What is the answer? I have no idea!
Every day I scan Amazon and Barnes & Noble .com to search for the latest book releases, well the ones that we didn’t get in the mail. But what I’m really looking at is the price. I can’t figure it out and maybe you can help me with this. I know that on a hardcover book, the prices have been going up and up every year. There is a new book out that has a retail price of 36.00. Really?? Now the EBook price is still 16.99, but the list price on that is 35.00. Now we understand that printing costs have been rising and that is the need for the higher book costs, but where will it all end? You can tell which authors, and some of them very big names like Barry Eisler, are publishing their book on their own, because the price point is 5.99 for his latest book “The Detachment” in EBook form. But when the price is over 12.99 for an EBook, does that out price many readers? I know that if a book is 5.99 and under I’m more incline to take a chance on it, and then put down 13.00 or more on a book. What about you? What is your limit on pricing? For example, if you have never read Lee Child but heard great things about his writing, will you take a chance on him for 14.99 if you are an EBook fan, or move to something else? Is the EBook market more author driven or publisher driven? The only thing that publishers have over those that self publish is the legitimacy of their work. Readers are more incline to read an author published by Penguin, Random House, etc than one that is self published, unless that author has made a name for themselves. The person that couldn’t get their book into a publishing house has options now, but struggling to find readers. What do they do? Well they do all the same marketing as other authors, and they price their book in the 2.99 range or under to get an audience. John Locke is one of those authors. However don’t be fooled that you will be the next John Locke. Amazon has over 950,000 books available for the kindle. You are talking over 250,000 authors that make up that library. This raises the biggest questions in the publishing field right now, how do we find readers and set yourself apart from the masses? I wish I had an easy answer for you, but I’m with you on this one.
Email editor@suspensemagazine.com with your answers and post your comments here. Anyone that emails me will have a chance to win free books from this post. Maybe free books are the way to go! Looking forward to hear from you.
Suspense Magazine
Posted on September 20th, 2011 at 8:37 am
John,
you have hit the proverbial nail on the head. Aside from price, the main problem with self publlished or even smaller ebook presses is the sheer amount of authors and their books out there! It’s a soul killer sometimes trying to connect with readers (non-author readers) and blitzing or buying advertising seem the only avenues to take at this point. Standing out from that tsunami of novels? Giveaways, inteviews, reviews are the staples of author self marketing and many times authors wonder if we’re preaching to the author choir in that we’re really only reaching other authors who have the same agenda and motivation as ours. I’ve said for years that my goal is reaching non-author readers with varied responses. Some authors take umbrage that I’m not counting in them as readers while others insist that going commando on readers is the only way. Still others say you have to pick your battles.
My problem? How do I monitor (& mine) all those sites out there that might be conducive to those battles? Every time I connect with a site, another one I’ve never heard of pops up in my groups. How do I know where and when to pick my battles?
As for pricing?
That’s a killer too at times (I think most of the time) since the disparity between high prices ($14.99 and above) and bargain basements prices ($.99) is so great. I also know the costs of printing have gone up but I’d rather have the ebook for $.99. Paying more for hardbacks, while giving me a physical product, is a gamble for me–one I don’t like to take. Why pay $36.00 for Shakespeare’s plays bound when I can read it online either free or cheaply?
I think it’s going to take a while to even out into pricing and promotion standards just as every industry does after major changes. I don’t know if those authors less dedicated will fall by the wayside opening up the field for those who are more intent to sell or if this flood will continue.
I’m hoping things will calm down in the next few years and we can get a grip on this whole revolution and evolution which has occurred at lightning speed. For me, for now, it’s back to the media grindstone!
Posted on September 20th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
I’m still learning a lot about this industry, having only recently jumped into the deep side of the pool.
Not sure what exactly it takes for new and independent authors to get their names out there. But here are a few ideas:
#1: Write the best book you possibly can. Nothing sells books like a great book. If you don’t have this, even with marketing and professional cover design, you will be a flash in the pan. A sudden spike on the sales radar, then your book will fade away because no one is recommending it to others. Write a great book, and people will talk about it.
#2: Get the word out. Harness the power of social media: Twitter, facebook, blogs, virtual book tours. How will people know about your book, much less buy it, if they never see it?
#3: Get reviews and endorsements (depends a lot on #1) so that new readers will have some confidence in the risk they are taking. If you’re blessed enough to have a great publication like Suspense Magazine give you a good review, you’re doing really well!
#4: Engage your readers. Some big name authors don’t feel they need to do this, or they simply don’t have the time. But as an author new on the scene, interact with your new fans. Be humble and show gratitude to them because they are the ones who will/have put you on the bestseller lists.
#5 Keep writing great books (repeat #1)
Hopefully this will make sense and work for you as it has for me.
Joshua Graham
Amazon.com #1 bestselling author
Barnes & Noble #1 bestselling author of BEYOND JUSTICE
Winner of the 2011 International Book Awards
DARKROOM (Simon & Schuster/Howard Books May 2012)
http://www.joshua-graham.com
http://www.facebook.com/j0shuaGraham
Twitter:@J0shuaGraham
Ian Alexander
ONCE WE WERE KINGS (Dawn Treader Press)
http://www.IanAlex.com
facebook: http://on.fb.me/IanAlex
Twitter: @IanAlex77
Posted on September 21st, 2011 at 12:05 pm
As an aspiring dark fiction novelist this is all disheartening, I know that my novel will have an audience. There is only one Stephen King, but it would be nice to share in his success. I plan on being published, hopefully, by a traditional house, smaller publishing houses would be the next option. I am less concerned at this point in what I earn than that leap to get published. It is an imposing hurdle and hopefully halfway over I won’t crash down and land balls first–major pain