Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower will be jumping to at $2.99 price tag after Labor Day. I planned this all along, but that doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking. Sales have been incredible and I’m on the lists, so I’m hoping that helps maintain some momentum after the price change. I hear about so many $2.99 authors having trouble that it’s scary. Yet, as the real Nimby pointed out, 99 cent books won’t pay the bills. They can get people to try a series, but I have to boost the other books since I can’t churn them out once a month.
This brings up two questions that I have to figure out:
- Do I do anything special to promote the ‘Labor Day Sale’ of Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower? I would start it on Saturday/Sunday.
- Do I do the same thing with Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies with a month of .99 cents and then a jump to $2.99? Could I get away with starting at $2.99?
Legends of Windemere 
I wish I had a crystal ball. But as someone who has read two books in a series and enjoyed them, I wouldn’t hesitate to spend 2.99 for the third one.
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Thanks. That’s what I’m hoping for and I’ve read that’s rather common. The whole trick seems to be make a popular first book for .99 cents and the others can be priced higher.
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I found an interesting article about e-book pricing, which may also explain how you got bumped off the Fantasy lists:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2012/08/03/mark-coker-indie-authors-are-underpricing-their-books/
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Interesting. Odd thing is that my first book is on the Sword & Sorcery list now. Makes no sense. It’s going to be interesting to see if the upping the 2nd book’s price will put me on the list again.
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Also, my feeling is that a book that is worth reading is worth $2.99. That’s half the price of a movie ticket, and a good book will last a lot longer than an hour and a half. It’s the price of Starbux Half-Caf Banana Latte Au Jus, considerably less than a pack of cigarettes, and will buy you about 36 seconds of a lawyer’s time.
Just something to think about.
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Half a movie ticket? It’s a 1/3rd in my area. I think I have to move.
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Granted, I tend to go to the early show. But you see my point. Pricing isn’t just about what you can afford to sell something for, it’s also about what the product is worth to the customer. You’ve got a quality product, and it’s worth $2.99.
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I agree. Though, I was just sent some information that might change the plan entirely. This pricing thing is never easy.
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I dunno. I know lots of self-pubbed authors doing well at 2.99. In fact, I’m more inclined to spend 2.99 than .99 cents because my automatic reaction is to think that a 2.99 price point means said author has confidence in his/her work. Plus, you deserve to make money off this, and you’re not making much at .99 cents.
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It is true that I’m not making much at .99 cents, but I do believe that I wouldn’t have sold as many as a $2.99 first time author. It’s really a rough choice. I price high and people don’t think I’m worth the risk. I price low and people don’t think I have confidence in my book. This is why I’m keeping the first book at .99 cents for the foreseeable future. Part of me still feels like I’m in the ‘gain a fan base’ stage.
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Clearly this is a post where you don’t want my opinion.
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Why not? I’m curious now.
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Nope. No public arguments.
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Okay. Private one?
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I wish you the very best in all of your adventures. If anyone can make this work it is you. I refuse to email you and tell you I think you’re shtupid. So I will call you and tell you instead.
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After the Twitter Interview?
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Yes. You know I love you.
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I know you do and I always appreciate your wisdom, insight, and teasing.
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Yeah heavy on the teasing light on the wisdom
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You were right about the price raising being a bad idea last time.
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And I would hate to see you kill your mojo jojo again
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It is a big concern. As much as I want to test my luck with a higher price using the lists, part of me is still very leery. I talk a big game, but I still myself as a newbie author.
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I know .34 cents a book blows bit it’s better than 0
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Exactly.
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I wish you lots of luck! Hope good sales continue!!!
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Thanks. We’ll see what happens.
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If I were in your shoes, I’d consider making the first book of the series 99 cents or free (perhaps permanently, but that’s a risk), hoping to entice readers to try the series and hook those who do. If not permanently low-priced, it’s the first volume that I’d promote for sale prices. One volume is nothing if (big if) it leads to the sale of several others.
But promoting and discounting the new book in the series has many advantages, too. If you make every book free when it’s released, you get some people who get the whole series for free. But it’s probably worth the advantages of generating buzz, generating Also Bought lists, developing strong sales rank, etc. with each new book. If you’re happy with what you’re doing now, forget my first paragraph (why risk it, it could be worse that way?).
When the series is complete, if there is some way to offer a significantly discounted omnibus (but if you have many long volumes, you have to work out the details), you may be able to generate huge publicity with one major, highly promoted few-day holiday sale; this can potentially, if done right, give you a lot of $2.99 per volume sales thereafter.
Whatever you do, good luck with it. I like seeing your posts with good news. 🙂
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Thanks. First book is staying 99 cents. I can only do free for 5 days in every 90 day period. The second book might be staying there for a bit after I got some new info. Need to time it right, so maybe a boost around the third book. I’m still thinking how to price that. Not sure if I should go 99 cent for a week or 2.99 at first to see how it goes.
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(You can make it free by pricematch, once out of select, but it’s hard to get it changed back if you change your mind, and you might not want to risk your sorcery rank on it.)
You will have so many volumes. 99 cents can make for an impulse buy. For a trilogy, I’d advocate $2.99. But if you’ll have a dozen or so in the series, once it’s complete, adding up $2.99’s can get expensive, but 99 cents per book shouldn’t be a deterrent. In general I’d suggest $2.99, but maybe not in your case. Especially, if sales are going pretty well now and are likely to do so when you release new ones… My general rule is only to try something new when sales are in a valley, and I don’t mind much if they get worse, as long as there is a chance the change will make them better. 🙂
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15 books in the series. I can see how the third book does at 2.99 at first and drop the price if need be. I never considered the idea of being a 99 center. Not too rough a path since I’ll be starting to write book 6 in December.
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On the other hand (perhaps I have too many hands to give helpful advice), look at how many books are in The Wheel of Time series. The total cost of the series is considerable, and it’s immensely popular. Buying one at a time at $2.99 is still fairly cheap, in the grand scheme. Still, if things are going well (here comes another hand)… 🙂
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Good point, but I think Wheel of Time can get away with it being a traditional published. I still get the sense that I’m in the ‘who is this guy?’ stage. It could be the third book that does it to make sure everything sticks. I don’t know. Had a long conversation with someone wiser than myself that made me realize that I should be patient and not jump the gun on pricing just yet.
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I’ve been having similar issues. I am putting up Heretic Priest as free over labor day weekend, because it is the last of my books on KDP Select and I might as well take advantage of the free exposure. But I haven’t been really gun-ho about pushing my books lately, and I probably won’t be until the new covers come out. Then you will see me go insane on the promotion train once more.
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I don’t think I know how to ease off any more. Just keep pushing on twitter and Facebook.
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Anyone who is getting your third book is a fan and isn’t looking for a bargain, they’re looking for your book. Definitely start it at 2.99 and start paying the bills. You’ve done the hard work!
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That’s the plan, but that one won’t be out until November/December. New plan is to keep both current books at 99 cents and think about changing it when the third comes out. If the third doesn’t do well at 2.99, I can drop it in price.
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