The pricing of ebooks is fodder for much discussion these days. I recently read one self-publishing advocate who says a strategy to pursue is writing scads of short stories and pricing them at $2.99 each. Unless your name is Stephen King, I’m not sure I would agree. Since full-length novels can be had for 99 cents and $2.99, wouldn’t most people think that a short story at $2.99 is too pricey? Worse, if the title is not clearly labeled “short story” and they get it and finish it in ten minutes, wouldn’t there be some blowback?
Maybe I’m wrong. So I’m throwing it open for a little market research. How do you readers feel about $2.99 for a short story?
Killzoneblog.com
With as much free fiction out there, I doubt I would consider paying for a single short story. at 2.99, it would need to be part of a collection.
agree with the above poster! I recently bought Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew, a collection of short stories that runs about 500 pages, for something like $4.99 – so I’m hardly going to pay $2.99 for a single entry…
It seems more sensible to put out a compilation at that sort of price model, as well as offer the individual stories for .99c
Nick
Far too expensive. I agree with the others posters: for that price, create a collection of several short stories.
It doesn’t come across as a total rip-off, and you can publish it on paper using POD.
I think that many self-published authors tend to forget that some people still prefer paper books to e-books.
Too expensive. I priced my short story at $0.99 and my collection at long$2.99. So far the individual short story is outselling the collection. I’m beginning to think I need to offer them all individually.
.99 with THIS IS A SHORT STORY clearly states in the description is what I’m used to seeing. Asking for more would hurt sales, IMO.
This is what I’m currently doing with my short fiction series, although some people don’t read the whole description and after they download them, tend to complain that the ‘books’ are only ‘chapters’. Oh well – I suppose I can’t MAKE anybody read the whole description. *SIGHS*
clearly stated…
99 cents, no more, and don’t expect a lot of sales unless your name is Stephen King.
This is only my opinion on the values I’ve seen as a reader who wears an author’s tin foil hat.
$.99 is the new free. It’s the lowest price point to earn royalty. If a single short story is promo on an anthology/collection of short stories, it should be free or $.99, depending on how the author chooses to do the promo.
Ebook novellas run from 28,000 words or so (Avon submission guideline, as I recall) to 55,000 words could be priced at $2.99 – $3.99. (Any word count between novella and full length novel should probably be valued like a novella if it’s not at least 70,000 words. I haven’t seen many books with word count of 55,000-65,000, fir example.)
Novel length ebooks 70,000+ words or higher could be $4.99. Maybe that leaves room for a higher price point if the book is over 100,000 words, given the higher production costs to edit the book. On pro forma calculations that publishers use to determine prod cost and the advance they could pay an author, the word count threshold on cost went up at 110,000 words.
My $.02.
Hey, Jordan, maybe $.02 would be a good price point for flash fiction…. 🙂
Thanks, Jordan! Very helpful info.
Ha, Jim. But it would take longer to buy it than just read it, no,?
I love flash fiction though. I started writing fanfiction and still love that, too.
I recently attended a library sale and picked up CAT CRIMES I, II, and III. Seventeen short stories by a variety of authors and I could pick the price myself. I gave them $5.00 but could easily have paid ten cents. And it’s like brand new. AND I agree with Carlos. I believe a lot of readers still prefer paper over ebooks.
I’d rather sell a story 500 times at $.99 then 100 at $2.99. Not just because I’d make more money but also because I’d have more readers. And I’d get more of a thrill as a novice author to see my sales climb.
I guess I’m old-fashioned, but I’m one of those that prefer paper.
Kindle just to try new authors or it’s only available in that format.
Seems like short story self-publishers should collaborate with other like-minded authors. They could release a collection of their short stories and have each one available individually for 99 cents. (Naturally, the collection would need to be priced cheaper than buying each story individually.) Working in a group has the benefits that it demonstrates a level of professionalism to the reader and also means several people working to promote a collection, not just one. The promotions for the collection would result in sales both of the collection and of individual stories.
James, this is a great question. My thinking is that 99 cents is sweet spot for a e-short. I’m also of the opinion that both authors and readers might be better served by a collection of shorts — say five to seven stories — priced at $2.99. It’s a tough market; there is SO MUCH out there right now, and a good deal of it is relatively inexpensive.
If you are reading to fill time, I agree. But stories aren’t a loaf of bread. If I really wanted to read it 3 bucks is ok. Less than a latte.
Sheesh, $ 2.99 for 10-20 minutes of entertainment? I don’t think I would pay $ 2.99 for any short story, even if it were a Lee Child Jack Reacher story. I’m having a hard enough time swallowing those at $ 1.99, and they’re even tossing in a teaser bonus of the next novel I’m already going to buy (some bonus). I agree that 99 cents is the right price for a short story.
