[spacedin]

I've been using the same price for my ebooks for years: $3.99. All the books are wide and most are 100,000+ words although there's one that's 80K words. My books are either soft sci-fi (i.e., sociological/psychological/political/mystery--not space opera) or techno thrillers.

Although I realize inflation has hurt people's incomes, I feel I've been setting my pricing too low, but I have no idea how other indie authors are pricing their books or why they're pricing them the way they are.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[kyokominamino]

I've been using the same price for my ebooks for years: $3.99. All the books are wide and most are 100,000+ words although there's one that's 80K words. My books are either soft sci-fi (i.e., sociological/psychological/political/mystery--not space opera) or techno thrillers.

Although I realize inflation has hurt people's incomes, I feel I've been setting my pricing too low, but I have no idea how other indie authors are pricing their books or why they're pricing them the way they are.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

I think one thing to be aware of is that pricing sometimes does need to go up or down based on buying habits. It's probably time for you to experiment a little bit. Most of the time $2.99 and $3.99 are the sweet spot. Readers seem more okay buying in that price range, but it depends on the genre and how your sales have done previously. We're still cheaper than the Big Four, but they're established and many of us are indie, hybrid, or self published, so we sometimes price lower to convince readers to give us a chance. I say try $2.99 for a little while and see if there is any change. You can always switch it back. $2.99 is also a good discount price point for the promo sites so you can advertise in bigger pools of readers. You can also try $1.99 or .99 cents, but it's up to you.

 

[travelinged]

The average price for indie techno thrillers is over $7 right now. Just FYI

 

[alhawke]

I had my prices set at $3.99. I upped all of them except two to $4.99 or $5.99 this year. We Indies really are giving these ebooks away.

But, I saw a drop in sales with some of my weaker selling books at the higher prices. I still won't lower them back.

I think $3.99 is the new $2.99 and $4.99 is the new $3.99. But be warned that it doesn't necessarily mean readers think the same thing. And, for now, most promos still advertise at $.99.

 

[ImaWriter]

Take a look at the bestsellers in your genre/category--and are about the same length. Use whatever they are priced at as your baseline.

 

[Kathy Dee]

My thoughts are that you need to be selling, even if that's in small qualtities, because sales drive visibility. And increased visibility leads to more sales. For many people, unable to shift books, their offerings are gradually sinking to the bottom of the store, unless they are actively advertising.

So essentially, that's why I am in favour of giveaways plus 2.99 pricing. Giveaways attract new readers who are prepared to give your writing a go and, even if they don't go on to read your other books, the very act of obtaining your freebies increases visibility and the chances of your book being found by other people who will.

This approach has been my method for the past few years and it works to keep my books ticking over i.e. consistent low-volume sales, and consistent sales keep the Amazon algo interested. As I say, it is not a recipe for shifting huge volume, but it does mean that I have a lot of my books actually selling themselves.

 

[jb1111]

Regardless of your pricing, it's always YMMV. The price that works for your competitor may not work for you, and vice versa. I don't move my prices around, personally.

 

[Carol (was Dara)]

For that length, I'd price at least $4.99. Maybe $3.99 for book 1s so people can try them out cheaply, but not for later books in the series.