The thing that helped me the best? When I first put my book up, I put it at 99 cents for friends and family, and didn't advertise it at all. If you remember, I had a post a while ago about Self-publishing and Money in which I said I thought free and 99 cents was way too low to sell your work at, and asked what everyone thought was a fair price (because I also thought, and still think, that anything above $5 is too much for an e-book, no matter who wrote it). I was adamantly against selling for 99 cents, but here's what I discovered:
In the first week that my book was 99 cents, I sold forty copies (although I only had about 10 people I knew buy it). I wasn't telling anyone, people just found my book at 99 cents and decided to take a chance on it. My ranking rose fast, and everything was kind of cool. Then, I raised my price to $3.49 in preparation for announcing that it was available. Really, this is a more than fair price, I think. I sold exactly 3 copies the next week (and two of those were sold before Amazon raised the price).
Hmmm... that wasn't good! So, I joined http://www.worldliterarycafe.com and their tweet teams the next week, hearing this is a good way to get exposure for your book. At the same time, a book blogger put up a 5-star review for Always & Forever on their website. I sold one book that week. I have no clue if it was the tweets or the review. Over the next week, I sold a couple, but nothing to write home to Mom about.
So, I'm eating crow now with my previous opinion. I've decided maybe for your first book, you have to sell at 99 cents, at least for a while, to get your name out there and start getting great reviews. I've lowered the price on mine back to 99 cents for the time of my blog tour, and might keep it there for a while longer afterward to see what that does to sales.
After all, the whole point is to build a readership, right? If no one takes a chance on my books, I'll never sell any. However, no matter how much I love writing, I need to be able to at least break even on the price I'm paying for cover art and editing if I'm going to continue to publish them. Eventually, I'd like to make much more than that and make writing my full time job--isn't that every writer's dream?
One step at a time. If, in a few years, I can pay my power bill every month with what my books are earning, that would be success! I read yet another blog article this week endorsing the idea that the way to sell books is to write more of them, and that marketing doesn't matter as much as having a large shelf of books available. I agree with that, and my energy needs to go toward finishing my work in progress, Crime & Passion, not marketing. When I'm looking for a new author to try, unless a book is recommended to me by a friend, I always look for one with a lot of titles out because, if I like them, I'll have things to read for a while without taking a chance on yet another new author. I wonder if other people do this as well...I'm sure some must.
After writing this article, a friend of mine brought to view this very informative blog post on pricing. Seems no one knows exactly what the answer is, but this is a good read http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/the-ruth-harris-reports-case-study-1-ebook-pricing
Don't miss my interview today with Melinda Dozier on my book tour for Always & Forever. Check out her blog while you're there. She just received a publishing contract and her book will be out next summer! Yay, Melinda!
Happy writing everyone!
eeeChantelfff
Good post. So hard to know the best way to go.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
Thanks, Mood, for reading and commenting. It really is hard to know. I'm wondering if there is no one good answer.
DeleteThanks, Chantel. I'm going through the same process right now. I've been doing some experimenting. I'll read the other article too. I agree that breaking even and paying the electric bill are modest goals but a start. Once we do that, we can move the goal up a bit!
ReplyDeleteContinue writing - that's the best advice you can give any author serious about this whole gig.
I agree with you. Get that next book out! :-) Besides, writing is what I want to do, not marketing. Writing is so much more fun! Thanks for the comment!
DeleteReally something to think about C! Good post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christina! Have a great day!
DeleteGreat post! I admire all that you've done for your book. Self-publishing is not easy! I loved your story and hope others get out there and read it! Thanks for the shout out, by the way! :)
ReplyDeleteAwww - thanks so much, Melinda!
DeleteEvery pricing strategy has probably been tried before, but in the end you have to do what's right for you. I think 99c is a good introductory price to get your book out there.
ReplyDeleteAnd I really appreciate all your help with this, Rachelle! You are so generous to those of us stumbling around trying to figure out what the heck we are doing in sharing your experiences. Thanks a ton!
DeleteAwesome post! I have heard the same thing about increasing the amount of books available, to increase sales. I think its all about finding that group of readers that love what you write and who come back for more:)
ReplyDeleteGreat point! We have to write more :-) And I really love that part anyway. Thanks for commenting, Monique!
DeleteGood post. Much to consider. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting post. Nice writing. I completely agree with your point about e-books not being sold above a certain price. Seems pretty stupid to be expected to spend the same amount for one as you would for a hardcopy issue, especially at a time where bookstores push discount deals so hard. I think authors need to get real in this regard. Best of luck with your book.
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