[Michelle Muto]

Okay, I swore I would do it, but I caved. I'm going to try some pricing experiments, starting with the 99 cent method for a bit.

I'll post before and after sales figures if anyone thinks that'll help them.

Anyone else trying a different price for part of the summer?

 

[Sara Pierce]

If it helps any, I bought your book at the old price.

Have you done much marketing? That may help you out more than just lowering the price...

 

[Michelle Muto]

Aw! Thank you so much!

Personally, I'm not one to troll for 99 cents. If I like a book's description and sample, and the price is fair, I'll buy it.

I've done a boat load of marketing. Lots of interviews, guest posts until I can't think of another thing to say, Twitter, FB, the works. I'm between jobs and just spent money on the second book I hope to have out shortly, so I'm flat broke for marketing. I'm game for ideas. Suggestions, please?

I'm getting compliments right and left on the cover. The blurb seems strong. I have great reviews - many of which mention how well the book is written. I'm even getting some fan mail. I just need short-term traction. *sigh*

 

[Victorine]

Good luck on the price experiment! I hope that gives you the traction you need.

Vicki

 

[Sara Pierce]

Hmm.... Your blurb definitely appeals to me (hey, I bought it right?   ), the cover is gorgeous and you've got a pretty stellar looking blog. I haven't gotten around to reading the story yet (sorry!) but your reviews are pretty glowing as well which is always a plus.

One thing I've noticed about your blog is that it's very other-author oriented but not much about yourself or your own writing trials and travels. Almost a month ago you did a very good post about your writing history but most of the others have been showcasing other books and writers. I'm not saying go overboard in self-promotion but perhaps post something about your upcoming projects, what some of your favorite things are or links that make you smile.

Do you trade interviews with those you showcase on your blog? Have you been able to get yourself on any other book review blogs? (Hmm, just looked at your blog again and it seems you've done well with your own promoting; good on-ya!) Your book's been out only 3 months so far and seems to be doing well review-wise. Have you maxed out the categories you can put it in? There's some pretty obscure categories, some of which you need to search pretty hard for and aren't all that full.

Gah, wish I could tell you more but you're doing just about everything I've got on my list. Count me in to adding a review once I find the time to do any reading, but I wish you all the luck in the world. OOH!! One thing you might do since you're lowering the price to $.99 is to let other sites know your book has gone down to bargain priced and see if they'll feature you for that. There's a number of sites that will promote your book based only on this fact.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Michelle Muto]

Victorine - thanks! What can I say? You inspire me,

Ladyeclectic - I hadn't thought of letting some of the book sites know I've dropped the price. Excellent suggestion! And, I do need to promote myself a bit more on my own blog as well as get a few interview spots on other blogs. Great thoughts.

 

[Guest]

I wish you the best of luck, and I can sympathize with the between jobs part. Dropping the price is a good move, as is getting that second book out as soon as you can. But the summer is slim pickings either way. My recommendation is to find a way to give out as many copies as you can, hundreds even, to get some word out mouth up.

 

[MJWare]

I wish you the best of luck, and I can sympathize with the between jobs part. Dropping the price is a good move, as is getting that second book out as soon as you can.

The one thing about being out of work is you have at least a little more time (in between networking, sending resumes, interviewing) to write. That's the number one thing you can do: get the next book out.

Besides that, you seem to be doing everything right. Just keep it up (especially the reviews). It seems to me, the one thing you are missing is Luck. The one thing you have no control over.

 

[Ashley Lynn Willis]

I love anything with paranormal and romantic elements, so I bought your book at the new price point.  I have a paranormal romance book coming out toward the end of the year, and I plan to sell it for 99 cents until I can build an audience.  (Maybe I should say, if I can build an audience.)  Keep us posted on how it goes for you.   

 

[cidneyswanson]

*squeezes eyes tight shut and wishes for good things for you*

 

[Michelle Muto]

Thanks everyone. I agree that getting more books out there is the best promotion we can do.

It doesn't hurt to play with the price. Don't you just love being indie? I'll see what the low price does for me and report back.

What I did notice was that the minute that the low price kicked in my sales ranked dropped to a lower number. Yay! But, confusing as I hadn't sold a single book at the lower price yet. That's just weird. I've left the old price on B&N.

Luck. Yeah. That's something I don't get much of, LOL! 

So, summer is slow, eh? That's good information to know going into this. Perspective and all that.

 

[Jud]

Wishing you the best with lowering the price!  Love the cover and the blurb.

 

[Sara Pierce]

I think around the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) is one of the bigger times since everyone gets an ereader as a gift. Summer is more the time to swim or go out and enjoy the good weather (unless you're like me and more the inside-in-the-AC kinda girl  ). Still, it's good to get your ranking as high as you can before Christmas so you'll be high on the lists when that rush comes along!

 

[Lanie Jordan]

Your cover caught my attention and the blurb is intriguing, so I've downloaded the sample. I've only glanced at the first few pages, but I'll probably buy it tomorrow!

Good luck!

 

[Michelle Muto]

Thanks, Jud!

LadyE, I've always heard the holidays is when people buy the most books. I suppose that's true with all the gift certs and new ereaders. But, I'm like you - I read more in the summer than winter. I don't do heat well, on the really hot days, I'm inside. Granted, how much someone reads and when they buy those books are two different things. I tend to visit the library for the big six books (can't afford to buy them at the prices they've set). I will buy $3.99 and under though during the summer.

Lanie - you buy books EXACTLY the way I do. Blurb, cover, description, and sample. Always. No matter the price. No matter the author or publishing house.

---
Interesting morning note: despite tweets, fb, this board, RT's, B&N is posting more sales this morning than Amazon. What's interesting about that? I left B&N at the old price. This is going to be an interesting experience indeed.

 

[TheSFReader]

Hi Michelle,

Did you b chance lower the price at smashwords too ? It seems to be stuck at 1.99 there

 

[Mel Comley]

Good luck with the experiment, I lowered mine back to 99 cents last week and it didn't help my books slipping. Hopefully things will pick up once the Sunshine Deal has finished.

 

[Michelle Muto]

I'm only doing this on Amazon, and for a 'short' time frame. 6-8 weeks. What's weird is that B&N is selling better than Amazon at the moment. I find this VERY interesting as price may not be the easy rank solution most think it is. Maybe the whole thing truly boils down to luck - all things considered equal (good book, properly edited, marketed, cover, yada yada).

As authors, we look at all these logical reasons for what will work and what doesn't. But, I think it's a combination of so many factors, with pure luck as king of them all.

Still, it's WAY too early to tell. Anyway, back to working on the other book.

 

[Tara Maya]

I look forward to seeing how it goes. I suppose this isn't a bad time to have the lower price, because of all the competition from the Summer deals set up by Amazon. I promised myself I wasn't going to fiddle with my price for a while, or I'd consider it.

 

[Amanda Brice]

Good luck!

I dropped the price of Codename to $1.99 for the month of June and I'm finding absolutely no sales increase, sad to say. Of course, it's still early, so I'm sticking it out for the rest of the month, even though I'm actually earning quite a bit less than I did last month.