Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion
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Value and Price
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Personally I'm willing to pay for less than $10 for a novel of about 300 pages or more written by someone I've never heard of before, ($15 if it's DRM-free ebook) but only when there is really good review by reputed media or it has already won an award I care about, and when the premise also looks promising. If it's by an author I've already read before & liked I may be willing to pay more. As to the two Conditioned Response, I would probably buy neither had Friday not been giving away her books for free & it is chosen as the group read.
Remember that your time, your eyesight, your sanity and sleep, and the space on your Kindle/device/drive/reader, all have a value. They are not free. Time spent reading a horrible novel is time that could have been invested better. My life is not long enough, for me to read slush.
Brenda wrote: "Remember that your time, your eyesight, your sanity and sleep, and the space on your Kindle/device/drive/reader, all have a value. They are not free. Time spent reading a horrible novel is time t..."Right on! Of course, easier to not finish or set aside some dreck you got for free. I have found some real gems and new authors cheap or free. But, a lot of stinkers out there—more than 80% fiction books need to hire an editor; nonfiction books seem to either be really trite retellings of self-evident or over-preached things or at least very quickly judged useless and tossed.
Older volumes in fiction series likely to be an exception when offered free or value, particularly when new entry released.
And for those dreadful reads where I wish someone would pay me back for time and suffering...I have learned to chant the names of indie authors I have enjoyed or pop open a favorite recipe shared in a free e-cookbook.
I made the mistake, after smartly sampling to be sure I liked, of recently accepting a free-for-review offer of something that degenerated into a story with over-vivid self-mutilation. Soured me on that process although I would eagerly do for favorite authors,publisher programs or big box stores with policies on how to handle if something you just could not finish.
Actually I don't think I have ever paid for any self-published book/story.P.S. a question to authors who are doing book giveaway. Suppose someone receives your book for free & doesn't think it deserve a high rating, do you think s/he should give an honest rating of 3 stars or lower or should s/he refrain from rating b/c it's complaining about the stuff one didn't pay for? I'm just curious.
I don't think the reader is obliged to do anything at all. Remember the old days, when reviewers would mail out review copies of hardback or paperback books to magazines or newspapers? They knew that of a hundred unrequested review copies mailed out, there would be a harvest of perhaps one review. How is handing out a free copy of an e book different?
Deborah (Debbie Rice) wrote: "I made the mistake, after smartly sampling to be sure I liked, of recently accepting a free-for-review offer of something that degenerated into a story with over-vivid self-mutilation. Soured me on that process although I would eagerly do for favorite authors,publisher programs or big box stores with policies on how to handle if something you just could not finish. "I think that if the author's request and the sample were misleading about the nature of the work, you have absolutely no obligation to finish the book, and you have every right to leave a brief review that indicates that you stopped reading because the material deviated so sharply from what you were led to expect.
I feel very awkward if i dislike a book i received for free. Authors seem to expect any negative to be objective and describe fairly what you didn't like. But I'm not an editor, I'm a customer. I don't want to give an objective critique - I want to vent and rage over my wasted time! I end up either not reviewing, or watering down my dislike if I received it for free.
I think it is perfectly tactful and okay to simply not review a book, however you acquired it. Life is too short, to plow through a dull book.
I know of people who scarf up every free ebook they can find -- and there are lots. Then they complain about how bad they are. Even a book you didn't pay for costs you something, if only the time to read the first page and discover it is horrible. In other words, free is not necessarily a bargain.
I just went through a glut of reading cheap and free indie books, and the good thing is that it makes me notice and appreciate good writing. After reading a series of "okay" books I read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and I was blown away by how great it was - but I probably wouldn't have noticed the calibre of the writing if it wasn't for the contrast.
Brenda wrote: "I don't think the reader is obliged to do anything at all..."Agreed. The problem with the new brave world of publishing is that authors are under the false impression that a) reviews are personal and b) that reviews are written for them. My advice to every author out there throwing tantrums over a harsh review is to get over yourselves. The purpose of reviews is for readers to share their experience with other readers. If an author wants to read the review, that's their prerogative. But to throw a public hissy fit over one reader's opinion is not only unprofessional, it's self-destructive.
But getting back to the subject at hand, the value of a book isn't necessarily inherent in its price. But rather what a reader gets out of it. As a previous poster mentioned, getting a book for free isn't necessarily value. Nor is paying less for an ebook. The true value of a book is its worth to a reader and I personally don't believe price is the final arbiter on what merits value.
Kevis wrote: "The true value of a book is its worth to a reader"
If only a reader could know that value before expanding time and money!
For a known author or familiar series, it's possible to anticipate value. For the unknown, it's trial and error based on what the reader has heard or read, much like sampling unfamiliar cuisine.
If only a reader could know that value before expanding time and money!
For a known author or familiar series, it's possible to anticipate value. For the unknown, it's trial and error based on what the reader has heard or read, much like sampling unfamiliar cuisine.
G33z3r wrote: "...If only a reader could know that value before expanding time and money!..."That's what GR friends are for.
Jim wrote: "G33z3r wrote: "...If only a reader could know that value before expanding time and money!..."That's what GR friends are for."
Well said!
The other thing you could resort to is sample chapters. That's why the "look inside" feature at Amazon is so nice. It's the equivalent of standing in the bookstore and opening the paperback to the first page. If I can't grab a reader by the shirt collar and twist hard in the first page and a half, I am not doing my job as a writer.
