How Much Should A Book Cost?

YA writers and bloggers unite each week to share their thoughts on what it's like going indie in today's publishing world.

I have just released my latest novel - Unknown - so YA Indie Carnival's discussion today is quite timely. I had to ask myself this very question as I uploaded my book the other day. 

How much should this book cost? How much is it worth?

It saddens me to realize that a book's cost and worth are two very different things. When I think about all the hours I've poured into my novels and the money I've spent on editors to make sure they a quality reads, I cringe to think that I may only sell them for 99c.

But the thing is, there is no point putting in all this time and effort and publishing it online then not selling one single copy. So pricing is a very important consideration.

When it comes to pricing, I try to think like a reader. I don't mind spending up to $5 for en e-book. I'll even spend up to $8 if it's an author I really love. Now I don't know any indie authors that would price their stuff that high. Most of the authors I know price their books at either 99c or between $2.99 - $4.99, which I am always happy to pay. It's WAY cheaper than the $25+ I used to spend on paperback novels.

Personally, I would love to charge $3.99+ for all my books. They are all over 60,000 words long, they are a decent read and I feel like they are worth that much, but from a marketing stand point, I choose not to do that. I am trying to find a happy compromise. 

So - my very first book (the first of a series) is permanently free - Golden Blood. The next two books in the series are $3.99 each. Some people don't like this, but I figure I'm giving them one book for free, so they're picking up an entire trilogy for just under $8, which really isn't bad. My two stand alone novels are $3.99 each and my latest release (the first of a series) is $2.99. 

By making $2.99 my lowest price, I am able to benefit from 70% royalties on Amazon and it also gives me room to move with specials. I try to run some sort of special every couple of months on my books. I don't mind dropping the price to 99c for a short period of time. It's a great boost for my rankings. I tend to only do this with first books in a series though.

Now I don't know if I have it right. I still have much to learn about marketing, but this strategy seems to be working for now.

How about you?
What do you think books are worth?


If you'd like to find out what the other carnival goers think, you can follow the links below. 
And don't forget to check out our latest news on our YA Author Club site.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun - YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin - YA Fantasy

Good Stuff To Know

For those of you who missed it, I have started up a monthly post including all the awesome links and articles I've read throughout the month. October's was full of some goodies if you'd like to check it out here.

I have SO many this month, that I may save up some for December... although I'm sure I'll have a ton more by then too. People are full of such fantastic information and I love being able to share it around.

So, in no particular order, I came across:

- The 30 Day Platform Challenge by Robert Lee Brewer. This is a challenge that will help you build your platform by performing one quick, simple task each day. I am working my through it... not in 30 Days, but I try to do 2 or 3 a week. Some of the things I already have set up, but I'm learning new tricks along the way. I'm finding it really helpful.

- 77 Ways to Find New Readers by Laura Pepper Wu. I bought the e-book and it took me about an hour to get through. It is jam packed full of awesome ideas on expanding your audience. Most of the tasks are very easy to implement and will definitely open doors to new readers along the way. I highly recommend this book.

- Here's another little article I found on Duolit. Again, quick and easy to implement - 31 Book Marketing Ideas You Can Use Today.

- YA Author, Elana Johnson, has started a blog post series on how to write a trilogy. Here is the first part for you - Writing A Trilogy, Part One: Book One.

- I found a great little blog post on The Masquerade Crew - How To Become A Multi-Talented Writer, which I thought had some excellent advice.

I'll stick with those for November. I don't want to overload people with too much information :-)
I am planning another post soon with a list of recommended reading on how to write well. Having run the Author-fest last month on the YAlicious blog, I now have a very long list of great books that people might want to check out.

Keep your eyes peeled for that post later this month :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you find these articles and tips as helpful as I did.