I see "paid" Kindle titles running from $0.99 to about $15. Generally famous authors charge more, unknowns less, but this does not always hold true.
I'm charging $9.99 per Kindle e-book, which is half the price of my dead tree versions. But would I serve myself better to charge less, in order to entice more first-time readership?
Any thoughts on this?
I purchased “Raylan” by Elmo Leonard, it was $12.99, his other two older Raylan Givens ebooks are $9.99...
So you are in the ball park.
Hi Travis,
I can only speak from my own experience. The trade paperback cover price for Pursuing Liberty is $16.95, although Amazon discounts it by varying amounts. Our initial Kindle price was $7.99 (based on the fact that it’s a release by new authors and on the paperback page count (~250).
We did a two-week-only Kindle special of 99 cents - we had terrific results from it. One advantage of the 99 cent Kindle price is that the title ends up on a separate list of $1 and under - some are free, but that didn’t seem like a great idea compared to 99 cents. It’s also a good way to boost your Kindle ranking and visibility, and hopefully the resulting word of mouth.
When we ended the special, we discounted the Kindle price slightly to $6.99, which has worked fine as well.
I would suggest a lower regular Kindle price, and maybe give the 99 cent special a shot. If you can precede it, and accompany it, with plenty of online buzz, you should see a bump in orders.
Please Freepmail me if you have any questions or want more info!
I’ve no problem with picking up a great deal, but I might dismiss a product whose maker does not consider it valuable.
There’s the story of remodeling the kitchen: Since the old fridge doesn’t match the new decor, it goes out to the curb with a sign saying “free to good home.” It sits outside for a week. Finally it gets a new sign reading “$80,” and the thing disappears from the curb overnight.
My advice (and perhaps worth all you’ve paid for it, LOL) is to state a specific limited amount of time for the discount offer, and stick to it. Also that inspiration for the discount offer was “loyal readers who wanted to make the books available to groups and clubs they belonged to” without risking loss of their own copies.
Thank you so much for what you have done and continue to do for your country, Matt. When the next book comes out, I will certainly make the collection current with another signed copy!
Any chance of having a bundle sale with Kindle? Maybe the first three for $20? Your $9.99 is certainly at the top end of the sub $10 range, but your customers seek you out so $9.99 isn’t so bad. Reducing a price is tough to just later increase the price. A sale is best IMO.