I thought I understood this, but now I’m not sure. So, I’m going to ask a simple question before I get pulled off the computer.
Has anybody ever done the 70% royalty rate for Amazon and, if so, how well did it work? Is it worth it or is the 35% the best option?
About Charles Yallowitz
Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.
Legends of Windemere 
I haven’t done it, Charles. I’d be interested to know which option is better.
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So far I’m hearing that people are doing well on it and that there are no crazy requirements. I still have a while before I go to the 2.99 level, but it’s nice to know.
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Depends on what you mean by how well did it work. I do the 70% and like it just fine.
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I guess I meant if there were any requirements or restrictions if you go that option. Like how KDP Select prevents an author from publishing on other eBook sites like Smashwords.
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Oh the 70% has more to do with how you price it, not exclusivity. You don’t have to be in KDP to get the 70% royalty.
As for KDP, I took mine out because I got almost no downloads, and at least twice as many people who were asking why I wasn’t on Nook.
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That was why I didn’t even try. I had several friends tell me that they owned a Nook, so I went with Smashwords. Then, they all pounced on the free download week instead of buying it. I really shouldn’t have told them about that deal.
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Okay, so the 70% royalty just requires your e-book to be priced at a minimum of $2.99. If its under that, you have to go with the 30%. Just double checked to make sure I wasn’t just talking out of my you-know-what 😛
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35% actually. Also, you go back to 35% if you go over 9.99 in pricing. This is new and from what I’ve read it was because many authors were making their prices extremely high. Amazon told them to be reasonable, they continued to have 14.99 and 20.99 eBooks for the money, and Amazon put a stop to it. Can’t say I disagree with Amazon’s decision on this one.
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The 70% is great, but then amazon gets to control the price of your ebook. I believe $2.99 is the lowest price you can have at the 70% royalty option.
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I don’t think Amazon really gets to control it. The author still handles how much the book goes for. There’s just a limit now. Apparently, you only get the 70% from 2.99-9.99. Above or below it is only 35%. I read that they did it to stop authors from pricing their eBooks at obscene levels simply for the money. Can’t say I fault them for that one.
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Yes, that’s what I meant to say. And I think it is a wise decision on their part, too.
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Got it. They certainly know what they’re doing.
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They do until they update something and make it look like your book is out of stock! 😉
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Thankfully, that will never happen again and the sequels are safe. 🙂
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That is a good thing to wish for! I have my fingers crossed for you!
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Your book needs to be $2.99 to $9.99 in order to get the 70% royalty rate. In the US and UK (and a couple other countries, Germany being one of them I think), you will get 70%. But if you want 70% in some countries (India, Japan, Brazil, not sure what others), then you need to be in Select. Personally, I don’t sell well enough in other countries to make it worth my while to be in Select just to get 70% from there.
I have some books at $0.99 (which gives me 35%) and my newer ones at $2.99. I think mixing it up (once you have enough books out there can work to your advantage. Do you have a short story or novella (maybe a prelude to your current book) that you can offer as a loss leader (which means either free or $0.99) to intrigue people about your full-length novel? I’d do free for a short story but $0.99 for a novella. Then have your full-length at $2.99. I know it’s hard to gain traction when you’re starting out, which is why writing more stories is what gets you out there better (though it takes time). I suggest pricing the full-length at $2.99 if you can get a short or novella out for a lower price/free. Then after you have two more full-length novels out, try the $0.99 on the book you currently have out or set it to free (your preference). it’s a strategy I’ve used that seems to work pretty well. I published ebooks in 2009 but didn’t make more than $10 until October 2010 (and published an average of seven books a year). So it didn’t happen overnight. Authors today really do sell better sooner than they did when I started out. 😀 That’s the good news, but since they do sell better sooner, there’s a sense of impatience about the whole thing, too (and that does a lot of damage to budding careers).
All of this is just my opinion. I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do. 😀
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Currently, I have a .99 cent eBook out. It’s a full-length novel that is the first of my series. I already have the next 3 books finished and I didn’t plan on putting the first book any higher than .99 cents. It’s what a few established authors suggested since I already have several finished novels and it’s a long series. My goal right now is the fan-base, so I’m good with that until it’s much further along. I was going to put out the next one at 1.99 and eventually have books 2-15 at 2.99 once all of them are out. Maybe I’ll go to 4.99 if it seems like there’s a call for it. Like you, I don’t see the advantage of KDP Select at this time.
