Gare Metz. Credit: Archimatth, Wikipedia.org (“book store”)
For better or for worse, revisions to The Mirror, Book One – Welcome to the Evil Sisterhood are done. I doubt that the text is 100% error-free, but if it’s 99% or, better, 99.5%, that’s good enough for this first-time independent author. My friesenpress.com account manager has informed me that the next step is to identify the prices for the hardcover, paperback, and e-book formats. This sounds like a great topic for a post.
My ultimate goal with the book is to maximize sales, and thus maximize the book’s social impact. Having said this, I am not immune to author royalties, as I’d like to recover at least the ~ $10,000 investment in the book. Even better would be getting out of the rather significant personal debt hole that fighting court-ordered child abuse has put me in.
For those not familiar with my forthcoming book, it is a non-fiction work that is consistently reported to be a gripping read that compares favourably to quality fiction. It has strong elements of: autobiography, human interest, abnormal human psychology, scandal, cover up, intrigue, and fascinating new ideas. You can read more about it here, including what test readers are saying.
Having done some preliminary background digging, I’ve come up with some interesting information. First, however, this is what the default recommendations (based on page count) are on my author account page at the friesenpress.com website:
e-book: Recommended “Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price” (MSRP) was $2.99, which would net me a generous royalty of $2.10, if purchased from the friesenpress online bookstore. Any price above this at the FP bookstore nets me 70% royalties. For other online sellers, this would vary from 30% to 55% royalties. (See this link for some detailed information on e-book pricing and royalties. Generally, $2.99 appears to be the floor for the highest rates.)
paperback: Recommended MSRP is $21.99. For sales at the FP bookstore, this would net me a tidy $11.81 in royalty for each book. For normal distribution channels, this would net me a $1.76 royalty for each book sold, an order of magnitude less! The minimum MSRP is $20.49, at which my regular distribution channels sales would net me $0.00 in per-book royalty.
hard cover: Recommended MSRP is $35.99, which would net me a handsome $19.79 royalty if bought from the FP online bookstore. I feel like I am going to swoon at the very thought of such a sum! Through normal distribution channels, this drops to a $3.60 royalty per book sold. The minimum price is $32.02, at which I make a $0.00 royalty through normal distribution channels sales.
Since I make killer good royalty rates via the FP online bookstore, I can discount the price of the physical books there and still make a buck or two. However, before identifying actual prices, there is still more to consider. As it turns out, physical books don’t really matter that much for the independent author.
Kudos to blogger LindaGHill for bringing this one to my attention. Authorearnings.com describes its purpose being as “… to gather and share information so that writers can make informed decisions. Our secondary mission is to call for change within the publishing community for better pay and fairer terms in all contracts. This is a website by authors and for authors.” From their superb “The 7k Report” post, I pulled the following information:
Wow. E-book is, by far, the dominate format of Amazon.com bestseller sales. Watch what happens when we look at only the top 100:
Even more Wow. The dominance of the e-book format becomes more pronounced. It was this information that lead me to conclude that physical book sales and pricing are relatively unimportant for me as a new independent author.
I should note that these data are for fiction, whereas I have written non-fiction. I suspect that physical books are more important in non-fiction, especially if the books can be reused often (e.g., cookbook), will be a frequent reference to other works, or it has some emotional / sentiment value to the reader. Thus, I temper my expectations of the e-book format a bit.
However, given such dominance, I suspect that e-book will still be the most important format for my book, but not quite to the degree of significance shown here.
For the hardcover and paperback, then, it’s a no-brainer: I’ll go with FriesenPress.com’s recommended MSRPs. I might ask for their recommendations as to the discount offered at the FP online bookstore–25%, 33%, 45%, etc.–, but this too is nothing to lose sleep over. To be honest, I do like the idea that my book will be available in physical form. Perhaps I am old-fashioned.
Next, let’s consider the Forbes online article “Mark Coker: Indie Authors Are Underpricing Their Books.” These are the main points I pulled from this article on self-published e-books:
– Free e-books “sell” the most copies (not surprisingly).
