Saturday, November 10, 2007

VOX POP: Pricing and Length--veinglory


The VOX POP slot is a chance for self-publishing authors to ask questions and get feedback from peers and readers. If you have your own question send it along to podpeep at gmail.com. Here is a question from an author about pricing and formatting. Please let us know what you think.

Would people rather pay $30 bucks for a 700 page paperback or $15 for an e-book. Should an author offer both?

Would you rather buy a trilogy at $15.00 per book or have one book containing all three parts at $30.00.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of e-books, but if you're going to sell a 700-page doorstopper, offering an e-book is a good idea.

Better in my view would be to split the book into thirds, which is what I think you're contemplating.

Bottom line - the lower the price point, the more likely folks will be to take a flyer on a new author.

G R Grove said...

I can't think of any living author (and very few dead ones) for whose e-book I'd pay $15, never mind an author I'd never heard of before. This pricing policy needs a reality check.

Split it in thirds and give the e-book for the first third away free.

Dusk Peterson said...

I had to calculate in my mind the price per page to figure out why the book prices were so steep. I'm sure that the average reader wouldn't make that connection, unless they picked the book off the shelf.

So yes, I think splitting the story into a trilogy would be much better, if that's possible. If the novel doesn't lend itself to that approach, try calling it an omnibus edition or something else that will alert the reader that they're getting value for their money.