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Since you have the next three books finished, then I’d keep it at $0.99. I see nothing wrong with $0.99. I think building a solid fan-base is key. You won’t have any word of mouth without fans. I’d rather sell more on the first book and make less so I can build up a readership of people who will pay more for my other books. Mark Coker said that $0.99 and $2.99 do better than $1.99. He said $1.99 seems to dip down. Now, that doesn’t mean $1.99 can’t do well. Some books at $1.99 do very well. It’s just that statistically, he found either choosing $0.99 or $2.99 gave authors a better chance of attracting readers.
I don’t think pricing low means you don’t believe in the quality of your work. To me, it doesn’t matter what you price a book at. The quality of the work will stand on its own merit, regardless of how cheap or expensive it is. Something to keep in mind is that traditional publishers are now lowering their prices. This wasn’t the case before, and $4.99 used to be a huge bargain. It’s no longer the bargain it once was.
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That was my thinking as far as getting a fan base. Good to know about the 1.99 statistics. Makes me wonder if I should start my second book at .99 cents for the first month and then bump it to 1.99. Then do a final bump to 2.99. Not sure how a .99 cent to 2.99 leap would go over. I’m curious as to why 1.99 doesn’t sell as well. Though, it does look like a strange number to me.
I’ve been noticing the traditional publishers having lower prices. I thought they were simply doing occasional sales. I still see a lot of 9.99 and 14.99 eBooks from them in the fantasy genre. Never understood that pricing.
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Yes. The minimum you can price your book for the 70% Royalty is $2.99 and the highest is $9.99. You can only offer your book for free either via the 5 day per 90 day term if you are in KDP Select, which means exclusivity with Amazon or if you have it elsewhere (such as Smashwords) and Amazon price matches.
Even with the 70% option for Amazon.com not everywhere pays 70%. Non-US Amazon.com stores which includes anywhere but the other specified stores will pay at 35%, so say someone in Singapore, Mozambique or Australia buys it then it will be 35%. This applies whether you are in Select or not.
Whether Select is worth it, now the jury is out on that one. Some people get a lot of benefit from it, many don’t.
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Thanks. I figure if I price something to that level then it doesn’t hurt to go for the 70%.
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Indeed, if you are a planning to price about that level then take the higher royalty. The 35% might show up for some sales but they are the non US Amazon.com ones. That confuses a lot of people. Some people sell shorter stories for 99c but it is really up to you. I raised my novel above $2.99 and it has not hurt sales at all. You can always reduce the price if you don’t seem to be selling at that level or have a “sale day.”
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I don’t have any novellas and short stories, which is why I put the first book at .99 cents. I figure an unknown like me can benefit more from tempting people with a deal. I’ve heard a lot of people say that it doesn’t show faith my work, but I do have faith in my work. I simply don’t have faith in most people wanting to take more than a .99 cent risk on an unknown author. 😀
I’ve been playing with the idea of going up to $4.99 at some point, but I don’t think I have that kind of pull yet. Maybe by the time book 6 comes out. Does it make any sense to do a .99/1.99/2.99/3.99/4.99 pricing tier or is it smarter to make most of the books the same price? As you can see, I have no concept of pricing outside of Monopoly and I never win that.
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Personally I don’t think it devalues it but some people do see that. If you have faith in your work that is very important. There are readers who will assume it is “only” worth 99c whether that is the case or not but then again lots of people will happily buy those. There is no firm or easy answer, you have to do what works for you. I would say make the books roughly the same price to be honest but that is just me. You could reduce the older books a little. Say have 2.99 and 3.99 for the newer one. It is often helpful to start building a fan base early as well? What are your plans for marketing, what social networks do you use? Places like Goodreads and Indiesunlimited are useful for advice, meeting people, having a laugh and getting your book on the database. As I am sure you know it takes time to build a following.
