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I Had No Idea!
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$3 okay for 85-page book?
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I can't see you getting many takers at that price. At the very least, make it very clear how many pages the book does contain. That way anyone who does purchase the book can't realistically complain about it afterwards.
I have a 140 page book priced at $2.99 (for the ebook).
BTW that is the lowest BookBaby will let me sell it for.
I'd argue that you are not going to get away with much more than 99 cents due to the length.
Personally, I won't spend more than 99 cents on book that's under 100 pages.
Two things to consider: First, If you're signed up for KDP you can't price your book below $2.99 and take advantage of any countdown promotion deals. Second, what is your primary objective at the moment, sales or royalties?
Btw, you can easily solve the dissonance by adding another 100-150 pages to the current scope -:)
C. wrote: "Two things to consider: First, If you're signed up for KDP you can't price your book below $2.99 and take advantage of any countdown promotion deals. Second, what is your primary objective at the m..."Ehm... royalties from the sales, actually. Sorry, I'm a bit confused here.
Nik wrote: "Btw, you can easily solve the dissonance by adding another 100-150 pages to the current scope -:)"Was saving them for part 2 and 3 :)
Thanks a lot for your feedback, guys, I guess I'll have to lower the price, then...
Michael wrote: "Nik wrote: "Btw, you can easily solve the dissonance by adding another 100-150 pages to the current scope -:)"Was saving them for part 2 and 3 :)"
Okay ... maybe I'm going to sound a little harsh here, but if you have another 100-150 pages for "parts 2 and 3," it sounds just a wee bit to me like ripping off consumers. Put parts 2 and 3 into the current manuscript and call it a full-length book.
Also, if you are doing KDP-S, you are ignoring a good portion of your audience. The most popular reader in the US may be Kindle, but abroad it's the Kobo, which uses .epub technology. You may wish to consider broadening your customer base.
/my two cents
Way overpriced. $.99 would be more realistic. Readers want value for the money in terms of both content & price. On the other hand if you can get it more power to you. J.M. Garlock
"The Centurion Chronicles"
Well, I wasn't being entirely serious there. I don't actually have much more great material left for new volumes. In this book, I've included my favourite stories, and it would take me many months to compile anything like that again (though I am currently working on another volume, but that one is dedicated to a specific topic). So, I wasn't willing to wait for so long just to fill 200 pages.As to KDP-S/format: I personally (living in Europe) have a Kindle, my friends either have a Kindle or Kindle apps, and I don't think I know anyone who uses Kobo or buys books on pages other than Amazon. Do you by any chance have a link to the source of that information?
But thanks for the input, I definitely need to do closer research there.
Anyway, reduced the price to $1.99 now and will quite possibly lower it to $0.99 soon.
By the way, could anyone tell me why the price displayed is $2.40, although I actually chose $1.99? Had similar problems before, too.
I think it adds VAT or whatever in Europe. In US it'll be sold for 1.99$ most likely.As of the price, you can really try what works for you and you can change it every day if you want and see if and how it influences sales, if at all. You've already started your Black Friday by reducing a dollar, by Cyber Monday you can offer another dollar off -:)
John Grisham may sell well even charging 20 dollars for his book, while I will still hardly sell anything, even if I offer my work for 50cents and may be even sued by the rap singer for using his trade name -:)
Michael wrote: "By the way, could anyone tell me why the price displayed is $2.40, although I actually chose $1.99? Had similar problems before, too."
Hi Michael,
Depending on your location, prices displayed will be different and will reflect vat if it applies. For example if I view my titles on Amazon, the price shown for books I have priced at .99c books show up as 2.99.
Hi Michael,
Depending on your location, prices displayed will be different and will reflect vat if it applies. For example if I view my titles on Amazon, the price shown for books I have priced at .99c books show up as 2.99.
Michael wrote: "Hey guys,I would love to know your opinion: Do you reckon $3 is OK to charge for a book like this? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017...
It's "just" 85 printed page..."
IMHO it would be daylight robbery. I can see from the thread that you have reduced it to $1.99 which maybe more sensible. But having said all that, if you are selling through bookstores you maybe able to tap into the Christmas presents market as your book would sell well. And Kobo is a popular reader in Canada, or so I heard. I hope this helps.
Thanks a lot for clearing that up, Olivia and Nik! Much appreciated!
India wrote: "Michael wrote: "Hey guys,I would love to know your opinion: Do you reckon $3 is OK to charge for a book like this? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017...
It's "just"..."
It does, thanks, India!
