Last post, I mentioned a few issues with some prominent self-publishing companies ... Another huge issue (there are more) is uncompetitive retail prices, an example being a 200-page paperback priced at $20. Many leading self-publishing companies force authors to sell their work at high retail prices. Beware of self-publishing companies practicing this method. Why would readers want to buy a 200-page paperback by an unknown author for $20 when they could buy a 200-page paperback by a well-known author for $14.99?
MindStir Media gives authors the option to set their own retail prices. This method supports book sales. It's true that a couple of MindStir's publishing packages do not include that option, but MindStir will never force an author to sell his/her work at an uncompetitive retail price. The last thing my company wants to do is hurt your sales potential ...
Here's an extreme case of uncompetitive pricing set by a large self-publishing company--a 500-page paperback priced (as of today) at $71.40. I really hope that's just a temporary glitch on the Web site and not the actual retail price for the book.
You mention a $14.99 price. I don't care who the author is, I won't pay $15.00 for an e-book. Since I bought my e-book reader, I haven't paid more than $9.99, and since the Agency Model was set in place, I haven't paid more than $6.99. In fact, most of my purchases fall into the $2.99-$3.99 price range.
ReplyDeleteI would never pay $15.00 for an e-book either. I was focusing on paperback format in this post... For those folks who are interested in purchasing print books, $14.99 is a competitive price.
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, which reader did you buy?
Authorhouse and iUnverse always make authors sell their books for crazy high prices. It's just not right.........................
ReplyDeleteI bought a Kindle only because at the time, it was either Kindle or Sony, and I had heard from too many people who had regretted by a Sony Reader.
ReplyDeleteI know that $14.99 is a standard price for trade paperbacks, but for me to spend that kind of money, the book has to come highly recommended. More times than not, if the author is unknown to me, I'll either look for a less expensive e-book edition, or wait for a mass market edition.