– We sell fewer e-books as the price climbs: $.99 sells more e-books than $1.99, $1.99 sells more e-books than $2.99, etc. However, absolute $$$ per book author royalty goes up with price.
– $2.99 to $5.99 is the “sweet spot” band that produces optimal indie (i.e., independent) author income.
– Lower prices have the advantage that more readers, due to greater sales volume, will get to know you and your work (i.e., may help for future books’ sales or greater social impact if that is a goal, which it is in this case).
– Best selling e-books tend to be longer ones (e.g., 120,000 words or more), contrary to “conventional” book wisdom (mine is 94,000 words, with a sequel in progress).
– Top 30 selling e-books worked out to price at between 3¢/1000 words and 5¢/1000 words. (With my 94,000 words, this would range from $2.82 to $4.70, or $2.99 to $4.99 with standard $.99 price rounding.)
– One exception was a popular novella, which, at ~40,000 words and $2.99, worked out to 8¢ to 9¢/1000
Thus, The Mirror, Book One would seem to naturally fall into the “sweet spot” band, somewhere between $2.99 and $4.99. If it’s as good as the test readers seem to be saying, then it might be able to command 9¢/1000 words, or $8.49, rounded up a few cents.
This might be feasible were I a known author. However, I suspect that, as a new author, the e-book wouldn’t necessarily sell well at that high a price. Thus, $8.49 appears to constitute a price ceiling for the e-book form of The Mirror, Book One.
Successful author Tim Ferriss recommends 99¢ to $2.99 for e-book pricing. Even more interesting is his recommendation to initially set the price to $0, to drive “sales” and build a following with feedback for the book.
Let’s say that I follow Tim’s advice and initially give away the e-book as a marketing strategy. The hardcover and paperback prices will be as per FriesenPress’s recommendations, as they won’t be driving the book’s success bus, so to speak. After the free book giveaway period, assuming that it has the desired effect, what do you think the e-book price should be set to?
The Mirror 
First, thanks for the mention. Second, having read your book, I would place its value above what is the normal top price for indie fiction of $2.99. Your readers are bound to be more serious about reading serious stuff, and thus will be willing to pay a more serious price if that makes any sense. I do agree with you that there may be more people buying the physical copy, considering that it’s not fiction, and so you don’t want to make nothing on those.
The graphs you display here – do they depict overall sales or royalties?
Linda, I think the graphs show bestseller sales (i.e., relative # of books sold) as a function of format – e-book, paperback, hardcover, etc.
I didn’t mention the perception that a more expensive book should be a better read than a less expensive one. Thanks for the kind words on the book, BTW.
I agree – I expect to get what I paid for, which is another reason you shouldn’t price it too low. Going for the highest though, I think, would put too many people off.
Highest being $8.49, I take it? Sounds to me like either $3.99 or $4.99, from what you’re saying. Charles was $2.99 or $3.99, and Kim suggested $4.99.
$3.99 seems to be the middle of the $2.99 to $4.99 range.
I won’t say anything about your awesome math skills. 😉
I voted for $4.99, but I’m not sure it came up, as the voting was still blank afterwards.
I’ll check to see what the voting says.
I’m showing 3 x $3.99, 2 x $2.99, and 1 x $4.99 in the voting. Might be that your vote got lost in the aether, given that Kim probably voted for $4.99 too.
Probably not a huge deal of difference in revenues between the three options. Might be tempted to try $4.99 first (after the $0 giveaway), if the book gets a lot of notice and further positive feedback.
I’m not sure about the free giveaway thing. It’s kind of like setting a precedent… anyone who missed it will wait for it to come back.
Let’s say I give away 1,000 e-books, with the condition of an honest and fair review on amazon and goodreads, on the honour system. If I get a 25% conversion rate to reviews, what are those 250 reviews worth to me, especially if they are bloggers?
They cost me nothing in terms of cash flow. I’d maybe have an opportunity cost of–what?–5% or 10% of them who might have otherwise bought the book? I’d maybe be giving up $100 – $200 in royalties.