Downloading a sample of the book is best. This gives you a feel of the book and if you will like it or not. You will know within the first few pages.Unfortunately, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find that prince.
Editing is crucial for books along with a book cover. It needs to represent the author and if the author is not willing to invest in himself and his audience then it is hard for us to invest in him/her.
depends on the book...as a comic-book geek i once paid $100 for a copy of the first SilverAge appearance of Batgirl...think about that for a moment...$100 for used comic book. Much more than that for The Avengers #1 back in the 1980s. Paid $50 for a copy of The Immortal Storm and that was a ex-library book. Some books i wouldn't have for free...all depends on the book my friend....
Spooky1947 wrote: "depends on the book..."Very true & also how long I've been looking for a book. Pre-Internet, I sometimes spent over a decade looking for a book. When I finally found it, I'd be wild to get it, no matter what the price, although I don't think I ever paid too much. I remember 2 trilogies that I had the 2d book of a trilogy only, but never could find the other two. Talk about frustration!
Collections are also often worth a lot to me. Some of Karl Edward Wagner's stories are very difficult to find, others had never been published before, so when I found a compilation of his short stories, I didn't pay much attention to the cost.
The most I ever paid for a book was $100, though. That was the top price I'd set on a signed, limited edition of Here There Be Dragons & Way Up High - kids books, believe it or not. Great illustrations by Bode, the stories by Zelazny. There were only 1000 produced & they were signed by Zelazny & the 2 books are in a box set. It took some years of watching & bidding on Ebay, but I finally got them.
my main problem with books is the 'rare' factor. i am very uncomfortable buying rare books. i have been burned out twice (as in the fire truck showing up, NOT burned out on SF) and lost a good deal of rare stuff...i live in fear of fire, so i try to only buy the rare stuff in ex-library editions. let's face it, fire insurince won't REPLACE the copy lost, ie if it was a 1000 copy limited edition, after a fire there are only 999 left, forget what the insurance pays....besides, no insurance co. will cover my books, belive me ive tried to find someone to
as to insureing rare books, about 20 years ago i did finaly get a quote on my collection...two grand a year they wanted...and that was 20 years ago...fracking monkey farmers...i HAD insurance a month before that second fire, but i got a new agent (my old one swtiched jobs), and i was imeatly told "we ain't goin ta insure no books' (got to love living in the deep south), so i showed him my bird finger, then the door....1 month later fire wipes.me out....sometimes i wonder why i even get up in the morning.....
That sucks. We've been lucky & haven't lost anything to a fire, although it seems every puppy we gets chews a book into ruins & often samples a couple of others. So far, they've only done it once. I tend to flip out when they do - wrath of the gods time - lots of shouting, some nose rubbing & spanking.I'm not really into rare or collectible books. I'm into Zelazny & love Bode's work, so I'd been wanting those for a long time, even though I'd read the actual stories. Occasionally, I indulge myself.
For most books, I tend to read, not admire them. That means they get dirty, dog-eared & their bindings break. I don't care if a book is new or used. While I have some ex-library books, I kind of hate them because the buggers put stickers over some of the important parts of the covers.
The only book my dog ever chewed was a first edition that I had borrowed from a friend. Go figure.
Dee wrote: "The only book my dog ever chewed was a first edition that I had borrowed from a friend. Go figure."Murphy works over time some days.
;-)
Good evening,Being of relative young age I never wanted to charge money for my earliest available work. This was for a number of reasons. I didn't feel I'd learnt enough to produce a product with enough quality to merit a reader spending money on the piece/s. I also wanted to (hopefully) build-up a fan base for my future work so needed as many of you on board as possible. The final reason for this is that it brings me a great deal of enjoyment being lost in a fictional world of words.
Please feel free to read any of the 'rough draft' WIP which can be found on my profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Happy reading to you all. :)
to be honest, i wish there was no such thing ad a "rare book" ....in a perfect world all books would be deluxe editions printed by the ton and forever in print. they'd cost a nickle each too. ATM i have a handfull of books i might consider "rare" (one is a short print run of 1000 copies) and damn if i dont feel guilty about owning them...i only want to READ the things for cryin out loud, digital copies would be fine, but nooo, they had to be rare paper copies, no digital to be had. :(
If you buy a Kindle book and it's awful, you can get a refund (provided you're quick). I've done it twice.
I make it a rule not to do reviews on request - it's a minefield. And nor, of course, do I ask anyone else to review my books - that would be hypocritical.
I make it a rule not to do reviews on request - it's a minefield. And nor, of course, do I ask anyone else to review my books - that would be hypocritical.
Yep, returning Kindle books is easy, and yes, you need to be quick about it (this book sucked is NOT a reson for a refund peeps, IMO anyway)....one of the things I like about Amazon.
Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
Here There Be Dragons / Way Up High (other topics)Conditioned Response (other topics)
Marsten's story is a buck, and runs 14,400 words. Baldwin's story is eight bucks, and runs 232,680 words. You get twice as many words per dollar from Baldwin as you do from Marsten. On the one hand, I can argue that Marsten is ripping us off. On the other hand, discounts for volume purchase are something we all expect when we buy groceries, so I can argue Baldwin owes us a lower price per word.
Which leaves the big question: What is a fair price per word for a self-published story/novel, and how should it vary by length? I've got a feeling that this will keep me awake tonight ...
YES, I KNOW I'M WEIRD.