[Harriet Schultz]

For the past few years I've toyed with the prices of my books, using promos, etc. The only time I move a steady number of books is either during an advertised sale or if I drop the price from their usual $2.99 to $0.99 without any additional promotion. For some reason, even without an ad, readers find the books at that lower price and I watch my rank and sales numbers improve.

The downside of a higher rank for me is that my earnings fall. After my recent $0.99 sale I noticed that many of the "also boughts" were $3.99 so I thought I'd give that a try. I upped the price from $2.99 to $3.99 with all vendors and after five days have sold two books! Granted, I'd have to sell 8 at 99cents to earn the same royalty from each sale, but I hate to watch my rank drop.

Do most of you aim for rank or earnings? If the latter, do you just ignore rank?

 

[sstaubin]

I think rank is more important.  Distribution (both ebooks and paper) is something all of us Indie Authors struggle with.  Our networks exist at different levels, but how far do they really reach?  With a high rank on Amazon's Paid list, Amazon's advertising starts to kick in.  This is how the ball starts rolling.  The trick is keeping your ranking up, and I think you need to advertise to do that.  With few books, you can't advertise much.

So, it all comes down to writing more books.  More books allows more advertising; which should improve your rank; which will kick in Amazon's advertising; which will make you rich... 

At least that's my plan... 

 

 

[dianapersaud]

I think rank is more important. Distribution (both ebooks and paper) is something all of us Indie Authors struggle with. Our networks exist at different levels, but how far do they really reach? With a high rank on Amazon's Paid list, Amazon's advertising starts to kick in. This is how the ball starts rolling. The trick is keeping your ranking up, and I think you need to advertise to do that. With few books, you can't advertise much.

So, it all comes down to writing more books. More books allows more advertising; which should improve your rank; which will kick in Amazon's advertising; which will make you rich...

At least that's my plan...

I love your plan. And I agree- ranking is the best promotion because once you get high enough, Amazon's Algorithm takes over and you will keep climbing (even if it's short lived). That's free promotion that works. And it will lead to sell through to some of your other books.

 

[Amanda M. Lee]

Definitely rank. Don't get me wrong, I like to make money. IMO, the best way to do it is by getting more fans.