The e-book has to be jump-started somehow. Who knows for certain?
You have a good point. I wonder if it would be possible to put a numeric limit on the free copies, rather than a time of, say, a month. It would speed up the process perhaps. You’re also assuming that all the reviews would be good…? Better not give it to a a feminist. 😉
I still think you need to get your butt into social media soon. *nag of the day finished*
I expect feminists to mount a concerted 1-star review campaign on places like Amazon, should the book do well.
Sigh. You’re right about the social media, of course. I’d rather develop lead poisoning, to be honest. Comes with the introvert territory.
Oh come on. It’s no worse than WordPress. 😛 I spend next to no time on FB and Twitter – all I basically do is have WP automatically send my posts over there and follow other people. They follow back or in your case, would follow you FROM WP. Nothing to it!
It violates my Little Prince maxim of living: perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Great Scott, I am forgetting my manners. You are quite welcome, Linda. Merely giving credit where credit is due.
Hmm, what little I know could fit in a teacup, but I admit that in spite of my love for paper books, 98% of what I do read today is in e-book format.
I tend to lean in Linda’s direction, your readers are going to be more serious about reading serous stuff and thus perhaps more likely to pay slightly more.
Other authors also report giving away free copies as a valuable marketing strategy, so Tim’s advice may be sound. I guess people read the book, write reviews, and the word spreads.
Regardless, I wish you great success.
Thank you, ib22. Yes, the free giveaway sounds like a smart way to start things off, provided that you have a substantial social media platform with which to launch it. Mine isn’t large enough itself, but I have blogging friends who are willing to help me with this, luckily.
So, we’re looking at the $3.99 or higher price range, it would seem, at least as an initial position.
I do fiction, so it’s a different ballgame. I would go with either $2.99 or $3.99. You get the 70% royalty and it isn’t higher than traditional publishers, which factors in your indie author status.
My initial thought was that $3.99 might be the best balance of sales v. royalties. Sadly, I do not appear to get 70% royalty on e-books with my package, unless it is bought through the FP online bookstore.
Otherwise, it would seem to be capped at 55%. I wonder who gets to pocket the 15% difference? That’s a 21.5% shaving off of author royalties for little (if any) value added.
Really? I get 70% on my eBooks, but I use KDP Select through Amazon. That simply means you give Amazon exclusive electronic rights. Not sure if it would be a good idea to do at first because you might get lucky and make use of the other electronic sales sites.
That might explain things. My package has e-books for all the major formats: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBook, etc. Since the story takes place in Ontario, Canada, I might see significant sales from Canadian retailer Chapters-Indigo as well (Kobo), so 55% across all e-book platforms might be better than 70% from Amazon.
Plus, it’s consistent with my wanting to reach as many readers as possible. Thanks for the information, Charles.
If you hit more markets and get sales through them then you definitely make up for the smaller royalty rate. Good luck.
Hopefully, this will prove to be the case. Thanks, Charles.
I think hard copies in every format are on their way out. I like e-books. Volume will make up for lower pricing, imho — economies of scale, etc.
I omitted to say, one other reason is the ability to update the e-book instantly and obviously, economically.
Another excellent point.
This certainly seems to be the trend in publishing, Beth. What’s interesting is that authors who go “indie” seem to make more revenue in many cases than if they had gone the traditional published route (which is more prestigious).
It would appear as if higher royalty rates with self-publishing more than offset lower sales volumes, and with e-books only, the cost of entry has been significantly lowered.
I will quickly and easily buy a book for under $5 from an untried author. That’s my ceiling for unknowns, unless friends or family are raving about a book. I ‘buy’ free ones all the time, and have very low expectations. Have only found a few gems in the freebies. Yes, I will more easily buy the $2.99 books. Can you start at $4.99 and do a sale after testing the market at that price?
