[Beatriz]

I hear that lowering the price of a book really works.  What's the general consensus on this?  I'm very reluctant to lower my price because I wrote a big book and I do feel that $2.99 is not a lot of money, why you can't even buy a cup of coffee today for that.  Yet I seem to see a trend here, readers want to read on the cheap (excuse me readers-I'm not calling you cheap) but I'm really mystified by this trend.  If a book looks good to me I gladly pay the $2.99 or more, whether it is written by an indie writer or not.  But ebooks in general seemed to have opened a pandora's box here and most readers want them to be dirt cheap.  Is it because the Kindle is expensive?  Please, someone enlighten me here.

 

[Bob Mayer]

It can work if you have a series.  Of my 40 titles, I have two at .99 to bring readers in.  The rest are at $2.99 up to $4.99.

I've been catching a bit of flack for my contention that John Locke selling a million ebooks is great for him, but the reality is that pricing all at .99 (except his book about how to sell a million at $4.99, brilliant move there) is equal to any other author selling 166,000 at $2.99.  I've done that.  But it just doesn't sound as sexy.

I'll take the ka-ching.

 

[Gordon Ryan]

Beatrice, there are a couple dozen threads on this subject if you want to do a quick search.  There IS no answer.  There are proponents of both positions, higher and lower prices.  Good logic on both sides. It becomes a question of what you want to achieve, dollars or readers.  I know the answer: BOTH.  Well, you have to reach a compromise and decide which is more important.  Few readers want to part with the 2.99 for a completely unknown writer.  Good luck.

Gordon Ryan

 

[Beatriz]

Beatrice, there are a couple dozen threads on this subject if you want to do a quick search. There IS no answer. There are proponents of both positions, higher and lower prices. Good logic on both sides. It becomes a question of what you want to achieve, dollars or readers. I know the answer: BOTH. Well, you have to reach a compromise and decide which is more important. Few readers want to part with the 2.99 for a completely unknown writer. Good luck.

Gordon Ryan

I guess that says it all. You are an unknown writer and they give you a chance for .99 but very little chance at $2.99, right? Yet a part of me still feels that lowering it to .99 is practically giving it away. I'll see if I get over it. The thing that puzzles me, however is that they could sample your work for nothing, Amazon gives a huge chapter so they can really tell whether it's junk at .99 or junk at 2.99 so the whole thing doesn't really make sense to me. I use samples all the time and if I don't like them, I don't buy them, period. I don't care if they cost .99 or 2.99. If Amazon didn't have samples I could understand that a lot better, but thanks a lot.

 

[Cheryl Bolen]

The 99-cents thing is only successful if you've got other books you want to lead readers to.

I have two of mine priced at 99-cents, one of which was previously published by a major New York publisher in mass market paperback, and I do believe it's worth more than 99-cents.

In the UK I'm seeing less than a 10 percent crossover to my higher priced books after they read the 99-cent book. (And I selected that book because I thought it would leave the reader hungering for more  Cheryl Bolen books!) That 99-cent book has made it as high as Number 5 on the amazonUK site, but that book outsells my higher priced books at better than 10 to 1.

So, I'm not sure it is helpful, except for getting your rank up. Speaking of rank, I've notice almost all the Top 5 Kindle sellers in romance are priced at 99 cents.

 

[EGranfors]

I agree that 2.99 is a bargain indeed.  I used smashwords for the first time so I did offer a 20% discount but that's only going to last for a month, I think.  I want to drum up some early sales for "Stairs."

 

[achillies000]

The thing that puzzles me, however is that they could sample ebook your work for nothing, Amazon gives a huge chapter so they can really tell whether it's junk at .99 or junk at 2.99 so the whole thing doesn't really make sense to me.

 

[MJFredrick]

I have a novella under another name that took off at 99 cents--hit the top 100 and everything. I put my novel Midnight Sun at $2.99 and it sold about 25 copies in June, but only 5 this month. Yesterday I dropped it to 99 cents, posted it everywhere, still not selling. So....who knows. I'm putting it back at 2.99 at the end of the month.

 

[Victoria J]

I think $2.99 is dirt cheap for a novel from a known author and is a reasonable price for an unknown writer. JMO. It's when ebooks are sold for over $10.00 that I begin to think they cost too much. Again, JMO.

 

[S.L. Baum]

I have a series and when I released the second book, I lowered book one to $0.99
That, along with promoting, really helped sales take off.

But I agree with everyone... you must promote... must, must, must...

 

[Javier Gimenez Sasieta]

When I lowered the price of my Spanish Thriller, from 2,99$ to 0,99$, I exactly doubled sales.

After that experiment, I raised the price again. I believe 2,99 is the correct price for a novel.

 

[Terrence OBrien]

"Yet I seem to see a trend here, readers want to read on the cheap (excuse me readers-I'm not calling you cheap) but I'm really mystified by this trend. If a book looks good to me I gladly pay the $2.99 or more, whether it is written by an indie writer or not."

We can't really speak of readers as a single group. They are composed of all sorts of subgroups with different tastes and preferences.

The $2.99 price brings new people to the market. It's not a trend where people who would have paid $10 will now only pay $2.99. Each lower price point brings new people into the market. The pool of consumers varies with price.

But when the price is $2.99, those willing to pay $10 will also pay $2.99. Likewise, when the price is 99 cents, those willing to pay $2.99 will also pay 99 cents. They have no choice.

So one way of looking at pricing is to ask how big the pool of consumers will be. Increase price and the pool shrinks. Decrease it and it increases. Individuals aren't changing. Their numbers are.

 

[Jon Olson]

It can work if you have a series. Of my 40 titles, I have two at .99 to bring readers in. The rest are at $2.99 up to $4.99.

I've been catching a bit of flack for my contention that John Locke selling a million ebooks is great for him, but the reality is that pricing all at .99 (except his book about how to sell a million at $4.99, brilliant move there) is equal to any other author selling 166,000 at $2.99. I've done that. But it just doesn't sound as sexy.

I'll take the ka-ching.

Yeah, at 99 cents it's slow money. And you have to sell a whole bunch.

 

[gregoryblackman]

Dropped from 2.99 to 0.99 cents, haven't sold a single copy yet and that was two days ago :S

 

[Beatriz]

The 99-cents thing is only successful if you've got other books you want to lead readers to.

I have two of mine priced at 99-cents, one of which was previously published by a major New York publisher in mass market paperback, and I do believe it's worth more than 99-cents.

In the UK I'm seeing less than a 10 percent crossover to my higher priced books after they read the 99-cent book. (And I selected that book because I thought it would leave the reader hungering for more Cheryl Bolen books!) That 99-cent book has made it as high as Number 5 on the amazonUK site, but that book outsells my higher priced books at better than 10 to 1.

So, I'm not sure it is helpful, except for getting your rank up. Speaking of rank, I've notice almost all the Top 5 Kindle sellers in romance are priced at 99 cents.

I only got one book so far because I'm too busy trying to sell the first one. And 99 cents is a killer for me.

 

[Beatriz]

My first book, at $3.99 took off and outsells my $0.99 novellas big-time. And I'm a completely unknown author. Authors unknown to the reader sell at more than $0.99 all the time.

Beatrice, I think your issue is visibility. If no one sees your book, the price tag doesn't matter.

I think you said it best. I could put it for .01 cent and if nobody sees it, it just sits there.