There are a few crucial points to take into account when pricing a self-published book. First, keep in mind your target audience. Who is your target audience? How much can your target audience afford to spend on your book? What are they willing to pay? Second, decide on a strategy that is appropriate given the attributes of your book. Will you aim for high volume sales? Or do you have a high-quality/specialty book produced at a higher cost? Third, what sort of royalty should you expect? Have you done some research to find out the average royalty an author at a big publishing house can expect? How about a self-published author? Fourth, do a price comparison. Go to a bookstore and look at books of the same genre and of similar page length and quality. Determine an upper limit and a lower limit for your book price. Finally, to the extent that you can control the price of your book, try not to alienate readers with your price point. A price that is too high can put your book out of reach for some consumers. These are a few of the factors you should consider before arriving at a price. I learned these lessons in pricing my first book.
I wrote Contemplating Eve expecting it to reach a mixed audience, ages 18-45. Surprisingly, 75% of all sales were to women ages 40-85! Here’s what happened:
I noticed that in sales to friends and family on Facebook, the youngest market segment described was distinctly absent as buyers. At my book launch, there were four people who declined to buy a book noting that the price was too high. (3 out of the 4 were notably under 40.) Overall, whereas the youngest market segment purchased a very small portion of total books sold, women ages 40+ purchased anywhere from 1 to 9 books for themselves, friends and family. Based on this data, I believe that the price was too high for young people.
So what is the price? It is currently selling on Amazon for a discounted price of $27 but is listed at $35. How did I arrive at that price? Well, the book is manufactured for $13. From there, a listing on Createspace (the book printer/manufacturer) requires a book price of at least $20, but a listing on Amazon requires a price of at least $25, and to take advantage of Expanded Distribution (which places the book in libraries, bookstores and online outlets) requires that the book be priced at $34. I faced a dilemma, on the one hand, I wanted my target audience to have the chance to purchase online, on the other hand, I wanted the price to be affordable. But because I choose to sign up for all three sales channels, I was forced to select the highest price or lose money on each book sold. Ultimately, I priced the book at $35 for a $1 royalty for books sold through Expanded Distribution sales channel. As you will note, I had limited control over pricing.
My sense is that the reason Contemplating Eve was priced this way is evidence of economies of scope. The book was priced as such not for high-volume sales, but differently because it was of a differing quality. Contemplating Eve is a 176 page full color poetry anthology complete with 70 poems and 30 pieces of artwork. It could not be priced like the high sales volume books because it is made at a higher cost. That said, I should note, that even the highest priced poetry anthologies were priced at $20 at Borders. Sure enough, initially, when I approached a smaller book retailer with the book at this price, she assumed the book would not move and refused to shelve Contemplating Eve.
So here is what I discovered, Createspace may not be the most economical color book printer for self-published authors. I have been advised that Author House, Xlibris and Lightning Source may be cheaper printers. While the quality of printing is extremely high with Createspace, the cost to manufacture and distribute the book makes the price prohibitive to some. Createspace does low-cost high volume sales best. In this case, the self-published author has more control over price.
My next book, A Dawn Run Hot with Morning, will be a book of poetry composed of drawings and photography in black and white. There will be 40% fewer pages. The book will be manufactured at $2 each. As a result, I can access Expanded Distribution and net better than $1.00 in royalties from this sales channel and sell the book for just $10. I plan to make it up to the younger market segment with this new price. In fact, I plan to give away at least 7 free books! Check back for details.
In closing, price selection may or may not be in your control, but, to the extent that it is, consider your audience. If the price is not in your control, use my guidance to shape your expectations in terms of sales.
