OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
There's a lot of talk about how much e-books are worth to readers.
I think that's the wrong question. The question should be: how much are readers worth to e-book authors?
I've been indy self e-publishing for 15 months and as of June sold around 3000 copies a month. But I had one book, SNAKE SKIN, a mainstream thriller that was a bit of a stretch for my target audience of women who enjoy a touch of romance with their thriller/suspense novels. SNAKE SKIN had gotten rave reviews but just wasn't selling.
I had SNAKE SKIN priced at $4.99 and consistently made around $300 a month on it. Tried a special sale price of 0.99–and made around $300 on it that month. Re-priced it at $2.99 and was…you guessed it…still making $300 a month.
This book recently earned a 4 1/2 star review from RT Book Reviews, one of the most respected print book review magazines. I felt in my heart it was worth more than $300 a month to me–and much more than $0.99 to readers.
I decided it was too valuable to reduce the price further.
Instead, I gave it away.
I figured that would be about it–that was already more than the 1000 copies it sold during the month I had it at 0.99…imagine my astonishment as I watched during the day to see it “sell” 10,000 copies in ten hours.
48 hours after it was placed on sale for free, 24,987 copies were downloaded and it had made it to #3 on the Amazon Kindle Free Bestseller list!
Now some might say: CJ you're crazy! (I've heard that before, lol.) You could have made over $8,000 if you'd priced it at 0.99 instead of giving it away for free. You're losing money!
No sir. I've lost at most the $300 a month the book was earning me…but I've gained potentially 24,987 *NEW* readers.
Readers are so much more valuable to me than $300. And NEW readers? Priceless.
How do I know they're new? Well, just about anyone who knows my name would have heard about the previous 0.99 sale. And for the first half of the year, I offered free books on my website, including SNAKE SKIN.
So odds are, most of these 24,987 are new to me and my work.
I've always believed that my books are my Number One promotional and marketing tools. I'm seeing SNAKE SKIN as the perfect “gateway drug” to hook readers on CJ Lyons and her Thrillers with Heart.
If there's one thing I've learned about being an indy author, it's that you have to have the end in sight (just like when writing a novel). You may not know how to get there, you might take a lot of detours along the way, but it's important to stay focused on a clear, measurable goal.
My goal with this promotion was to attract new readers. To help SNAKE SKIN find its audience. Mission accomplished.
Has this experiment with free changed my future marketing plans? Oh yeah.
First, I sheepishly called my agent who manages the subrights for my e-books, thinking she would be dismayed that I'd given all those books away for free (after all, that's tens of thousands of readers who will never buy SNAKE SKIN).
Instead she loved it! Totally agreed with me about the value of readers. But, being the strategist she is, she asked me to change the book's price to 0.99 so she could start tracking actual sales figures.
To me, 0.99 for a book is cheap while a free book is a valuable gift from me to my readers. So I hesitated. Until I realized that we now had a new goal: making the “real” Amazon list.
Different goals, different strategies. SNAKE SKIN hit as high as #30 on the Amazon Kindle overall bestseller list and by the end of the month 40,000 people had it on their Kindles.
That's twice the population of the town I grew up in. So, yeah, I now see the value in 0.99. It has nothing to do with the value of the book; it's all about the value of being positioned correctly.
What's next? SNAKE SKIN was a book in search of its audience and one of my lowest sellers until now. And this month, August, I'm putting my all time bestselling book, a romantic thriller called BLIND FAITH, on sale for 0.99.
My goal this time? I'm thinking big. I want to hit the top 20 on Amazon by the end of the month—which could maybe (if the timing is right and the stars align) lead to a spot on a major bestseller list such as the USA Today or even the New York Times.
Hey, I always say if you're gonna dream, dream BIG!
It's a gamble. A huge one. I risk BLIND FAITH, my top seller, being seen as “cheap.” But I hope readers will see this special limited time sale as an opportunity to grab a great book that has never been priced below $4.99.
Want to see how BLIND FAITH is doing? You can check here: http://www.amazon.com/BLIND-FAITH-ebook/dp/B0043M6J92/
What do you think? Where does free fit into your marketing strategy? And when is free too high a price?
Thanks for reading!
CJ
What do you think?
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge thrillers. In addition to being an award-winning, bestselling author, CJ is a nationally known presenter and keynote speaker.
CJ has been called a “master within the genre” (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as “breathtakingly fast-paced” and “riveting” (Publishers Weekly) with “characters with beating hearts and three dimensions” (Newsday).