I have an inquiry in with my account manager as to how quickly and flexibly the e-book pricing can be changed. $4.99 doesn’t seem to be an outrageous price, if the book is a really good one. Even at discount at places like Amazon.com, the paperback is likely to sell at around $14.99, so the e-book would offer a $10 savings.
Thanks for the input. Every bit helps.
Very interesting reading my friend. I find it horrendous that the authors put in the work to write the book and it is others that reap the rewards.
That’s the nature of the business, I suppose. One has to be informed and use the power of the Internet Reformation, as an author.
If I ever have a traditional publisher express interest in my book, I won’t be signing off of the e-book portion of the standard contract, that’s for certain!
No, ebook is definitely something that there is a market for. I’ve noticed with Hay House that their authors don’t release the e-books until some time later and their pricing is almost three to four times more than standard pricing.
Yes, it’s the old get-as-much-money-as-possible from hard covers, then paperbacks, only with e-books thrown in afterwards.
Did you read the article at authorearnings.com, where the pie charts came from? Traditional publishers are making a killing on author’s e-books, which cost them virtually nothing, and the authors are losing out on the lion’s share of the revenue.
No. I didn’t read the full article but it really is unfair that the authors do the hard yards and the publishers reap the profits.
I agree. It’s not that they aren’t entitled to a fair return on investment. But with the whole new paradigm of new authors proving themselves via self-publishing e-books first, the risk and costs for the Big Five have dropped significantly.
New authors are doing more to break into the market, and have more risk and costs up front of their careers. They deserve fair treatment.
Well, I voted for the $4.99 ebook (Kindle) price. So with Friesen you get 70% vs. Amazon you get 50%? but remember, LOTS of folks have Amazon Prime, so they may be more apt to order on Amazon – quicker and easier since all their info is already set up. Just a thought. SO Excited!
Hi, Susan. My books, including e-books, should be available at all major online sellers, including Amazon. The e-books will be correctly formatted for the various e-readers, including Kindle.
Yes, it is exciting. Thanks for voting. Won’t be too long until the book comes out.
YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! 😀
}:-)))>
Thanks for all this info Nav – very interesting. What can I say that has not been said? Pretty much all the voices here have relevant information. I agree on the ‘give away’ – to the first quantity – rather than date. (I think? for the reason of getting the word out and marketing) I agree e books are going to be the way to go.
I also however think that there has to be an option to buy the hard/paperback copy. If someone is going to buy these formats at that price, they are not going to be worried about the few extra pennies that will give you a profit.
The main reason for the hard copies is in context of the passing along and sharing aspect – the leaving them around the place, rather than from a profit point of view.
Yip – I think thats as far as my knowledge in the area goes 😉 (such great advice for all of us contemplating this journey)
I am contemplating this social platforms thing right (twitter etc) – I actually think your biggest platform is right here. lets face it – MOST of us who are on this journey with you – are likely to have platforms outside of wordpress – and we are generally likely to get on the ball when the book launches and tweet it and facebook it etc.
Building up a following on these other sites is one thing that is probably not hard – but it IS FLOODED with authors tweeting their own work. I personally am more inclined to pay attention to a book or author when it is tweeted by someone OTHER than the author? (i don’t know why).
So I think it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. If it is JUST not your area – you MAY be able to give it a miss – (not sure really) or you can ’employ’ someone to: DO IT FOR YOU 😉 *slap* ❤
I agree, Belinda, on the give-away quantity. I wonder what that number should be? 1,000? 10,000? 33,000?
I’d be happy to give away an e-copy to everyone of OpinionatedMan’s and DonCharisma’s followers, in exchange for a hope of a fair and honest future review. That sounds like a lot, but not when compared to the number of sales that one would have to make to crack a serious best seller list.
Imagine if 10,000 or 33,000 bloggers all posted a review of the same book? If they also posted reviews on Amazon and Goodreads?
I can’t get into Twitter wholeheartedly–just not me. I do need a social media manager. Wonder who that could be? };-)>
I hear you – on both accounts. I agree.
