What Are You Pricing For?

"But $4.99 is way too expensive. No one's ever going to pay that."

This has been the internal dialogue I've been having over the past few days as we've been adjusting the pricing of Lori's books across all the retailers and her store.

Since Day 1 (April 2020), the price of Lori's books has been:

– Book 1: $2.99

– Books 2-4: $3.99 each

– Companion Novel: $2.99

We've been a little apprehensive about upsetting the apple cart when things have been going so well.

This was particularly the case when we were exclusive to Amazon; I was watching the Amazon Bestseller Rank like a hawk, and terrified of it dropping.

Honestly, it was becoming addictive. It was becoming an obsession.

Since moving Lori's books wide and selling direct, it has been incredibly freeing to not be emotionally attached to the Bestseller Rank.

If we increased the price, I know that would have had an impact on the Bestseller Rank.

Sure, we would have earned more per sale, but total units sold may have dropped, and therefore, the Bestseller Rank may have dropped too.

Potentially.

But that's my point; I never tested the price, because I was too afraid.

Since changing the prices of Lori's books on Amazon and the other retailers recently, the number of orders has dropped a touch, but royalties have remained fairly stable, even increasing some days.

Clearly, 5-7 days worth of data is nothing concrete, but early signs are looking good.

This brings me round to what are you pricing your books for:

– Profit

– Visibility

– Branding

– Volume

– Kindle Unlimited Income

– Something Else

Discounts and "cheap books" have their place.

It's ok to discount your books; even having permanent 99¢ books is ok... providing it's helping you achieve your business objectives.

If sales volume is your goal, even if it's just for a few months, (because goals change), then 99¢ books may be the way to go.

If branding and quality is your primary goal though, 99¢ books may do more harm than good, especially over a longer period of time.

If you saw a $2,000 Ferrari that was 3 years old, would you think:

A: "Bargain, I'm in!"

B: "What's wrong with it?"

Most of us would pick B, because of the branding and quality that Ferrari has built up over the years and has become renowned for.

If 99¢ books or, on the other end of the spectrum, $5.99 books, aren't helping you meet your business objectives, it may be time to change things.

You may find that pricing Book 1 of your series at 99¢ permanently sells a lot of copies of Book 1, but read-through to your more expensive books 2, 3, 4, etc, of that series drops.

And that's because cheap and especially FREE books often result in lower read-through.

The reason for this, I believe, is because readers haven't put much, or any money into the book, so they don't see its value,

And because of that, these books often sit on readers TBR (To Be Read) lists for weeks, months, even years.

The other consideration is the cost of advertising and, for direct sales, the Average Order Value.

It can be challenging to make Ads sustainable with a stable of 99¢ books.

And Average Order Value is a critical metric for Direct Sales because getting it as high as possible (ethically) is what will allow your store to stand the test of time.

Side note: You can sign up for the Direct Sales Course waitlist here (launching April 2024).

Pricing your books is an important decision to make, but it's not something that is set in stone. Far from it.

As a self-published author, we can test anything, anywhere, anytime.

Gotta go, the boys are at daycare today, so I've got bags to pack and breakfasts to make.

To Your Success
– Matt