Michael wrote: "C. wrote: "Two things to consider: First, If you're signed up for KDP you can't price your book below $2.99 and take advantage of any countdown promotion deals. Second, what is your primary objecti..."If you price your book at 99 cents, you'll have to sell 6x as many books than you would at 2.99 or you lose profit, or 3x as many at 1.99 to break even. So what I mean by asking, is your primary goal sales or royalties, I mean at this moment, do you want to build your fanbase by getting your book in as many readers' hands as possible (sales) and not worry about royalties? Or do you want to push the higher price through promoting (royalties) and sell fewer books.
It's the latter, I guess. So, yes, you guys are right, of course, will lower the price again some times soon. I mean, I realise I won't make any substantial amount of money with this kind of thing, anyway, so I may as well make it $0.99. I just don't want to do it right now, in order not to upset those who bought at $2.99.
Michael wrote: "Well, I wasn't being entirely serious there. I don't actually have much more great material left for new volumes. In this book, I've included my favourite stories, and it would take me many months ..."There are many articles about the matter, but one need only look at the fact that WHSmith, Easons, FNAC, and many, many more bookstores abroad sell via Kobo for starters. An article from a UK tech magazine might help you to know why. http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/tablet...
Finally, there's my own experience. I've been keeping metrics for several years now on my sales, and ePub outsells .mobi by a factor of 5:1 for me. Now, everyone's business is different, to be perfectly fair ... but I think it's more than a trifle short-sighted to cut off a good share of your potential audience by only selling from one outlet.
Sharon wrote: "Michael wrote: "Well, I wasn't being entirely serious there. I don't actually have much more great material left for new volumes. In this book, I've included my favourite stories, and it would take..."You've really got me thinking now. But I do find it quite strange - why would such a high percentage of people go for Kobo, which only seems to be marginally better, and be willing to spend more money on actual books by buying them on platforms other than Amazon?
Aside from everyone saying your ripping your customers off I say your also ripping yourself off. You want to set the book as a reasonable price for customers but you also want to set the book at a price where you get a decent amount back in royalties. Set your book above 2-3.99 but less than 9.99. As someone who has written two books below 70 pages I can tell you that your not doing yourself or anyone else any favors by setting your price low. To me, $2.99 is a reasonable price for any kindle and usually whatever you make your paperback you could make your ebook half that. I say you raise the price just a bit, just my opinion on the matter.
Michael wrote: "But I do find it quite strange - why would such a high percentage of people go for Kobo, which only seems to be marginally better, and be willing to spend more money on actual books by buying them on platforms other than Amazon?"
Not everyone is willing to feed the beast. ;-)
Signed,
A Kobo User
Don't know from experience, but I've heard that pricepoint will sell in romance/erotica, but it doesn't seem to work elsewhere. even some of the biggest names in the indie world started building their base by pricing their works at $.99 until they had the demand to ask for more. And if you're serializing with the parts that short, $.99 is more appropriate.
I'm coming late to the discussion but I think you have to consider that it's part 1 of several instalments. A lot of authors eventually come out with an edition that contains all parts in one book & it's always less than the sum of buying all parts individually. That can tick off your buyers so they may wait for that edition. Personally I think $1.99 is more reasonable for 85 pages.As J.J. noted above, the price can rise as you gain more followers although I recently saw an extreme example of that when I looked up the new book by a favourite author & saw the kindle edition was $19.99.
I think 2.99 and 3.99 is an acceptable price for a shorter book. I have a 3.99 book of around 25 pages that is doing well and lower price sales events are still a possibility.
Sandy wrote: "I'm coming late to the discussion but I think you have to consider that it's part 1 of several instalments. A lot of authors eventually come out with an edition that contains all parts in one book ..."On a similar note, I put up a short story a month or two ago distributing it wide so I could set it perma free as a promotional piece. Since Amazon won't let you set the price as free, I went with the extreme and priced it $199.99. And while waiting for them to price match, I told people in the blurb that it was free elsewhere to ask for price matching.
Sometime the insanely priced books get picked up and laughed at, so the thought is if it becomes the case with mine, people will go to the Amazon page to have a laugh and find they can get it free without being a KU subscriber. IMO, I'm fishing for that "bad publicity" hoping to get more attention.
J.J I've heard some crazy ideas but that's a new one lol. As crazy as it sounds I get what your doing, let us know if it works out for you.
Michael wrote: "... I don't think I know anyone who uses Kobo or buys books on pages other than Amazon...."
I buy all my books in .epub format....
Dedicated Apple user
I buy all my books in .epub format....
Dedicated Apple user
I would love to know your opinion: Do you reckon $3 is OK to charge for a book like this? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017...
It's "just" 85 printed pages (even though Amazon says it's 66), but it's very, er, concentrated! But thing is: If you want to get 70% commission, this is the cheapest you can make it. Or, what would you do?
Would be grateful for any tips!
Thanks,
Michael