My experience for what it’s worth:
We did an original eBook novella (50K words) with our series character. Priced it at $2.99 and put NOVELLA clearly on cover and descriptions, etc. Did pretty good with it — it’s still selling in fact — but we did get some blowback from readers who complained it was “too short.” I am not sure all readers understand what a novella is, to be honest.
As for short stories, they are a different animal in structure and intent, as James pointed out in his recent post here. I can’t think why anyone would charge $2.99 for one story. Maybe Lee Child can get away with it, but not the rest of us mere mortals.
I think you’re right about “novella,” Kris, despite the fact the “ella” should be a glaring hint that it’s shorter than a novel. I’m thinking people see author name, a good story description, a reasonable price–and just click it. They may pay less attention.
Btw, Kris. $2.99 for 50,000 words written my the team of P J Parrish is a steal. Just sayin’.
Aw thanx, JD!
Both of my shorts are $.99 and I don’t think I’d ever buy a short for $2.99 unless it was brand new and written by someone like Dean Koontz or Stephen King.
I wouldn’t buy a short story for $2.99, not even from a favorite author. It just doesn’t seem worth it. I purchased the 39 Clues shorts for 99 cents each with no hesitation, but as a fairly frugal person, I draw the line at a dollar. When I get a gift card from a place like Barnes and Noble, I savor my book selection process, thinking over my choices carefully.
When my husband gave me a Nook for Christmas this year, I loaded up first with classics, which I love, and then began to make careful selections of contemporary books or writing craft books I felt could be reread over and over. This is why I read first through the library before I decide to buy. You can’t do this with a short story, however, which is another reason I wouldn’t be likely to pay $2.99 for a story vs. a book.
This is an interesting point. I wouldn’t pay $2.99 for a short story. $2.99 seems too low for novel-length work. Do you think all the complaints about the work being too short are completely in response to the price point, or because the readers want more of the story? Even the readers of LOTR want more and more.
If I will not pay $12 to sit in a theater and watch a movie one time, then I certainly will not pay $2.99 for one short story. It’s just unreasonable.
I’ve had feedback from my agent that $1.99 to $2.99 is probably the price point for full length self-published ebooks (novel length)…so short stories would be way cheaper. I think 0.99c is about as much as you can charge.
The ebook royalty rates are based on price points: 35% for $.99 up to $2.99 and 70% for $2.99 or higher. The value of $1.99 is still valued at 35% royalty, so you’d be better off pricing at $2.99, the smallest value to get the higher royalty return rate. It sounds like your agent may not be aware of how prices break down against royalty.
I respectfully disagree with your agent’s view that all indie books (novel length) should be sold at the low value of $2.99 or less (ie 35% royalty only), as if it’s assumed the quality isn’t there. The marketplace will define the value of a book as readership grows, or doesn’t. An author needs to hone their craft and strive to put out the best book possible AND produce it professionally. Otherwise readership will not grow. But the beauty of being an indie author is that YOU get to retain control of price and promo and royalty earned.
Publishers have a greater overhead to recover, but indie authors can build a business and price their product in a lean and mean fashion, without skimping on quality. And they can cultivate their readership by offering freebies and special discounts as they see fit and as often as they want to do it. Publishers are very reluctant to significantly discount a book AND they usually make decisions on a group of books/authors to promo, rather than one author’s offerings. That can be frustrating for authors whose backlist rights are being tied up.
Also–What about authors who are selling their blacklist books where their rights have been reverted back to them? Those would be indie produced and repackaged, but I can guarantee that authors are seeing closer to $4.99+ for ebooks.
Pricing is much more complicated and each indie or hybrid author must make their own business decisions on value and royalty.
And that $4.99 price is at 70% royalty. Forgot to add that.
JD
authors who are selling their blacklist
Your books have been blacklisted?! Which ones? By who? I loves me a blacklist;-)
Ha! That’s supposed to be BACKlist. Sorry. *snort* I would love to be in a blacklist.
I have purchased an e-book thinking that it was a novel only to discover it was a short story, and needless to say I wasn’t happy about it. Since I had already read it, I didn’t feel it was right to return it (it was within the time limit). So I did the only thing I could do, I stopped purchasing ebooks that weren’t clearly labeled. Also I haven’t purchased anything else from that author. (More subconsciously than on purpose). My other thoughts on e-books are that if they are near enough to the price of the printed version, I am going to purchase the printed version.