How Much Is It Worth? – May 26, 2014
HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH? – May 26, 2014
I recently heard high praise for a book by a new author and immediately went online to purchase the ebook. When I saw the price however, I was shocked. $12.99 for an ebook?! The Bird Box by Josh Malerman, and published by HarperCollins, was so highly praised, I thought it was bound to be great. But that price completely turned me off. The publisher wisely dropped the price after only a week, to $9.99 and even though I felt that was still a high price for an ebook, I went ahead and bought it. After reading it, I wish I’d waited a bit longer.
The experience led me to ask, what’s a book worth?
Last fall, I took part in my first book festival as an indie published author. I spent a great deal of time thinking about my table display, thinking about how I would process payments and track sales. I also spent a lot of time thinking about how I would price my books. While I hoped to at least break even, making money wasn’t one of my goals.
My first goal was to build my mailing list. A fairly easy prospect. I had a drawing to give away a basket of books and the entry form included a request to be included on the mailing list. I was surprised by the number of people who made the request.
The second goal, of getting my books in as many hands as possible, was a bit more difficult.
There were around 75 vendors at the festival, all with piles of books to sell. I figured the best way to ensure sales was to price the books in a way that let people know they were getting a bargain. If you’re going to the trouble of attending a book festival, one might expect to get the book for a cheaper price than what you would find online.
Everyone around me had priced their paperbacks at $15 to $20 each. Hardcovers were $25 to $30. I cringed when I saw those prices. I had hoped to do some book shopping myself but at those prices I could only afford to buy one or two. Since I had four titles to sell, I wanted someone to feel as if they could afford to buy all of them and not feel poor.
I sold my paperbacks for $8 each and my hardcover for $10. The authors sitting to the left and right of me were horrified by my prices. One author told me I was selling myself short, that I wasn’t valuing my work. She shook her head and walked away disgusted.
Her reaction made me worry but I reminded myself of my initial goal. Selling books for $15 might have made me feel good, but I would be asking people to spend a tidy sum on an author they didn’t know. Better to ensure the purchase with a price that made the decision easier.
The result was, I sold just about every book I brought with me. Many of the people who made a purchase bought more than one title. I met lots of readers, autographed lots of books and made at least a handful of new fans.
Could I have sold as many books for $15? Doubtful. Was I selling myself short? I’m not sure. Russell Blake wrote a brilliant post on book pricing that deserves a read and some consideration. What’s the most you would be willing to pay for an unknown author’s ebook with a bunch of five star reviews? What do you think of authors who charge less? If a book is .99 do you assume it’s too cheap to be good? And are the major publishing houses, the ones charging $11 or more for an ebook, making a mistake? Or should indie authors follow their lead and crank up what we ask for our work?
Mary Doyle
M. L. Doyle has served in the U.S. Army at home and abroad for more than two decades as both a soldier and civilian. A Minneapolis native, Mary currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Mary is the author of The Peacekeeper’s Photograph, and The Sapper’s Plot, (July 2013) the first and second books in the Master Sergeant Harper Mystery series. The third book in the series, THE GENERAL’S AMBITION, is slated for release on Nov. 1, 2014. Mary is the co-author of the memoir, I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen—My Journey Home (Touchstone, 2010) and co-author of, A Promise Fulfilled, The story of a wife and mother, Soldier and General Officer (Jan. 20140). She also released a series of adult romance novellas in the Limited Partnerships series (Sept. 2013) under the pen name Louise Kokesh. Mary has a bachelor of Arts in broadcast communications from Metropolitan State University and a Master of Arts from the University of Oklahoma in International Relations. Check out her website at www.mldoyleauthor.com.
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