$2.99, Higher or Lower, That Is The Question

(THIS IS A REPOST from a guest blog post I did for Adopt An Indie month)


When I debuted on the indie scene back in 2010, I was brimming with hope, joy and tons of ideas. I wanted to promote my work and get it out there to the readers who would enjoy it. I never imagined that there would be so much to consider. Everything–from formatting and designing my book cover, to marketing, to what to price my ebooks, all of those tasks seemed a bit daunting.

When I asked other indie authors what they were pricing their ebooks, the answers were varied and vague. No one could or was willing to give me a concrete answer. Finally, one author told me to experiment until I found pricing that worked for me.

Confused and a little bit perturbed by the whole situation, I stumbled across what would become my best guide for pricing my ebooks. The blog, “A Newbie’s Guide to Self-publishing” (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com), written and maintained by traditionally and indie published author, JA Konrath, opened my eyes to ebook pricing. So I decided to take a chance. I lowered my two novels down to $2.99 (Jewels was $4.99; Werelove Dusk Conspiracy was $5.99) and waited for the results.

Within one month of the price drop, my sales doubled. I was astounded. Could a lower price really be better? Then I decided to lower them to $1.99. Again, I saw immediate results as sales once again doubled. Finally, after being out a year, I dropped both books to $0.99 and watched my sales double.

Now, here I am, almost two years and four books later, and I have to say that for me, at least, the model is working. However, just when I thought I’d gotten into a groove, JA Konrath is throwing out another challenge in regards to pricing. Will I take it? Don’t know. Maybe if I can get my courage up. For the time being, I’m going to stick with what’s working.

I encourage you to try it for yourself. Don’t be afraid to go for it. You might be surprised with the results.