Editio Self-Publishing discussion

I'm wondering what others think about this pricing dilemma. Is it better to:

1. Set a low price (say $.99) for an ebook hoping to generate more sales and get more readers?

2. Or set a high price (say $4.99) in order to reflect the high quality of the book?

Roy K.

real dilemma. I had no say in the price when i published through a company. They set up the price. i would rather a lower price to get a bigger readership

Mahir wrote: "real dilemma. I had no say in the price when i published through a company. They set up the price. i would rather a lower price to get a bigger readership"

Mahir -- Thanks for giving your experience. My tendency is to want to price lower to encourage a larger readership, as you suggest. But I wonder whether some readers might pass over a low-priced book, thinking it must not be very good to be sold so cheap.

Roy K.

you have a point.people might underestimate the work due to low price. On the other hand, they may chance it more with a cheaper price. Can you set the price yourself?

Mahir wrote: "you have a point.people might underestimate the work due to low price. On the other hand, they may chance it more with a cheaper price. Can you set the price yourself?"

Yes, these days I'm publishing independently, so I'm able to set my own prices. I'm just starting a new fiction series, so I'm more concerned with building readership than with revenues right now. I've published books through traditional publishers in the past, so I understand what it is to have no control over price!

Roy K.

There's an advantage to publishing a series; Your readership builds with each book. I'm working on a series, too, and have set a low price for my first book. As a general rule, I often look at the first book in a series as a "loss leader" -- that product or service which is meant to get people's attention and hopefully turn them into buyers/customers/subscribers, etc. Companies use this marketing strategy all the time.

In the end though, it's really about connecting to readers who are interested in that particular genre or category (your book is in). Sure, I'll take a chance on an e-book that is $.99 as opposed to $6.99. But if I'm not interested in reading about antique cars, I won't read the book no matter what the price is.

La'Chris wrote: "I'm working on a series, too, and have set a low price for my first book. As a general rule, I often look at the first book in a series as a "loss leader" ..."

Thanks for sharing your experience, La'Chris. That was my thinking, too. Use the first book to introduce readers to the series and get them involved with the story and the characters. A low price might remove cost as a barrier. (Ultimately, price is probably not the greatest barrier to building readership, though.)

I guess I was wondering whether there's another argument for not pricing it too low. Would someone see the $.99 price and think, 'Oh this is just another poorly-written self-pub novel'? Whereas, maybe $3.99 would signal that this is a more professional effort?

Maybe as a comparable scenario, I might not buy an $18.99 bottle of wine at the grocery store, because it's out of my budget. I might not buy a $4.99 bottle either, thinking it won't be very good. But I might go for something decent-looking at $8.99. (Unless you're at Trader Joe's where good wine is also cheaper -- heh.)

So price matters, but so does perceived quality. And price might communicate something about quality.

Roy K.

Idk if this helps but as a reader I can tell you, that I will buy a $.99 book and if the book was something I enjoyed, I don't mind paying a bit more for the others in the series.
There have been many books that I have purchased either free or $.99 and have been pleasantly surprised. Which lead to the purchase of other books from the same author.
The things that draw my attention are - an attractive cover and well written, intriguing description.
Best of luck to you. & congratulations.

Croydon wrote: There have been many books that I have purchased either free or $.99 and have been pleasantly surprised. Which lead to the purchase of other books from the same author.
The things that draw my attention are - an attractive cover and well written, intriguing description.

Thanks, Croydon -- helpful to hear about that.

Roy K.

For some statistics on this, including information on which price points sell the most books and which price points make the most profit, see the 2014 Smashwords Survey: http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/2014-smashwords-survey-how-to-sell-more-ebooks. The whole thing is interesting, but if you skip to slide 63 that's where the pricing information starts.

Of course, the data is from Smashwords, so things may be different on sites like Amazon.

I've been playing around with prices as well. I've sort of settled in to making each new novel a little more expensive than the last as my writing improves and publishing knowledge increases. But, I also lower the price of each novel once it's been around for a while (usually once it's been out a year, I'll drop the price a dollar or so). So far this seems to keep my sales consistent.

I am a bit late to this thread but I just had a discussion with a friend who is quite skilled at marketing and he told me that the two E-books I have published at $3.99 and $4.99 are priced too low, that I should have charged more because the low price suggests that they may not be very good, that if it is priced higher people just naturally assume they are getting a greater value.

Richard wrote: "he told me that the two E-books I have published at $3.99 and $4.99 are priced too low, that I should have charged more because the low price suggests that they may not be very good, that if it is priced higher people just naturally assume they are getting a greater value"

That's the other side of the question I was asking. There is a school of marketing that says a cheap price sends the message that the product is inferior.

ARK

The publishing company has priced my novel £3.99. I hope that could encourage people to chance their money for a new writer.