Not sure though hey – you would you have in mind? 😛
There are a few people who know there cakes from there loafs around. One name springs to mind 😀
Drop me a line in the week Nav – I don’t believe I am the go to gal here – but I am sure I can help in some way. Happy to do whatever needs doing that the big brains decide on 😉 (hope that makes sense!) – Man power (or is that WOman power? hahahah – irony/satire dripping there) is handy sometimes.
Thanks, Belinda. Much appreciated.
Smashing what ~ *8*
I feel somewhat silly chiming in on this one, simply because I know little about e-books. Actually, I know one thing about them…I won’t buy them.
I’m a paperback/hardcover girl. I know e-books are the way to go, but I just can’t get into it. I guess I am old school and like the feel of a book in my hand. Plus, a paper book looks great on my shelf in the living room.
I do agree with getting onto the social media train. Twitter and Google Plus are the way to go to get the best content marketing. Facebook has it’s place, but changing algorithms make it difficult to really reach your audience, even with ads (which I think are a waste of money).
Twitter and Google Plus are quick and easy ways to gather a following. There are a lot of great tools out there that will help assist you on social media. Many of them can be set up to target your audience.
That’s my two cents. Oh, and I voted for $1.99. But strangely enough, I’d pay up to $40.00 for a hardcover novel that really appeals to me.
Actually, Carrie-Anne, your comments are highly relevant. The more people who chime in, the more confidence we have that we are getting a representative sample of opinions.
99¢ or $1.99 sounds eminently reasonable for those who prefer physical books. It’s a cheap way of “test driving” a book, to see if the writing and story appeals to a potential reader. If it does, then the person can buy the book.
What would be neat is if I could set up my page at the FriesenPress.com online book store so that a person could buy the e-book and get some sort of unique purchase code along with it. Then, if they decide that they want a hardcopy or a paperback, they enter the code to get full credit for the e-book purchase price as a discount to the physical book.
It would basically be including a free e-book for each physical book purchase.
Appreciate the 2¢ worth. It was valuable.
Hi Nav, gettiing over here at last! I will bookmark this incredibly informative and helpful post to read as and when. As you know, I’m still in process of writing my book and can’t even begin to think about the whole publishing ‘thing’ yet, at least not to this extent. I can’t really be of much help so far as what I would pay for an e-book as I don’t even have an e-reader and I haven’t delved into the e-book market as yet, believe it or not!
Having read all the very interesting and well-informed comments here I do agree with Carrie about preferring good old-fashioned hardcover, or paperback books but I also fully understand that publishing has changed dramatically and that e-books do seem to be the way to go, especially when I see how you put it here and your very helpful pie charts. I am seriously thinking of getting a Kindle (Paperwhite) though 😉 Once I start taking a better look at the e-book market I’m sure I will gain a better understanding of the way it all works. Looks like I have no choice!
Thanks again Nav for this and for all your support of my writing too, it means a great deal I can’t tell you. I thought of you for the Writing Process Blog Hop but I thought that you might be caught up with getting ready for your book’s release and didn’t want to put more on you. Still, when the time comes, I can put the word out to help, let me know…
I don’t have Twitter yet, holding off on that one, investing all my time into my blog, although I have recently started up a Facebook Page. Twitter might be another thing to consider at some point do you think? I hear it is the way to go and am curious to read more about this..
So excited about your book’s upcoming release…what better reason do I need to get that Kindle, and soon! 🙂
Hi Sherri,
Thanks for taking the time to make such a detailed comment, and especially for the kind offer to help get the word out once the book is released. I’m always happy to help support a fellow writer, and I do enjoy writing posts about my learning experiences when it comes to writing and publishing.
Thanks for taking the time to make such a detailed comment, and especially for the kind offer to help get the word out once the book is released. I’m always happy to help support a fellow writer, and I do enjoy writing posts about my learning experiences when it comes to writing and publishing.