Her award-winning, critically acclaimed Angels of Mercy series (LIFELINES, WARNING SIGNS, URGENT CARE and CRITICAL CONDITION) is available now. Her newest project is as co-author of a new suspense series with Erin Brockovich. You can learn more at http://www.cjlyons.net
Image: Flickr CC Brad Stabier
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1 2 3 Next »Joanna, Thanks again for having me back on the Creative Penn!
I just wanted to post a quick update. As of this morning, BLIND FAITH is the #1 Romance in the Kindle store and #12 on the overall bestseller list.
So, mission accomplished--except, now of course, there are more questions. I think every indy-author/publisher faces these questions at some point.
*Why isn't it selling as well on Barnes and Noble? The sale actually started there, but I consistently sell 50:1 (or more) Amazon: BN....how can authors create a win/win situation and help BN sell more of our books?
(and yes, I've asked several folks at BN's pubit and marketing department, they have never answered me...)
*How does this success effect pricing on my other books? Should an author do a "John Locke" and put everything on sale for 0.99? Or perhaps sporadic sales of one book a month would be enough to keep the momentum going?
This experiment proved to me once again the value of having more product out there. My goal is, by this time next year, to have six more books published (4 backlist, 2 originals that my fans have been clamoring for).
Anyone with ideas or suggestions, chime in!
CJ
CJ,
What you stumbled upon is an excellent marketing strategy. Here's why it works for me : Word of Mouth. Not only did your new readers probably buy more of your other books, they told their friends. And that's publicity and momentum that you cannot buy.
Best o' luck, and keep posts like these coming!
C.L.Phillips
Thanks, CL! I've always thought my readers were my greatest and most powerful marketing tool. Thanks for confirming my gut instinct!
CJ
Everything you say makes perfect sense, for someone who has a significant set of book offerings as you do. The problem, for me, comes when that qualification is not added to the discussion.
When we go to the supermarket and people are handing out samples, they're also selling the product and the goal is just that, to sell something. So many indie authors have one book and believe they'll 'gain readership' by giving it away. There is no sense in this. People don't buy second copies of books. Yes, there may be a bit of word of mouth but what does that gain one if you're giving the book away for free? Once you have multiple books, it's a great idea to give the first in a series away make sense. Otherwise...
Cheers --- Larry Marshall
Larry, I totally agree! As I said in my comment above, I am firmly convinced that having more books out there is the key.
I'm helping several writer friends get started with Indy publishing and a few of them only want to "try" one book--they're scared to go "all in."
But you're exactly right--it's useless to give away your only product. Instead, build up an entire line of products then use giveaways and sales to help spread the word.
That's one of the reasons why I began with SNAKE SKIN to experiment with this idea. My agent always loved SNAKE SKIN and called it the equivalent of "crack cocaine" for my readers--so it made sense to give it away. Readers who love SNAKE SKIN will enjoy my other books as well....but, as you said, you have to have those other books available first.
Thanks for stopping by,
CJ
For those of us at the beginning of the journey, there is only one answer to this. Write more. Get it edited. Get it out there! My main focus personally will be to finish the next book.. and the next one... and the next one... in order to start building that back list. All the evidence points to this. Luckily, if you love writing, this is not a big deal - it just takes longer than this fast paced world would like!
I found Snake Skin on the front page of the Pauper's Book Club a month or so ago and picked it up on a whim (in part because it was 99 cents). What an awesome read! Excited to see that Blind Faith is now in one of the top spots too. I'm going to grab it now.
I love that the lower price point is working for you, as it's definitely become my preferred way to buy books. I do a lot of reading, and without authors willing to try out lower prices, my monthly reading bill would be astronomical!
I do worry that the lower price points (specifically 99 cents) will become the dumping grounds for books of lesser quality by authors who are just trying to build up readership. I see far more 99 cent books at the top of PBC than I do any other price, but most of them have been pretty awesome gems so far. So long as Amazon doesn't drop the sample feature, I think I'll be able to find the good ones. :)
Thanks for the work and thanks for trying out lower prices for us poor readers who can't help but tear through a thriller in a night or two. :)
Thanks, Bob! I'll have to check out PBC--I'm also a reading addict and my greatest fear (well, one of them) is running out of books at any given moment.
I agree with you, I'm still leary about that 0.99 price point, but from a business point of view, it seems to be working. I'm leaning towards using it as an occasional sale price point rather than keeping all my books there all the time.
As a reader, do you feel differently about an author who has all their books at 0.99 v. one who only has one or two at 0.99 as "teasers"?
