Price Point Matters
If you've never been published before, people don't know what kind of stories you write and they don't know if you're any good. What price (for an ebook), should you sell your book for? Book length has some bearing on the subject certainly. If you just released a modern day version of war and peace, I think that it is expected that the price point would be over $2.99. But what if your story hasn't cracked two hundred pages? What word count would justify higher pricing?
I don't know the answer to that question however I have read many articles saying that most ebooks should be priced initially at $2.99 and then do special events and offer coupons, offer free stories as a buy one get one free combination to entice readers. The thing is, you have to have a starting point. I recently had a question posed after a reviewer posted a review of my book. He asked why would he risk a buy of $2.99 to an unknown author when he could buy two or three stories and get three really great books for the price of my one book. It was a good question. I also read another article where a gentlemen detailed his sales pattern from offering a book at $2.99 and then lowering the book. He noted that it is harder to get one person to buy a book for $2.99 than it is to convince six people to spend $0.99. To make the same amount of profit from one sale at $2.99, if he offered the book at $0.99, it would take him six times that amount of people to earn the same profit.
What it comes down to is choice really and trial and error. I've gotten really positive reviews on my debut novella, Better Than 8 Fantasy out now (check out my books for buy links). I do plan to offer coupons and put my book on sale for a limited time after a bit. I think about how I buy books. If the story line intrigued me, if the cover was enticing, if the excerpt was interesting, I would spend up to a good $5 on an ebook. What's the most you would pay for an ebook? What prevents you from buying a book under $3? How do you view books priced at $0.99? Good, bad, indifferent?
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It is a difficult question in this brave new world. I came to the same conclusion- $2.99 and then experiment with pricing. Everyone would prefer to pay less but pricing should be part of a larger strategy. The $0.99 cent strategy is for a new/unknown author to quickly introduce a volume of readers to their work. If they like the first they will feel comfortable paying more for the next.
