Kindle PriceComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Saturday, July 30, 2011


Hmmmm... the price for my novel is $6.99 on Kindle, which is a big discount from the $12.99 paperback.

But would I sell more if it were $4.99? Would I sell five times more if it were $1.99? When there's no actual cost to put the book in someone's hands, you can really set the price anywhere you think demand will meet supply.

There's a lower limit where reducing the price doesn't really help, of course. If I'm interested enough to start reading a book, I'm probably not more likely to buy it for $.99 than I would be for $1.99, and I'm not really much less likely to buu it at $4.99. (But then, I have a pretty good allowance.)

What's the price at which you would just jump in and press "buy" without really worrying about it?

On the other hand, you can read the first chapter free. At the point where you've read the first chapter and you want to keep reading, at what price above which you start thinking hard about whether you need this book, and below which you go, what the hell, gimme the words?

Now be honest, boys and girls...

8 Comments:

There are so many good books I want to read for 0.99, why would I pay more? When I can't find something that interests me at that price, then I'll pay more. But what I've found is that the more expensive books are usually no better than the cheap ones.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:58 PM  

9.99 will make me pause. 6.99 and below, I don't even think before hitting the buy button. (I'll usually still buy at 9.99, but I'll think about it more first.)

By Blogger misskate, at 8:09 PM  

Under $5 falls into a 'not quite real money' category in my mind, and the only real differentiation within it is that <$1 becomes a 'why not' if it catches my interest and has decent reviews.

By Blogger alice, at 10:56 PM  

I don't know why, but in my mind, $2.99 is the price point at which thought kicks in. Under that, it's worth a risk. Over, and I start hemming and hawing (i.e., reading reviews, looking for specials, etc.)

For what it's worth, I've never taken advantage of the "read a sample" downloads. In bookstores, do people read the first chapter of a book before deciding to buy? I don't. I'm much more likely to make a decision based on the cover/jacket copy.

By Blogger Arlo, at 12:59 AM  

Since this is your first book of fiction you have several factors to weigh here:

- your goal should be to get as many people to read it as possible... not only for now, but for the future.

- By pricing it lower, you're affording them that opportunity to try it quickly and easily and still make approx. 35% royalty on their purchase. That's more than you'd make at a traditional publishing outfit.

I would look at the success of authors like Amanda Hocking and this gentleman:

http://www.fusiondiary.com/4368/john-locke-first-indie-millionaire-on-kindle/

We price all of our ebooks at 99ยข (but not the graphic novels) because we want to establish our brand and have repeat customers. Anyone can sell a book once, the trick is a repeat performance.

By Blogger Cunningham, at 2:13 AM  

@Cunningham: I'm not looking to build a brand here. THE CIRCLE CAST was a passion project I worked on over the past 15 years. I've probably spent more time working on it than anything other piece of writing. Unless it hits, I don't know how I can afford to write another novel.

By Blogger Alex Epstein, at 9:34 AM  

My take is that $4.99 and down is an impulse buy- but that $0.99 to free doesn't actually incent the person to read the book. I have a slew of free ebooks from Project Gutenberg that are just taking up space on my computer while I have read every one of the ebooks that have cost me more than $2.99.

If you want a lot of downloads to brag about then you give it free or only charge $0.99. If you want to maximize the downloads that are actually read, you charge $4.99.

I think that $2.99 is the sweet spot for the most sales/downloads and the most actually read. This is well into the impulse buy pricing but high enough to make the purchaser feel guilty if it sits unread.

Now, maximum profits may actually be at the $1.99 price point so if paying the bills is paramount, you might want to take that into consideration... just keep in mind that this also falls below the price point where it can sit unread without prying on the buyers conscience.

By Blogger Clint Johnson, at 12:18 PM  

I think that it is 0.99 sells more, though it isn't necessarily read first, 2.99 is what softcovers used to be priced at, not too bad; 4.99 is about as much as I'd pay for an E-book, after that I might just as well as buy the real book.

By Blogger Hugo Fuchs, at 8:29 PM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.