely awesome, however, if other authors would share their experiences with this. Actual data from someone saying: by changing my price point from x to y, my sales dipped z%, leaving me with a positive/negative net in terms of money.

Once I publish, I will definitely share as much data as I can with y'all.

MichaelSullivan did that, in a post somewhere. I'm on the kindle or I'd find it, but you could run a search for 4.99, since that's the price he came to.

 

[BWFoster78]

Devor,

Thanks. I recall reading that post.

However, every book is different, and I believe having the information from a lot of different sources has value.

 

[Steerpike]

I'd consider buying a self published book at 4.99. The chances I would buy one at 6.99 are slim.

 

[BWFoster78]

One question is:

How likely is the average buyer to know that the book is self published? If it appears to be professional, do people question it?

On the other hand, since discovering self published books at $5 and below, it's getting harder for me to pay $6, $7, and $8 for even established authors whose work I follow.

The quality of the stuff I've read for less money thus far has been favorable in comparison with my experiences with traditionally published material. I think it's going to get harder and harder for anyone to squeeze more than $5 from a book unless it's a highly desirable, must-read new release.

 

[Zero Angel]

Since this is a community of writers who, presumbably, all want to publish and market their own books one day if they haven't done so already, I think these types of discussions are extremely valuable.

I think it would be absolutely awesome, however, if other authors would share their experiences with this. Actual data from someone saying: by changing my price point from x to y, my sales dipped z%, leaving me with a positive/negative net in terms of money.

Once I publish, I will definitely share as much data as I can with y'all.

Great idea, BWFoster78. I haven't had much data on people that are interested in my book but for whom the price was an obstacle. Is there a way to see, for instance, page views on books? It would be one thing if I was getting dozens of page views a day but none of those translated into sales.

If I come across any data or generate any of my own (by the way, my day job is as a mathematician), I will be sure to share. Also, if anyone has some interesting data they would like me to "crunch", I am not entirely opposed to that either.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

As mentioned I priced my books at $4.95 and they were not generally know as being "self-published" since I used an imprint, had covers as good as New York offerings, and very good descriptions. I sold books 1 - 4 at that price and book 5 I increased to $6.95 and had no push-back on that price - but the people buying book #5 were already deeply invested in the series and didn't begrudge the extra $2.

For a first book in a series...Yeah I think $6.99 is too high. I say keep it under $5.

 

[Kevin O. McLaughlin]

One question is:

How likely is the average buyer to know that the book is self published? If it appears to be professional, do people question it?

Really depends on the book. If you are using your business name for your publishing work, have a quality cover, and a well written/proofread book, most readers probably aren't going to be able to tell your work from that of any other publisher. Price also has an impact, however. There is a greater tendency to assume a 99 cent ebook is indie published than, say, a $9.99 ebook, with good reason. As average indie prices in the best seller lists continue to climb, however, I think we'll see the distinction much more difficult to discern.

One other comment about prices. Last spring, Amazon changed their algorithms. I don't understand the full scope of the changes, but what I did get from my readings on the subject is that price now factors into placement on the crucial "popularity list". That's the default search pattern users see at Amazon.com, and because most readers don't bother to change the search parameter, it's the system most readers use when browsing for books online today.

What that means is, each sale of a $5 book counts for more in boosting placement on the popularity ranking than each sale of a $1 book. So it's possible (documented, in fact) to have a book which is selling significantly more copies by ranked significantly lower than a lesser selling book. This change is having a detrimental effect on sales of cheaper books, obviously. The change has been noteworthy, with average prices of indie ebooks on the bestseller lists going up significantly in the wake of the change.

I suspect part of that increase is due to smart indies adapting and raising prices a bit to compensate. But part is also due to the very large drop in 99 cent ebooks on the top-hundred charts by genre (which were halved, in most genres, looking at June numbers in comparison to January/February numbers).

 

[JCFarnham]

One other comment about prices. Last spring, Amazon changed their algorithms. I don't understand the full scope of the changes, but what I did get from my readings on the subject is that price now factors into placement on the crucial "popularity list". That's the default search pattern users see at Amazon.com, and because most readers don't bother to change the search parameter, it's the system most readers use when browsing for books online today.

What that means is, each sale of a $5 book counts for more in boosting placement on the popularity ranking than each sale of a $1 book. So it's possible (documented, in fact) to have a book which is selling significantly more copies by ranked significantly lower than a lesser selling book. This change is having a detrimental effect on sales of cheaper books, obviously. The change has been noteworthy, with average prices of indie ebooks on the bestseller lists going up significantly in the wake of the change.

I suspect part of that increase is due to smart indies adapting and raising prices a bit to compensate. But part is also due to the very large drop in 99 cent ebooks on the top-hundred charts by genre (which were halved, in most genres, looking at June numbers in comparison to January/February numbers).

Well, that to me is a blatant example of why distributers of ebooks need to have more/clearer rules placed upon them. It's a bit (or a LOT) devious to bury the cheap books just because Amazon stands to earn more profit on expensive items... devious indeed. Thank you for pointing this change out Kevin.

Well, that says it all. Price higher, or rather price professionally.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

One other comment about prices. Last spring, Amazon changed their algorithms. I don't understand the full scope of the changes, but what I did get from my readings on the subject is that price now factors into placement on the crucial "popularity list". That's the default search pattern users see at Amazon.com, and because most readers don't bother to change the search parameter, it's the system most readers use when browsing for books online today.

Kevin is right - the price does effect the "popularity list" and I believe the "search" algorithm. The "Bestseller lists" it does not...those lists are purely sales but are harder to find/get to so the popularity ones are more relevant.

 

[BWFoster78]

Just an illustration of how price affects purchasing:

I am currently reading 11 unfinished series. 2 of those series have books out that I have not yet read.

Yesterday, I was going to the beach and needed some reading material. My first thought was to buy Brent Weeks' The Blinding Knife. The price - 12.99

My eyes popped out of my skull.

I like Weeks, but really? I looked at Terry Ervin's Blood Sword. $2.99.

No offense, Terry, but I probably prefer Weeks' books to yours. However, do I prefer it over 4x as much? No.

I bought Blood Sword.