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Price pulsing
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*sigh* What an over reaction from that reviewer! I notice another book that she's given a one star rating to because she didn't find that one funny either. Humour is so subjective, just because she didn't find something funny doesn't mean that others won't, and the one star reviews are totally uncalled for.
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Thanks, Karen - I didn't take her comments to heart. She clearly has no sense of humour. It's the comments she makes in the first and third reviews that interest me more. That she, and a lot her reader friends, dislike authors changing the price of their books and that putting it up is ripping off the reader. (She may just be a tightwad - she seems to resent paying as much as...£1.53 for a book.
I did notice that - she does sound like a tight wad!
I read her reviews Lynda, she comes across as a grippy po-face. Worst kind of reviewer in my opinion, of no use to either author or would-be reader.
Also Amazon seems to alter the price of books without bothering to mention it to the person who published them
I've just made my first book available and figuring out a price has been hard. But with samples, anyone attracted by the cover and description can read a big chunk for free. Paying a couple of pound for a novel that you've already tried and enjoyed is not unreasonable. However, I have some sympathy with reviewers who complain about the price constantly changing. Regardless of the amounts involved, some people always get uppity over a bad deal. But I wouldn't worry about it. Marketing is all about trial and error.
I tried it... my weekend at 99p was literally the only sales I've had this month. Nowt before and nowt since. And even then I only picked up a dozen or so.Trouble is, in the event that I ever do get enough reviews to apply for a bookbub ad, they look at your pricing history, and if they see you changing it often, they'll reject.
Plus, if you get a reputation for price pulsing, people will just hold off buying until your next "sale"
Plus, you attract nutjob reviewers...
Gotta say I've been ticked off on more than one occasion when I've bought a book only to discover it on free offer not long after.
Tim wrote: "Plus, if you get a reputation for price pulsing, people will just hold off buying until your next "sale""yup... I do that with quite a few authors who i know price pulse... ereaderiq is my friend...
I did get a three star review from someone who said she'd wait until the price did fall before buying it. She'd read the 'look inside' and enjoyed it. It seems it was the price that dropped the star rating, but I felt she was fair in stating this
Jud - the reviewer had seen a book at 77p but not gone back to buy it until the following week when it was 1.53. So she was basically complaining that she hadn't the sense to pick up a bargain when she saw it!Thanks everyone. This has helped me make my mind up. My full length books are 2.99, they're worth 2.99, and they're staying at 2.99.
Tim wrote: "Plus, if you get a reputation for price pulsing, people will just hold off buying until your next "sale""Isn't that the whole point, though? If people are waiting for the offer, that means a spike in sales, and a brief trip up the charts.
Remember that only the canny readers will be aware of an autor's reputation for price pulsing. The sort of readers who are on this kind of forum, in fact. There are hundreds of thousands of readers who will never bother to read a single book forum in the same way that I would never bother browsing a - for example - cheese forum, even though I eat a prodigious quantity of cheese-based comestibles.
...wonder if there's a bacon forum...
Patti (baconater) wrote: "...wonder if there's a bacon forum..."If there isn't you could start one........
Or just redirect the focus of this one.
Lynda wrote: "Jud - the reviewer had seen a book at 77p but not gone back to buy it until the following week when it was 1.53. So she was basically complaining that she hadn't the sense to pick up a bargain when..."It's just that the book where she mentions that in the review is now free, I thought it was funny because she'll be even more upset about it if she notices.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Or just redirect the focus of this one."Thought you already had?
Rosemary Jean-Luc wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "Or just redirect the focus of this one."Thought you already had?"
I'd never do such a thing.
I meant to buy bacon last night and I forgot :o(
I did a price drop from £1.99 to £0.99 a few weekends ago and my sales halved. My reasoning for it was to encourage sales of my second book, a practice that I've seen other authors and publishers use. I certainly don't mind too much when goods I buy go down in price, its all part of a free market.
I wouldn't actually know if books I have bought then drop in price as I don't keep going back and looking at them! I've bought it, I'm going to read it, why would I be looking at its product description again?
Rosemary Jean-Luc wrote: "I wouldn't actually know if books I have bought then drop in price as I don't keep going back and looking at them! I've bought it, I'm going to read it, why would I be looking at its product descri..."Yes - me too. And I don't keep a record of how much I paid for it either...
Of her 11 reviews, one was 5* two were 3* the other eight were 1* and 2*.The books she rated 5* has been up and down since it was on sale. It did spend a long time at 20p. Now it is £2.99
Lynda wrote: "Do any authors here change their prices on a regular basis? I'd been thinking of trying this on the first in my comedy whodunit series until...After a recent free run Strictly Murder picked up it..."
What a jaw droppingly horrid review. I can only hope and pray that she never buys any of my books! It did make me wonder why she hadn't seemed to make use of the look inside thingy first and not buy the book if it didn't seem to be her cup of tea.
What strikes me though is that books aren't the only items to do price pulses, and some people will no doubt change their shopping habits accordingly, whilst others will remain totally oblivious. For example, Homebase seem to do so many fifteen per cent weekends that I hold off buying paint etc and then buy a whole load for future projects on a cheap weekend. I'm the same with my local garden centre. I joined their gardening club for about twenty quid a few years ago on a lifetime membership which entitles me to ten per cent off on Thursdays and Saturdays, so guess what - I never go at other times and judging by the car park, I'm not alone in this! With books though I'm different. If it tweaks my curiosity, that's it. I don't really care if its got 20p or 50p off or whatever. When I first had a kindle, I used to trawl the free lists like a stalker but now I don't bother, I just search for the author/genre that I fancy at that particular time.
I say - if price dropping seems to help your sales, continue to do it and don't worry about the sort of people who are going to get upset over a few pence difference in the price. Especially if they haven't got a sense of humour.
Was thinking a couple days ago that the countdown thing is REALLY gonna piss that broad off. ;)
I have a short story ready to publish (around 7.500 words ish).What do people think - is a short story worth 99p, or would it be better to wait until I have a few of them and bung out a compilation for a bit more?
Can only speak for myself but I always quite happily pay 77p for short stories from authors I enjoy.
Thanks for the considered replies folks.Will the Countdown deals make a huge difference? (And can't you just see the angry email my reviewer fires off to Amazon about it? lol)
I think I'm going to stick to making the first in the series Strictly Murder, either free or in Countdown once a year. As for the new series - well, first I've got to write it - and I've barely written a thing all week. Still that's another story.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Can only speak for myself but I always quite happily pay 77p for short stories from authors I enjoy."Well, that's good to know.
But would people in general take a punt on someone unknown to them with a 99p short story?
I have been thinking of putting out say half a dozen or so short stories, each at 99p, then making them each free occasionally.
After a recent free run Strictly Murder picked up its first 1 star review - when I checked out the reviewers other crits, I discovered something I didn't expect, which has now got me wondering whether price-pulsing is such a good idea.
Have a look at no 1 and 3 and see what you think, please.
http://amzn.to/16uDIr5