When eBook readers consider buying an eBook do you look at the page count? Does the Amazon estimate of 200 pages make a $4.99 book more attractive or does a 90 page count for $4.99 seem like too much money?
I guess I’m really asking does size matter?
I have read new authors should charge $1 per 100 pages. So at 200 pages of course that would be $2.00. However no matter where you publish, except on your own site, would you be getting that full dollar. I am unsure how I feel about this, but again this is what I’ve read.
Yes, it matters. I’ve bought a couple ebooks online and realized they were more novellas than novels. Not a huge deal as I am paying less than a print book (which are quite expensive these days) but I just prefer longer books. I’m a fast reader and I like deep characterizations, so these 80-page wonders that call themselves novels leave me unsatisfied. I think authors are doing more serialization due to the lower price ebooks are getting (other side of the coin).
Thanks, I’m familiar with that ‘rule of thumb’, and it frustrates me because I think some authors add too much fluff so the document size is inflated. Sometimes I’ve gone through 20 pages wondering how it’s relevant to the story. I recognize that the other side to the coin is quality. If the story is well written then its size doesn’t matter. Some of the best Sci-Fi I’ve read were short stories. Their worth did not equate to $1/100 pages.
In the two series that I’m writing, I’m charging $.99 for the early parts of the book. Each of these are between 17,000 and 30,000 words. Later on in the series I might charge $1.99 or $2.99 per story for the concluding parts. Then after I’ve released all of the parts I’ll release a compilation which will be priced more, but still less then if they had bought all of the parts separately. As a new author I’m aiming for about $7.99 to $8.99 for the full book, which is, I feel a fair price for a book of approximately 100,000+ words and is still less than what a recognized author would get.
Interesting approach. A great example of how electronic distribution changes the economics. Reminds me of an old BC cartoon – Wiley sets the pages of is novel across the ground, free to read. The ending, he has in a cave, with a cash register out front 😉
… it’s called marketing. 😉