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Thanks for this post, Charles. The comments gave me some really good insight into how publishing e-books on Amazon works! Please let us know your results from doing the 70% 🙂
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It won’t be for a while, but I’ll let everyone know. My next book is going to start at 1.99 since I’m still not sure I can go for the 2.99 yet. I’m still working on building up my courage for the 1.99 jump. Feels like a big step like publishing in the first place. 🙂
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I imagine it must be hard to put a price on a novel that is so close to your heart! I’m impressed that you too the plunge into the publishing world. It scares me out of my wits. I’m afraid to even send any of my writing in! lol You are “Mr. Courageous!”
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It’s definitely nerve-wracking. Yet, the pricing of the sequel seems to be trickier. At least with the first, I was brand new and had no reservations about the .99 cent pricing. Now, I’m tempted to try for more.
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I think you should definitely raise the 2nd one…your writing is worth it! 🙂
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Thanks. I’m still deciding between 1.99 and 2.99 on that one. The first one at .99 cents could be enough to warrant the 2.99 price. I read articles stating that people will buy the .99 cent beginning of a series and then buy the other books even if they’re 5.99. Won’t go that insane, but it’s something to think about.
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I know if I like the first book in a series I will pay the higher price on the books in the rest of the series. Once I read one book I have to read all the others…I’m funny like that!
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That’s the common mindset and why I’m thinking of going right for the 2.99.
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Can you change the price once you go up? Say you try the 2.99 and it doesn’t work can you go down to 1.99…
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You can alter the price whenever you want. I haven’t done it personally, but I know some who have. I was recently told that 1.99 doesn’t sell as well as .99 cents and 2.99, which is why I’m leaning toward 2.99.
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I say go for it! You will never know until you try it! I think it will do great, Charles
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Wow, great discussion. Good information about Amazon’s pricing policies. Thanks
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You’re welcome. Though, I’m still pondering the pricing of my sequel. Now that I know 1.99 doesn’t do as well as .99 cents and 2.99, I’m not sure if I should start at .99 cents or go straight to 2.99.
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My current novel is $3.25. I started at 2.99 but then priced up a little, I have seen a few more sales but that may simply be the book has been around for longer. Book 2 is due out soon and I will probably price it at 3.99 simply because it is 50k words longer. If I decide to do anything with the short stories they will be 99c. DIfferent strategies work for different people in different ways.
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I’m on Goodreads and I’ve got my blog connected to Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Google +, and I use Pinterest. I used several self-published author advertising sites when I started out too. Sites like Novelspot, Goodkindle, and AskDavid.com. I’ll be using them again when the second book debuts. I’ve been doing author interviews as well. The thing that helps them most has been getting onto the Top 100 Amazon lists. That’s something beyond my control, but it’s definitely a goal to have for every book debut.
Eventually, I might have all the books at the same price. I’m not really looking that far ahead because I don’t want to do it too early. Keeping my first as a low-risk introduction has helped me so far. It’s all playing this by ear and seeing where the wind blows. I have some novellas in different genres that I was going to put out for .99 cents at some point, but I’m holding off until my completed novels are up.
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Cool. Different strategies work for different people. Sounds like you are sorted with the networking!
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Yeah. I ran around linking everything up just after my book debuted. Unfortunately, I get a few weekly digests about what I’m doing, which always throws me off. That ‘an author you follow has said something interesting’ and then I find out it’s me. If this keeps up, I’ll split my personality straight down the middle. 🙂
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Hahaha yes I know that one:)
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This was a great question and good learning. Thanks Charles.
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You’re welcome. I learned a lot too and now I have a lot to think about before the sequel debuts.
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I am in the traditional space of no control so when I read all this information I wish I had gone the self pub route. (too late on the first book) I will need to see how it works out. I (of course) would also hyperventilate if I was self pub so what can you do?
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I know someone who went traditional and then switched to self pub. I was told that book rights with publishers aren’t forever, but I guess it depends on the contract. I know very little about that side of the publishing world since they wouldn’t let me in. 🙂
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One concerning point is you have no control over when the book is launched.
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That does create an issue for me. I’m not patient and wouldn’t know what to do with the time in between.
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