Selling EBooks - Proper Pricing For Sales

by Michael McMillan 
Copyright © 2009

So you've written an ebook. You're setting up your web site, and you're sure you've got a winner on your hands. But before you finalize your web site, you've got one final thing to consider: What will you sell it for? That is what we will address in this article about selling ebooks.

I'm sure you have checked out what similar titles are selling for, but that shouldn't be the factor which determines your final price. Suppose many of your competitors are selling their ebook for $27. So you think if you sell yours for $19 you'll steal orders away from them. That's unlikely. When I see a very low-priced ebook, I tend to think I'm not going to be getting very much for my money.

I deal in selling my ebooks to people interested in making money on-line. Most of the good ebooks in this niche sell for between $47 and $97. The low end of these ebooks run about 40 pages with some of the bigger ones getting up to a little over 100 pages. But page count isn't the determining factor either. One of the very best ebooks I ever bought in this area was only about 35 pages. 

In fact, many of my fellow ebook marketers have told me they actually sell more books when they increase their price! Now, no one is going to pay $79 dollars for 100-page paperback book in a book store. They will on line! One thing you are selling is convenience. And the big thing you are selling is immediate access. People who buy books on-line want information and they want it immediately. They get an itch to learn something and they want to learn it right now! You need to make sure that you mention at your order form that the product can be downloaded immediately after payment is approved.

Now, what about the actual number you choose for your price? You have likely noticed that most ebooks sold on line have a price ending in the number 7. Why is that?

Well, anything ending in an 8 or 9 will surely be interpreted as being the same as the next highest multiple of ten. For example, selling ebooks for $29 is the same as a $30 price for a visitor to the site. But when you get your price down to where the ending digit is a 7, well that's not quite as close to the next multiple of ten--it's sort of in the middle of the range. So go with the crowd. Ending your price in the number 7 is your best bet--don't ignore the tried and tested technique.

Okay, I mentioned above that the best-selling ebooks in my own niche sell for between $47 and $97. What if you want to sell your ebook for more than that? Well, $97 seems to be the psychological limit for ebook buyers. If you are convinced that your publication is worth more than that, you should turn it into a physical product consisting of printed books and actual CDs. Higher ticket items like this can, and have, sold for thousands of dollars.

About The Author 

Giveaway Rewards... (continued)

. I also suspect that passionate writers like me feel the same way I do. The “juice” that zips through the synapses in the brain at the speed of electricity (700 million miles an hour, electricity) or thereabouts, making your fingers dance on the keyboard is exhilarating. Finally you have your article, short story or complete book. That, to me, is the first reward: I have my ideas successfully converted into words. The next step is to find readers to share these ideas with. These readers are my second reward. The more the better. Then the third reward would be the proverbial fame and fortune.

This is where marketing, a process once the sole arena of the publishing houses, makes its stubborn entrance to the writer’s realm. Most creative writers like me are hopeless in promotion and sales, but in today’s writing world there is no way to circumvent this. As a writer, you have to know how to use such social networking sites as Facebook and Twitter, or the professional sites such as LinkedIn, to connect to potential readers.

This is how I connected with Bloggers to exchange articles, ideas and to promote my (I still have a problem referring to them as products) books. I’ve sent copies of my book Bound To Tradition to more than a dozen reviewers but only a couple of them actually reviewed the book. It’s a gamble right there, too.  But I recently tried something for the first time and I must admit I’m happy with the reward: I offered three copies of Bound To Tradition to the international free contest blog http://sweepstakelover.blogspot.com/2011/08/giveaway-bound-to-tradition.html for ten days. During this time I received over 270 clicks to my website, out of which 17 new “readers” signed in for my monthly newsletter, 11 contestants made comments about the book and/or me based on what they read in the synopsis or the book’s reviews in the website. Dozens tweeted or posted on their Facebook and MySpace pages. Not earth-shuttering, but not NOTHING either! I’m thrilled. I sent emails to the three winners (two in the United States – one of them a man – and one lady from Ireland) to congratulate them and inform them that the book has been shipped to them. All have responded to my emails to thank me back and tell me how much they’re looking forward to read the book.

This alone is a great and meaningful reward to me. I’ve made three new acquaintances in two continents plus my 17 new “readers”. Fifty-seven (57) people took part in the competition and that’s 57 people who showed some interest in me and my work, even if only 3 of them won a copy of Bound To Tradition. There’s also bound to be some word of mouth, which is the best promotion any writer can have. Whether positive or negative, new people will talk with other people who, in their turn, will learn about me and my book and keep the snowball rolling. This is absolutely invaluable to me. And financially cheap, cheaper, cheapest.

View Akinyi's Bound to Tradition:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/bound-to-tradition/13039284?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_741588_

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Publishing New Writers,

October, 2011 (no. 1210)

Publisher:

Dr. Bruce L. Cook
6086 Dunes Dr,
Sanford, NC 27332

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