Welcome to Writers Talkback. If you are a new user, your account will have to be approved manually to prevent spam. Please bear with us in the meantime

Book pricing

edited November 2017 in Writing
How did the published writers among TBers decide on a price for their book?

Comments

  • CS set a minimum. Compare prices of similar books (genre/length).
  • With the kindle ones, Amazon will tell you what they think the best price will be (it always says £1.99 for me, don't know if that's the same for everyone).

    With paperbacks I did as Baggy suggests and priced them at what seemed normal for other self published authors writing the same kind of thing.

    I don't know how much the actual price matters. I imagine that for most people the difference of a few pence isn't going to put them off or persuade them to buy.
  • I keep all mine at around £5, but a price between x and y is always suggested, depending on the number of pages in the book. I always price kindle low.

    I was going to support a self-published author this morning, but when I went to buy the book, the paperback was £10.99 and the kindle £6.99 - so I'm afraid a potential review from me has now been forfeited.
  • Good grief, that's extortionate.
  • Silly prices - I wonder if they make any sales?
  • OK, I take it back - the price of £6.99 for the ebook from a self-published author would influence my decision as to whether or not to buy it.

  • . . . I was going to support a self-published author . . . but when I went to buy the book, the paperback was £10.99 and the kindle £6.99 - so I'm afraid a potential review from me has now been forfeited.
    I know I'm late on this but the matter remains topical. I think an author - whether self-published or trade published - is doing themself a disservice with those prices. We would rarely pay more than 9.99 for an 'established' author, and 6.99 for an ebook is way out of the park. I think most of us realise we won't earn thousands overnight. Others might think a higher price might be a quick route to fortunes, but I suspect it shan't be long before those particular books see a 'special offer, new price'.

  • If a self-published author has built up a following then a slight price rise probably isn't going to put those readers off too much.

    But if I'd never read the author before and they were asking £6.99 for a Kindle book and it was standard length, then I'd wonder if they'd not only missed out on realistic pricing knowledge, but had also skipped on other aspects...
Sign In or Register to comment.