Tips to Price Your ebook
Pricing your ebook can be tricky for self published authors. A lot of factors go into the pricing decisions such as the number of pages, type of content and how much effort you have put into the book. Then there is also the issue of how the market will react to the book. Will the readers feel justified with the price or will they find the price exploitative?
How exactly do you figure out what is the best price for your book? Well in this article we will try to simplify the process for you a little.
1- Number of Pages
First you need to consider the size of your ebook. The amount of work that went into writing it will affect your price. If you’ve written a long, involved book, you’ll probably want to charge more than for an ebook that’s shorter or that you wrote in less time.
If you’re just starting out, you may want to price your ebook at $0.99 or $1.99. The main reason for this is that you really don’t want to charge too much for your first ebook. The reason for this is that if you charge $10.00 for your first ebook and people don’t like it, they will quickly move on and never buy another ebook from you. I’ve seen this happen more than once and it’s not a good thing. If you sell your first ebook for $0.99 and they like it, they’ll buy your next ebook. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. The $0.99 price will give you a chance to get started and learn from experience. Some publishers have been known to charge more for their first book. They have a large fan-base and so they can charge a higher price. Also, people will pay a bit more for a book from a well-known publisher.
Having said this, you should also remember that at any point below $2.99 Amazon will only offer you 35% royalty for your book. Pricing your book above $2.99 will allow you to get 70% royalty. But once again, the decision to price the book should first consider the number of pages because there is no point in pricing your book above $2.99 if it does not have enough content to justify it.
2- Quality of Content
Your next consideration is the quality of the ebook. If the quality is very high, you can charge more for your work. If it’s not so good, you may want to sell it for less. For example, if you have a book that has not been proofread or is not backed with solid research then you may want to sell it for less. If you have a book that’s very well written and professionally edited, then you can charge more. The quality of your ebook also depends on what you are offering. If it’s a technical ebook that contains a lot of illustrations, you can charge more than if it’s a book about a subject that doesn’t have a lot of illustrations.
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3- Genre
Another factor to consider is the genre and the subject matter. Some genres are more popular than others. For example, the romance, thriller and mystery genres are very popular among self published authors who write fiction. Similarly in the non fiction category, self help books, financial help and management books are also high sellers but compared to fictional books, self help books require more promotion. Books about financial help usually sell better if the author is already well known. It makes sense as people prefer to take financial advice from someone they know and trust, as compared to an unknown author.
So if you are writing for a genre that has high consumer demand then you may price your book high but make sure that you follow the market average. If you are a new author, there is no point in pricing the book higher than the market average. Established authors with a large following can afford to price their books higher but if you are new, you need to build your “street cred” first.
4- Know Your Audience
Another consideration is the audience that you are targeting. Knowing your audience is the basic rule for writing and for public speaking as well. For example, a book about a subject that is very technical may be of interest to a smaller audience then you may want to price your ebook a bit higher if it’s a book for a smaller audience. If your book is targeting a wider audience for instance the young adult category then you may want to price it lower as you have a wider target audience.
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5- Marketing Strategy
A final consideration is your marketing strategy. Some people sell ebooks through their website. They may buy advertising on other websites to promote their ebook. Other people decide to sell their ebooks on online marketplaces such as Amazon KDP. If you’re using an online marketplace, you may want to price your ebook a bit lower than if you’re selling the ebook through your website. For KDP remember the thresholds for royalty.
| No. | Book Type | Royalty |
| 1 | Ebook | 35% royalty less VAT. For conditions click here70% royalty less VAT less delivery costs. For conditions click here |
| 2 | Paperback | 60% royalty less printing costs(list price x royalty %) – printing costList price may include VAT in certain regions. |
| 3 | Hardback | 60% royalty less printing costs(list price x royalty %) – printing costList price may include VAT in certain regions. |
The main thing to remember when you’re pricing your ebook is to make sure you’re not priced too high. The goal is to sell your book and make a profit. If you price your book too high, people won’t buy it. You can add a little to the price if you want to make a little extra profit. If you’re going to do that, consider adding a discount for a large purchase.
For example, if you sell your ebook for $10.00 and you want to make a little more money, you might consider raising the price to as much as $10.99. You can then give a discount of as much as 50% to those who buy a number of your ebooks. In the end, there is no hard and fast rule about pricing your ebook.
You need to consider what your book is about, what you’ve spent to write it, the quality of the book, the audience you’re targeting, and your marketing strategy. Just follow these basic steps and you will find no difficulty in pricing your ebook.
Main Image Source: Pixabay
