Playing with Pricing
- Jan, 24 2011
- By Belinda
- Self-Publish
- 7 comments
Dear Reader,
Part of being an entrepreneurial author, indie author, self-publishing author, etc, is that I make my prices and have to watch my supply and demand. I have to experiment with marketing and production and everything else. My primary product right now is Haunting Miss Trentwood, the eBook version. It’s the one that’s selling and the one I’ve made any attempt at marketing. I’m rewriting Catching the Rose and I’m working on my anthology, Love or Lack Thereof, so there is no point playing around with those books right now.
Last Tuesday (Jan 18), I changed the price of Haunting Miss Trentwood from $2.99 to $3.99 for a couple of reasons.
- I believe it is worth that price.
- It has gotten good reviews that make me think others believe the same.
- Honestly, it’s my best (and sometimes only) selling product.
- I’m interested to know the perfect pricing for supply vs demand.
- I have no idea what the perfect price point is for my books.
I know pricing down is not what I want to do. Pricing up is something I’m interested in testing simply because I’m curious to know what a dollar more will do to sales and interest. I know customers can assume that a cheap eBook means it’s cheap in terms of more than just finances.
I know other authors have experimented a bit more… Right after I made the decision to change the price, I read John’s post about experimenting with his prices. He’s going higher than me, but he also has a larger following. Will my pricing ensure a larger following? Not sure. But I’ve had Haunting Miss Trentwood at $2.99 since October 16, 2010 for two months. I’m willing to try $3.99 for the next two months and see what happens.
I began with $2.99 because multiple authors say that’s the sweet spot. But I’m just not seeing the sales. Thinking changing the price will do something about that?
All the best,
Belinda
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Belinda Kroll
Thanks! I have to admit I just don't know much about marketing philosophy, and I'm trying REALLY hard to care, since I do have a product to get out there. What I do know, I'm learning from other indie authors who talk about their methods.
We'll see how this goes. I do think this book is worth the $3.99, and hopefully others agree.
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John L. Betcher
Hi Belinda,
I'd recommend to try setting your price about a buck below your traditionally published competition. That would imply value for your book while still offering buyers a discount over the competition.
Just my two cents! All the best!
John
Belinda Kroll
I see your point. I'll admit I haven't really looked at the traditionally published prices of books in my genre. Off to do that now…!
@GoblinWriter
I'll be interested to hear how it goes. A gal I'm interviewing later in the week has her first ebook at $1, but then sells the rest in the series at $4.95 each.
I have my two novels at $2.99 right now, but could see playing around when I have more out and more reviews and such.
Belinda Kroll
Yeah I had both my novels at $2.99 and my short story at $0.99 but the only one that's selling is Haunting Miss Trentwood and I'm pretty sure that's because it has reviews and I've been talking about it all over the internet. I'll definitely post updates a month or two into the pricing change.
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