I don't know if this is right or wrong - only time, or sales, will tell. I've been thinking about the pricing of my books for awhile and wondering if they should change to reflect changing times. Originally, pricing was based on production and distribution costs combined with the amount of effort, research, writing time and other stuff to determine how much I thought I should make per copy. All of that has changed.
I do agree with some friends in the industry that price should reflect the content and value to the reader to some extent, after all, how much is it worth to a reader to change their life? On the other hand, e-books are beginning to become commodities and after the initial costs of time for research and writing and the costs of design, editing and set up, there are no further costs for printing, distribution, returns, marketing, and so on. In other words, once the initial costs are covered, the author or publisher can sell unlimited copies without incurring further costs.
To some extent, the same is true for print-on-demand copies. The printer or supplier has a fixed cost for providing each additional printed book but the author has no extra costs over and above his original "inputs." It began to dawn on me that I don't care whether a reader wants a digital copy or a printed one. If I set my pricing so that my royalty works out to pretty much the same thing, regardless of format, then I could lower my prices and pass the benefit to the purchaser...so, I did. My net royalty on an e-book priced at $4.99 is almost the same for the printed version priced at $9.99. The extra cost to the buyer for the printed version goes to the printer who has to provide paper, ink, technology, labor and printing presses to produce it, but I end up with the same amount, which is perfectly alright with me.
Anyway - pretty unscientific and I'm sure there will be disagreement from traditional publishers but that's my logic on the reason for changing the prices of my books. It's nice to have the right to do so.
Showing posts with label BOOK PRICING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BOOK PRICING. Show all posts
Saturday
PUBLISHERS ARE SPEAKING
The publishers appear to be taking a stand in terms of e-books. If you take a quick glance at the top 100 books on the Amazon Kindle listings, you will see that the major publishing houses now dominate the list. What is amazing is that in most cases, the Kindle price is higher than the paperback price and in more than a few instances, higher than the hardcover price.
As a reader, and an owner of a Kindle, I have a hard time justifying the price asked for a digital copy of a new release that is in the 15 - 20 dollar range. Some are well over $20.00. I don't think Amazon minds the prices since they get paid a percentage of the list and the higher the better for them. What does this mean for the early stage author who is publishing independently and doesn't have the marketing support of the big guys? It means the same thing it has always meant, build your own list of followers, connect and communicate with them in a timely and authentic fashion. Build your list one reader at a time - the same way you sell your books.
To be an author, you also need to be a marketer. If you are looking for advice in that area, I strongly suggest that you subscribe to Seth Godin's blog - no question that he is the preeminent marketer in this digital age. I suspect, but don't actually know, that there may be more platforms on the horizon for indie authors, so that they can get noticed by readers who appreciate us. I kind of like John Locke's philosophy for selling his pot boiler novels for .99 as he says that he offers the readers good entertainment and that the "big guys" have to justify why the reader should spend 15 to 20 times more for similar entertainment.
I realize that "name recognition" sells and it always has, but good writing, combined with a marketing plan that suits your needs, persistence, and most important of all, more books, you can get there. Keep writing, keep talking, keep posting, keep the faith baby!
As a reader, and an owner of a Kindle, I have a hard time justifying the price asked for a digital copy of a new release that is in the 15 - 20 dollar range. Some are well over $20.00. I don't think Amazon minds the prices since they get paid a percentage of the list and the higher the better for them. What does this mean for the early stage author who is publishing independently and doesn't have the marketing support of the big guys? It means the same thing it has always meant, build your own list of followers, connect and communicate with them in a timely and authentic fashion. Build your list one reader at a time - the same way you sell your books.
To be an author, you also need to be a marketer. If you are looking for advice in that area, I strongly suggest that you subscribe to Seth Godin's blog - no question that he is the preeminent marketer in this digital age. I suspect, but don't actually know, that there may be more platforms on the horizon for indie authors, so that they can get noticed by readers who appreciate us. I kind of like John Locke's philosophy for selling his pot boiler novels for .99 as he says that he offers the readers good entertainment and that the "big guys" have to justify why the reader should spend 15 to 20 times more for similar entertainment.
I realize that "name recognition" sells and it always has, but good writing, combined with a marketing plan that suits your needs, persistence, and most important of all, more books, you can get there. Keep writing, keep talking, keep posting, keep the faith baby!
Friday
BOOK PRICING
The science of pricing a book is evolving. In the good (?) old days, publishers decided what an author's book would sell for and they pre-printed it on the cover. They would often show different prices for different countries on the same label and assume that the exchange rate wouldn't change. All of this was tantamount to price fixing, but the bottom line was that the content creator had no control over what the reading public paid, and their own income was decided by someone else.
The internet has changed all of that, along with everything else it touches. As authors have begun to find new ways to connect with their audience, and new formats ( e-readers), they have taken pricing into their own hands. The old-line publishers are resisting the change, and in many cases they are keeping their author clients in check by maintaining an artificially high price for e-books. However, as bestselling authors from the legacy publishers discover the freedom and economic advantages of controlling their product ( that is, self-publishing) the pricing of books will begin to find a common ground.
Jackie Collins announced today that she is re-releasing one of her best sellers as an e-book at $2.99. I think we will find that the pricing will almost always be under $9.99 as we move forward. It is just a guess, but I think the "big guys and girls" will start offering their new releases around that price and the rest of us will begin to slot ourselves around that standard.
Once the Stephen King's, David Baldacci's, Dan Brown's and J.K. Rowling's break from the legacy publishers and decide to strike out on their own, the price formula will become much more obvious, to the great good fortune of the reading public.
The internet has changed all of that, along with everything else it touches. As authors have begun to find new ways to connect with their audience, and new formats ( e-readers), they have taken pricing into their own hands. The old-line publishers are resisting the change, and in many cases they are keeping their author clients in check by maintaining an artificially high price for e-books. However, as bestselling authors from the legacy publishers discover the freedom and economic advantages of controlling their product ( that is, self-publishing) the pricing of books will begin to find a common ground.
Jackie Collins announced today that she is re-releasing one of her best sellers as an e-book at $2.99. I think we will find that the pricing will almost always be under $9.99 as we move forward. It is just a guess, but I think the "big guys and girls" will start offering their new releases around that price and the rest of us will begin to slot ourselves around that standard.
Once the Stephen King's, David Baldacci's, Dan Brown's and J.K. Rowling's break from the legacy publishers and decide to strike out on their own, the price formula will become much more obvious, to the great good fortune of the reading public.
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