[CatherineIsom]

Hi everyone, I am new to this and am full of questions but would just like to start with one.
How do you decide on pricing for your work? there doesn't seem to be any guidelines to this and so I wondered what was classed a 'fair' pricing for short stories and novels?
I write childrens stories, should they be cheaper than adult fiction? is it based on word count?
anyway, I hope you can help me.
Thank you in advance.....

 

[Ryne Billings]

Hi everyone, I am new to this and am full of questions but would just like to start with one.
How do you decide on pricing for your work? there doesn't seem to be any guidelines to this and so I wondered what was classed a 'fair' pricing for short stories and novels?
I write childrens stories, should they be cheaper than adult fiction? is it based on word count?
anyway, I hope you can help me.
Thank you in advance.....

That's a question of great debate. There's no correct answer, though most indies price fiction e-books between $0.99 and $2.99.

The trick is to go to Amazon.com and look at books similiar to yours. Use that as a guide to determine the price you set for your work. Guide is the key word there. I'm not saying to make it the same, in all reality.

Then, you might need to experiment with the price later on down the road. Some people sell better at a certain price. There are plenty of people who sell less copies at $0.99 than they do at $3.99 or even at $5.99.

 

[par2323]

Catherine,

The good thing is that you can't really make a mistake, because if it appears you have over priced or under priced--just change it.  It's so easy to do.  As for children's books, I certainly wouldn't price them any less than other books of comparable length. 

Patricia

 

[daringnovelist]

I would just correct what Ryne said slightly:

Most books are not priced between .99 and 2.99. They priced one or the other depending on the philosophy of the author. 99 cents if they want to go as low as possible, 2.99 if they want to get the 70 percent return from Amazon (and also match the more standard "bargain novel" price). Prices in between those two are in the "dead zone" though some of us are experimenting with them for novella length fiction.

Anything below $5 is a good price, frankly.

Here's how I price, just for reference. I seem to fall in the middle of the range of indie authors. Around here folks might lean a little lower, but if you talk to authors outside of here, they tend to go a little higher. Dean Wesley Smith has influenced me to push the word count limits downward for each price range, but I'm not sure about that yet:

99 cents = novelette or small collection of short stories to total about 7500- 17500 words.
1.95 = novella or script -- 18,000-39,000 words
2.99 = short novel -- 40,000-59,000 words
3.95 = novel -- 60k-99k words
4.95 = door stopper novel 100k words and up, or maybe equivalent in collections of shorter works.

As I said, I'm not set in stone on this, and my off-genre works are no test for people with more commercial fiction. Frankly, I sell a very similar amount no matter what price I put on the story. (Except free. When I run a free special, I get more "sales.") I have also not run more extensive marketing tests because I want to get more work out there first.

Camille

 

[Ryne Billings]

Thanks for the correction, Camille. I mispoke there.

I know that some indies price books higher than that range, but most of the ones I like aren't.

Most of what I know about prices comes from Konrath's blog though. I don't have practical experience with e-book prices.

 

[daringnovelist]

Just one note on a self-fulfilling prophesy: one of the main ways to tell an indie is that they price at 99 cents or 2.99.  If they price higher, most people assume they aren't indie.  Most pros are indie publishing their back lists at higher prices, even when the books aren't famous and put under a pen name.

I suspect prices are going to settle a little lower than what they're using now, but IMHO, it won't be because of competition.  It will be because of the illusion of competition.

Camille

 

[Tonya]

I priced my debut Indie novel, Carpe Bead 'em, at 2.99 because it is 75k words, and between the 3.99 and .99 debate. It felt good. It's been a week since the release and I've sold over 100, so I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[HeidiHall]

I priced my debut Indie novel, Carpe Bead 'em, at 2.99 because it is 75k words, and between the 3.99 and .99 debate. It felt good. It's been a week since the release and I've sold over 100, so I'm pretty happy with it.

Wow! That's an awesome first week at any price! Congrats Tonya!

 

[Tonya]

Wow! That's an awesome first week at any price! Congrats Tonya!

Really I was surprised, but not sure what a good number was. I was just happy that ONE person wanted it....It definitely put a fire under me to get the next one out quickly.

Another question about price. I was thinking when the next one comes out, on a month, that I should drop the price of the first one. Has anyone done that? If so, does it help with sales of both?

 

[jimbronyaur]

Really I was surprised, but not sure what a good number was. I was just happy that ONE person wanted it....It definitely put a fire under me to get the next one out quickly.

Another question about price. I was thinking when the next one comes out, on a month, that I should drop the price of the first one. Has anyone done that? If so, does it help with sales of both?

Tonya - AWESOME sales! What's your secret? As far as the next book goes, you could drop the price on the first one... BUT I think tier pricing works best with a series.

-Jim

 

[Tonya]

Tonya - AWESOME sales! What's your secret? As far as the next book goes, you could drop the price on the first one... BUT I think tier pricing works best with a series.

-Jim

LOL! If I knew the secret, I would tell it. I have nooooo clue. I tweeted it, facebooked it, and I'm always hanging out on the boards. I have two grogs that have a great following.
The Writer's Guide To E Publishing http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/
And
The Naked Hero http://thenakedhero.com/
I believe in paying it forward, so I do take time to get to know the people who respond to my blogs...maybe that's it...not sure. But I sure hope it continues.

What do you mean tier?

 

[daringnovelist]

LOL! If I knew the secret, I would tell it.

At a glance, I'd say you've stacked the decks in your favor for quick interest with:

1.) Great special-interest title (beading) which is also fun sounding to the general population
2.) Cute, professional-looking cover, highly suited to the genre
3.) Hot genre (light commercial women's fiction) with a hungry audience

You're book's going to have to take it from there -- but when you've got something that so suits a hungry audience, and you can easily signal them that this is what they want, it is much easier to start off with a bang.

Camille

 

[CatherineIsom]

Sorry, I am not sure how to 'Quote' another reply yet, but can I just ask a question of Tonya?
You say you tweeted and facebooked and hung out on the Boards which you think may have helped your sales. is there somewhere on the boards then where you can 'advertise' or self promote your works?
I have done the tweet and facebook thing and am just about to start my own blog too, but anywhere else you can point me in terms of promoting myself would be fantastic. As i say, I am brand new to this so really dont know where to start.

 

[Tonya]

Sorry, I am not sure how to 'Quote' another reply yet, but can I just ask a question of Tonya?
You say you tweeted and facebooked and hung out on the Boards which you think may have helped your sales. is there somewhere on the boards then where you can 'advertise' or self promote your works?
I have done the tweet and facebook thing and am just about to start my own blog too, but anywhere else you can point me in terms of promoting myself would be fantastic. As i say, I am brand new to this so really dont know where to start.

No, I don't self promote on the boards, but I do pay it forward. I buy other indie books, invite authors to promote on my grog or do a guest spot. Plus a little PR buddy doesn't hurt either.

 

[CatherineIsom]

That's great, thanks for the advice. this is such a massive learning curve but I am sure I will get there. I guess the uphill climb is worth it in the end.