Thanks,
CJ
Oh, the fear of having nothing to read! I bought the 3G Kindle based on just such a fear. :) Definitely check out PBC if you're a big time reader! It's been an awesome resource for finding books that are guaranteed to be in my price range.
I wouldn't say that I feel differently about authors who are exclusively 99 cents, no, but I would say that I sometimes worry about their longterm sustainability (John Locke notwithstanding). :) I don't want to see a great writer that I love suddenly up and decide to quit the business because they can't make money at 99 cents, and they can't sell enough books at 2.99.
The price that I've seen working for some authors (at least for me as a reader) is 0.99 for the first book in a series and then 2.99 for the follow-on novels. Once I've found an author I really like, the price doesn't matter so much (though everyone likes paying less), but this sort of price setup makes it insanely easy to try a new author or a totally new kind of series from a known author. 99 cents is nothing to invest in trying something new, and if it's not very good or not my style, I just won't pick up the rest of the series.
I realize it all may seem silly to someone who doesn't read a lot. I mean, we're talking about a few bucks here. For some readers, the difference between a dollar and three dollars is negligible. Even me sometimes. But when you read as much as I tend to in some months, we could be talking about a $50 a month reading habit!
0.99 and 2.99 prices really opened my eyes up to new writers I would have maybe never given a chance at a higher price point. Which would have been a real shame in my book.
No, I totally get you about the expensive reading habit, Bob!
I've been pricing the first in my series (I have two going right now) at $2.99, but I might re-think that based on these new experiences.
Thanks so much for the insights,
CJ
Hi Bob - I will be going with the 99 cent on first book (Pentecost) and then with $2.99 for the second book. But let's face it, most authors need another source of income - so the book is not the only thing. Like Locke, Hocking, CJ and others, there needs to be a number of books before the economics make sense.
Thanks so much for sharing this. It will certainly help in my marketing efforts when I get my two books out there. I will be marketing them together, I think. Does anyone believe this is a bad idea?
JP, I would definitely plan to market together. Why waste opportunities to gain new readers? If your books are a series I'd start the first one at $2.99 then when you release the second make a big deal of dropping the price to 0.99--even if it's just for a limited time.
(although if you read my comment to Bob, I'm considering keeping the 0.99 price for a first book, not sure yet)
It's all about being nimble--something the Big 6 publishers definitely aren't. So we're like the Maquis and they're the Seventh Fleet...
Hope that helps,
CJ
It helps. Thank you. I'll be sure to check out your books.
Nimble is awesome, CJ! We do have one advantage over the traditional publishers here.
I'm a filmmaker, not an author. But as the people in my field constantly debate ways to monetize content streamed online, I feel like I can learn something from your experience here. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
I'm gonna go make notes on my next marketing plan.
Thanks, Mark! So glad to help--especially since I've learned so much from filmmakers about storytelling.
Good luck!
CJ
I think the indie way of working and living is valid across multiple genres - so thanks Mark!
Great post, CJ--thanks for all the sharing you do! I have a free read up at Smashwords, and it's been distributed to B&N, but not Amazon. Do I need to change the price to .99 at SW, wait until it's distributed to Amazon, and then change the book back to free? Or do I upload it to Amazon for the .99 and then wait for the free price from SW 'transfer' over to Amazon?
Stacey, leave it for free at Smashwords, but yes, you also need to have it on Amazon.
You can set any price you want on the Amazon version because as soon as they find the free price and match it, they'll lower the price themselves.
I warn you, though, sometimes they never lower it and sometimes it takes weeks, it's very unpredictable.
Hope that helps!
CJ
Thanks! I'll get that done when I get home from the day job. :)
ah, the day job - I have that mixed blessing as well.
CJ,
Thanks for a very informative post. Until now I never understood the value of sending your book out there for free. As you say, your work is your best advertisement.
The principle of free also stands for content marketing - like CJ's blog post for example - all serve to best market what we can help people with - or of course, entertain them with as well.
Marilyn,
I've always given away as many copies of my books as possible--friends laughed at me when I gave away physical copies (that I bought myself) of one of my Berkley books as a reader appreciation gift for folks signing up for my newsletter...but things like that helped me to garner 12,931 folks on my mailing list.
I figure if you read a book and like it, you'll be happy to buy the rest. Or at the very least tell a friend. So either way it's a win/win for the author.
BUT you need to have more than one book out there and do it in a way that makes it easy for the reader to either spread the word or find out more about your other books.
Hope that helps!
CJ