You Might be Pricing Your Ebooks at $.99 for the Wrong Reason(s)

 
On the KindleBoards, the conversation about ebook price never ends. A large subset of that conversation is about the $.99 price point, especially for novels.
 
I do respect a few Right Reasons for pricing a novel ebook at $.99. Among them "I'm a discount publisher selling cheap books at the lowest possible price" and "My book is on sale for a week or two". This post/rant is not about those reasons.
 
That said, here is my collection of Wrong Reasons for pricing your novel ebook at $.99, complete with why I think the reasons are wrong.
 
Wrong Reason #1. I'm an obscure author.
 
Obscure author, schmobscure author.
 
In a bookstore with over 10,000 books–or on Amazon with *MILLIONS*–if you aren't King, Grisham, Rowling, or Brown YOU ARE OBSCURE. And until you are one of those group of rarified people, YOU WILL NEVER NOT BE OBSCURE.
 
There will *always* be more people who have never heard of you than have tried your book–or even run their eyes over the spine of your book wedged between the other books on the shelves.
 
No one knows who you are (or who I am). Even if you sold 10,000 copies of your book last week (and I wish had), the typical shopper doesn't know you (or me) from the guy browsing the next aisle. What's more, ask them what authors they *do* know, forbid them the four I mentioned above, and they're probably reduced to a handful of genre authors they are familiar with–and that the person in the next aisle probably has never heard of.
 
Any pricing argument based on "I'm an obscure author" is silly. Period.
 
Wrong Reason #2. I won't pay more than $.99 for an ebook.
 
OK. Don't.
 
But keep in mind this important fact: You are not your market. Or even, in this case, a valid sample of the overall ebook market. Because people do pay more for ebooks. Every day.
 
While "I wouldn't pay that much for an ebook" is a perfectly valid personal reason for pricing your ebook low, it is a less than perfect business reason.
 
People *will* pay more than $.99 for an ebook. If you choose to charge a low rate, all you're doing is leaving money on the table. That's it.
 
Wrong Reason #3. All ebooks will be .99 cents in the future.
 
If you think the price of all ebooks is going to be $.99 in the future … so what?
 
I don't think the future of ebooks is all $.99 all the time, but if you do, I have to ask: Is there an advantage to getting ahead of the curve? Special "Early Discount Pricer" badges, maybe, or some cool benefit that I've managed not to spot?
 
Because, right now, all ebooks are *not* $.99. *Most* ebooks are not $.99.
 
So, by "striking early" and camping on this predicted price point, all you're doing is losing money while you wait for the future to arrive.
 
Why would you punish yourself by arriving early to the craptastic-price-party? Seems like it would make more sense to price higher while you still can.
 
~ ~ ~
 
That's my current collection. I'm always on the lookout, though. Or, if you want, please feel free to give me your Wrong Reason for pricing a novel ebook at $.99.
 
-David
 
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