Self proclaimed 'midlist author' Joe Konrath is saying some very thought provoking things about
eBook pricing on his
blog. Of course, Joe has a number of advantages that I don't: he writes genre thrillers for a start, and fans of that genre are rabid for the buying of new books. He's also been published by a large New York outfit and done all the promotion/tour stuff which has helped him build up some good name recognition and a loyal fan base. So when Joe talks about selling 800 eBooks a month (per title?) he's talking about what can be achieved by a good author with an established track record who already has a market to sell to.
Whereas I have no platform, no track record, no ready market. And no sales.
So I'm thinking maybe I need to revise my sales strategy, both on the promotion side of things and on the pricing of the eBook version of
The Gods in the Jungle.
First off, pricing. The hardcover version of the tome is priced at £9.99 from Lulu.com, which gives me a £2 profit per copy sold. I need to sell 11 copies to break even; I would have had to sell around 80-100 copies to break even if I had gone with one of the lulu distribution packages, but selling the tome through Amazon would have necessarily doubled the unit price (so Amazon can do their 50% off cover price offer thingy). All-in-all, I have no particular worries about the hardcover price - I'm sure I can sell a minimum of 11 copies over the next few years.
Where I'm being clueless is on the eBook pricing. Currently the tome is on sale via Smashwords for $9.99 (US dollars rather than sterling, as Smashwords are entirely American). I chose that price point because that was the price that everyone - 'kay, Amazon and their Kindle hoardes - was bandying about a few months back. A price of $9.99 gives me a net profit of around $7 for copies sold via Smashwords; $6 for copies sold via iBookstore.
But Joe is suggesting that my price point is way too high. He's talking about pricing his eBooks at $2.99 per unit, which would garner a net profit of just under $1.80 for each iPad sale.
So,
a question for you both: Would you be willing to invest $2.99 in a book by an unknown author (after you'd checked out the
quality of the writing, of course)? Would you be willing to go as high as risking $3.99? $4.99?
Secondly, platforms and fan bases and stuff. I ain't got 'em. Which is not a good thing as if people don't know the book exists, they ain't gonna charge out of their doors to buy it. One way around this is to get people to review the tome, but I don't know of any reviewers willing to drop everything to read and post a review of my book in popular SF/Fantasy venues. Yet I need reviews.
So,
another question for you both: would you be willing to review my book if I sent you a free pdf version of the tome?
Rik is edging ever-closer to penury. Something has to be done.
