Smart or dumb?

[Neil]

In a move that may be smart or may be dumb, I’ve raised the prices of my books to $1.99. This, after reading several threads and discussions on the matter of pricing. Here’s the gist of my reasoning. There are a lot of ebooks out there nowadays, and as I’ve heard in many discussion groups, a good number are not well-written, not formatted correctly, and have covers that look homemade. These authors want to sell their books (we all do) so they price them at the lowest cost allowed by Amazon, 99 cents. My books have all been through editors and agents, as I’ve mentioned before, and they all have covers created by a professional and the text has been formatted by a pro. Placing my books at a low price point insinuates (I hope I’m not offending) that the books may be of poor quality. As a reader, I tend to disregard lower priced books and looked for those priced a little higher, assuming the higher-priced will be better. It is a totally psychological quirk of mine and has nothing to do with what may actually be between the pages. I’ve also heard that some authors are shocked at how their sales increased when they raised their prices and escaped the stigma of the 99 cent mentality. I guess I’ll see what happens and report the results.
I just sent the last info for my sponsorship blitz. It starts with an interview on Feb. 26th and then paid sponsorships until the end of the year. Eight so far on such sites as Kindle Nation Daily, Kindle Fire Department, Kindle Boards, and The Frugal Ebook of the Day. I’m hoping to schedule more with my new books coming out while circulating the other titles over the next few months. I’m also having a free giveaway of INSECTLAND, starting on Saturday and ending Sunday night. Get your copy!

http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

[Paul]

It's something I call "perceived value", my people tend to assume things are only as valuable as the price. Just look at what Apple get away with, they are masters of (amongst other things) perceived value.

I'm aiming a variation on your suggestion. As I am writing a series of books, I'm planning to make the first one free and then charge somewhere around $1.99-2.99 for all the others.