Filed under: Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing stuff
So, thanks for all who weighed in on the cover design question the other day. We’re going to go with a slightly modified version (dropping the “by”) of #7 – this one:
And Lyriel won the drawing for a copy of the printed book.
Now, another question for everyone, and this time I will hold a drawing from those who comments/sends me an email with feedback for a Kindle copy of the book. The question is how I should price the Kindle version?
Here are the choices, and a bit of explanation behind the strategy behind each:
- $7.99. This is a popular price-point for a lot of Science Fiction/Fantasy books, just from casually browsing through that category on Amazon. Yeah, there’s pricier stuff, but it is usually newer books by well-established authors. I am not well-established, and some 35,000 .pdf copies of Communion of Dreams have already been downloaded over the last 5 years. But there is also something to be said for the message of “this is a quality book, you can tell by the price.”
- $4.99. Another popular price-point for the genre. Gets it into the “under five bucks – why not?” category.
- $2.99. Another pretty common price-point, particularly for a lot of much older work or stuff from unknown authors. And at this price perhaps a lot of people who read the .pdf version in the past might say “yeah, I’m willing to pop three bucks for an updated/more Kindle-friendly copy.”
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I could go lower, but that would shift the book into the ’35% royalty’ category, which is a huge disincentive for me. It also strikes me that this is saying that I don’t value the book highly enough.
So, of those three choices, I would like to know which one you would go for. And if you would like to explain your reasoning, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Edited to add: Please get your comments/choices to me by noon Monday.
Jim Downey
11 Comments so far
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I’ll hold out for opinions on the Nook version.
Comment by Lisa January 15, 2012 @ 2:29 pmPretend this was the Nook version, Lisa.
Comment by James Downey January 15, 2012 @ 2:43 pmDon’t go for the lowest price.
Comment by Steve Muhlberger January 15, 2012 @ 2:37 pmCan you go with $7.99 and then drop to 4.99 if sales are lackluster? I like the “this is a quality book, you can tell by the price.” argument, but if that fails, it’d be nice to fall back on the “hece, it’s only five bucks” argument. I would NOT price it at 2.99; that really suggests that you doubt the quality of your own book.
Comment by Karen Locke January 15, 2012 @ 2:53 pmMy first reaction is 4.99 – a very reasonable price, and has the psychological under 5 boost. However, also agree with Karen Locke that starting at 7.99 with the option to post a sale price is n’t the worst idea in the world. Do NOT do the 2.99 thing – that gives the ‘this is schlock or very short’ message.
Comment by Liz Soldwish-Zoole January 15, 2012 @ 2:59 pmI would definitely not do the $2.99 version. I’d suggest the $4.99 – there is something about that magical $5 mark. Is it possible to provide a tiny excerpt for viewing? I think that helps sales, but if there’s an additional cost associated with it, you’d have to weigh that carefully.
P.S. Wait, there was a drawing? Yay me
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Comment by Lyriel January 15, 2012 @ 7:46 pmYay, indeed. You’ll need to send me a mailing address: jim@communionofdreams.com
The Kindle system allows for the first chapter to be viewed for free, and I’m also going to plug into their “Kindle Select” loaning-library system. Of course, for a very limited time yet, people can still download the .pdf files on my website . . .
Comment by James Downey January 15, 2012 @ 9:56 pmI’d say go for the 7.99 price-point if it appears to be a good standard. If you want to do a special sale later, you can offer the 4.99 (or thereabouts) as a sale price, or (if a wild hair happens) maybe a super-special anniversary 2.99 sale…tho I’m kind of leery of that.
Obviously, my experience in this area isn’t all that extensive – so take the thoughts above with a grain of salt…and good luck!
Comment by John Bourke January 15, 2012 @ 11:57 pm[...] for the feedback on how to price the Kindle version of CoD in yesterday’s post. After hearing from different people, and their [...]
Pingback by Success story. « Communion Of Dreams January 16, 2012 @ 2:53 pmIt’s worth much more than $7.99. I wouldn’t go lower, or it may not be taken seriously. It’s a seriously good book. If you’re not in it for the money, it doesn’t matter how many you sell at first. Over time, it will sell and sell and sell. The $7.99 price just says, “This book is worth your time.”
Comment by Ken January 19, 2012 @ 10:33 pmToo late, Ken. But I appreciate the sentiment. Feel free to send a donation to my paypal account: http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/donate.html
Comment by James Downey January 19, 2012 @ 10:38 pm