God and beta readers willing, I’ll be releasing the first part of The Clar1ty Wars – One Bad Apple – as an ebook in August, and I was thinking about pricing.
I know .99 cents is the rage, (thank you, Amanda Hocking) and I’m sure there’s gold in them thar cheap hills, but in everyone jumping on that band-wagon to instant success, is the end result merely a glut of mediocre fare? Like the literary equivalent of a Fast-Food Value Menu?
OBA currently weighs in at nine chapters with a touch over 21k words. I think they’re good words, but it is short. Do you think it will get lost in the ‘under-a-dollar’ heap? Or should I raise the price to a whopping $1.99 to set it apart and wring out an extra .17 cents?
Opinions? Experience?
Thanks.
Hot Space Station Justice 
Definitely 1.99
Without question.
A) .99 is no longer the rage. 1.99 is the general entry pricepoint now
B) that’s in line with the Kindle Singles/Shorts/whatever they’re called.
C) you can always put it on “sale”, but you can’t raise the price without looking like a tool.
D) personally I see .99 and think “inexperienced writer, unworthy stuff”. 1.99 says “indie author, knows the game”
I distrust self-published novels that are only .99, makes me think…really…that’s all you think your hard work is worth?
If I find a novel I’m interested in, and it’s under 5.99 it’s pretty much a no-brainer. I’ll buy it. If it’s 6.99 or 7.99, I’m happy, and will most likely buy. 9.99 looks pretty good too, although, I only have $75 dollars a month of “blow money” so that’s taking a bigger chunk.
I’ve yet to buy an ebook for over $10. Frankly, that’s just ridiculous to me. I remember going to the bookstore when I was a kid and getting paperback genre fiction…the well known authors…for 6.99. So, now publishers are trying to tell me it costs them *more* than that to e-publish a book? Excuse my expression, but they better get their heads out of their arse’s and quick.
I’m not buying their BS, unless the book looks really really enticing. And in that case, I’ll probably go paperback because I want something physical to show for it. Does that mean the publishers are protecting their paperback sales with the high e-book price point? Nope, because I can’t remember the last time I bought a paperback.
Sorry, kinda went off topic there. I’m busy procrastinating.
If you’re a serious writer, charge at least $1.99. I’m w/ Jessica–I’ll never pay more than $10 for an e-book. $5.99 usually says professional to me, as well as still cheap (for a full-length). I’m questioning this, too, for my own work. Some days, I think my work is tripe and I should charge $.99 or give it away free. But I think I might go with $3.99.
Thanks all. Glad I asked. Instinct said $1.99, but I wanted input. Seemed fair for 20K+ words. Much appreciated.
2.99 seems to be the magic number on Amazon. At that price, the author or publisher gets to keep, I think 70% of the sales proceeds. I’ve often wondered if the book sales would increase enough @ .99 to make up the difference.
2.99 for a novella? That’s interesting.
I’ve wondered about that cost/sales benefit myself. I’m afraid at .99 “One Bad Apple” would get lost in the heap.
I’m still leaning toward $1.99