In terms of social media, the classic book on it is Michael Hyatt’s Platform: http://michaelhyatt.com/platform. Like you, I am very blogging-centric in this, although I did create a Twitter account. Being a bit of an introvert by nature, the whole social media thing is a bit counter to my nature. Even in blogging, I treasure the relationships and interesting discussions v. building my book marketing platform, or posting every day just because I am “supposed to” as a soon-to-be new author.
You seem to be a naturally gregarious person, though, so you may well be a natural at social media and things like Twitter. And with solid blogging relationships, one doesn’t need to be the expert at everything, as it is a mutually support community here at WordPress. Indeed, we can take a Tipping Point perspective (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point), and say that there are Mavens, Connectors, and Salespersons aplenty here at WordPress. It’s merely a matter of engaging them to create the viral epidemic one typically hopes for as a writer.
Having said this, hopefully traditional things still matter, and it is a book’s own merits, ultimately, that will determine its success or failure.
I have an iPad (gift from my parents), the advantage of which is that I have downloaded the Kindle app, and so can read .pdf file, Kindle books, iBooks books, and probably other formats. Now that I have a (refurbished) MacBook Air with which to write, I would probably prefer the iPad Air for its smaller, more convenient size as a versatile e-book reader. Not cheap, though.
Well thank you Nav for your very informative reply and the links too! Yes, I do agree with relationship building over a marketing platform here on WordPress. I can’t do anything that is contrived, it would be false and I just can’t do that, and you, I know, are the same. I’m actually quite uncomfortable with social media and despise self-promotion (have never done it!) so this is a very sharp learning curve indeed 😉
As you so rightly say, at the end of the day, it is indeed the merits of the book that will see it through no matter what we do, and word of mouth will certainly help with that!
I know several people who have iPads. Maybe that is the way to go. I’m sure a MacBook is not cheap!! My laptop is on borrowed time. However, Aspie D has just had to replace hers and so is paying me back…methinks my turn will come later 😉
I’m taking a Malcolm Gladwell “Tipping Point” approach to this. I don’t have to be a great social media mogul, so long as I have the relationships that include Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople.
Yes, self-promotion is something I’ve never been comfortable with. I’m actually glad that my story is coming out anonymously.
If “The Mirror” hits #1 on the NY Times nonfiction bestseller list, Santa is bringing you an iPad mini for XMAS. Guaranteed.
I need to take a proper look at Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Tipping Point’, I like the sound of it, and not having to be a great social media mogul’ sounds incredibly appealing to me! It does seem to come down to relationships and the support gained from them.
Ahh, you are so kind Nav, bless you my friend…just as well that I never stopped believing in Santa… 🙂
Taking care of the people who would do the same for me. ❤
You got that right 🙂
There is some interest information in your post. I knew that ebooks had become popular but I didn’t realise just how popular…’proper’ books will be a thing of the past before long. I wouldn’t worry too much about the feminist readers, I do agree that they will probably comment on the sometimes strong anti-feminist themes in your book but, unlike with fiction, to truly get your point across you can never please everyone. I am sure that if amazon and ratings were around during the time of some of the greatest writers of years gone by they would have struggled to please an entire audience. I recently went on a writing weekend with two published authors in the UK and they were asked how they dealt with this – one said that the bad comments use to keep them up and night; they wanted everyone to like their work but they sooner realised this is possible and now see it as a challenge to try and reduce the 1 star ratings with each book they publish 🙂
Thanks for the input, TBJ. The only concern I have with feminists is that they might start a dirty tricks campaign to have as many of them as possible give me 1-star online ratings, even if they haven’t read the book. This apparently has been done before, to drive the average rating down.
Otherwise, I won’t lose a wink of sleep as to what they think about the book, as its thesis has already predicted how they’ll receive it.
Great point about not writing to please everyone, as it isn’t possible. Don’t even bother trying.
I will have to try and remember that last point myself! 🙂
Don’t
undersell
yourself.
Those peddling their ebooks for $0.99
look pretty pathetic and desperate.
True. My account manager at FriesenPress.com strongly recommended $2.99, so I went with this. I’m assuming that she has inside sales data that indicates this to be an optimal pricing point.