eBook Pricing: 0.99c or 2.99c?

The debate continues as we indie authors pave our way on the new eBook highway. How do you price your book? 0.99c or 2.99c or some other price?

Though I haven’t compiled a lot of data on this, it seems most of us are going for the 0.99c rate.

Are we undervaluing our work?

I mean, in the ‘real’ world, out there, 0.99c seems low. When I talk to my non-writer friends and I tell them my book is only 0.99c, they kind of laugh (politely, but that subtle smirk is seen to the keen writer’s eye!).  And for those friends who’ve actually bought and read my book, they tell me my book is priced too low. Yes, they would actually like to pay more! (My fragile writer heart/ego beams at this!)

Plus, at 0.99c, you only get 30% royalty at Amazon. Granted, that is much better than a traditional book royalty of about 10%, if that. But, price your same eBook on Amazon at 2.99 and up, and you get 70% of the book’s sales.

So, I’m following the advice of Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords (and all-knower of indie author stuff!). In his recent slideshare for indie authors, he states: “Data indicates that some authors are probably under pricing their works, and might want to experiment with slightly higher prices” .

My book was 0.99c. I’m now pricing my work at 2.99c. It’s tough to do, but I’m going to try it.  Value my own efforts!

What do you think? If you have an eBook, how do you price yours? If you read eBooks, what are your views on pricing?

Here’s a few other articles on eBook pricing you might want to read:

International bestselling indie author Melissa Foster weighs in: http://www.melissafoster.com/content/are-ebooks-too-cheap

Bob Mayer writes on The Pricing of ebooks and Perceived Value: http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/the-pricing-of-ebooks-and-perceived-value/

Vote your views on indie author Glen Krisch’s post: http://glenkrisch.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/on-ebook-pricing-vote-in-my-new-poll/