If you follow authors (especially self-published ones because they are the only ones that control the price of their books) or read the blogs of self-published authors it won’t take long to stumble upon a post about pricing books.
There is a debate about whether it benefits authors to offer an ebook free either for a limited time or permanently in order to draw reader attention to their books. There is more debate over price points for ebooks. Some swear by the .99 ebook. Others prefer the $2.99 point. Still others aim a bit higher, hitting the $4.99 -$5.99 price. Then, there are the well known authors published by big publishers. Their books are often released at a price point of $9.99.
In the days of paper publishing the cost of producing the actual physical book had a lot to do with the price charged for the book. If a book cost $5.99 to produce a publisher wouldn’t want to sell many copies at $2.99, for example. However, in the age of ebooks it doesn’t cost any more to create 1000 ebooks than it does to create 1 ebook, so authors and publishers are more inclined to price books where the initial costs of publishing the book (editing, cover art, formatting, etc.) are covered over the long haul as opposed to the short. In the modern scenario it is not uncommon for an author to release a book free or at .99 to spur word of mouth and to move the book up the sales charts at Amazon. Then, after the initial rush raise the price to $2.99, $4.99, or whatever the permanent price will be.
When free Kindle books first became popular I downloaded as many free ebooks as anyone else did. Sadly, I’ve not read that many of them. Once a book is on my reader it looks like all the other books. I no longer know whether it was a freebie or one I paid for. But what seems to determine which books I read is whether it is by an author I know or have heard good things about. Many of the free books are from authors I’d not heard of before. Most of the time when I have a few minutes for actual butt in the chair, feet up, luxury reading I am after a good reading experience and I will gravitate to the authors I know and like first.
I will buy books with engaging blurbs anywhere from free to $9.99 or so…though I do shy away from the $9.99 price point.
While I will still download a free ebook if it is from an author I know or if it has an engaging blurb, I am not out actively looking for free books and following all the leads to them like I used to do. The same is true really across all price points. It’s really about the promise the book makes via the author’s reputation and the book’s blurb. Price doesn’t figure in much at all until it gets up above $5.99 or so.
What about you? Does the price impact how many or which books you buy?
Price plays a part when I’m browsing and selecting from a group of books. I might narrow it down to 5 or 6 that sound good, then ultimately buy 2 or 3 based on a combination of price and how appealing the book sounds. For authors I haven’t read before, in particular, I don’t want to pay more than $4.99.
Here comes strange duck again!
I’m retired and on a fixed income. Reading is my main source of entertainment but I don’t like to spend a fortune feeding my addiction. Pricing is a primary factor in my book buying habits.
I resent the publishers who charge the same price for an ebook as they do for a print book. I also resent the publisher pricing of the trade size paperback books. I’ve never discovered the benefit of a trade size book except it carries a higher price tag. For several years now, 99% of the books on my TBR shelves have come from Paperback Swap. Before PBS came along (I joined in 2007), I bought more than 50-75% of my books from Half.com. Do you see a pattern here? I rarely pay full price for the books I buy. I don’t admit this too often because I feel a bit guilty that I’m cheating the authors by buying and trading in used books. That said, there are certain authors that I will buy new and hang the price tag…I may not read it as soon as it arrives in my hot little hand, but I don’t want to wait for PBS WL to get to my name!
Since I got my Kindle, I have purchased some ebooks but very rarely have I paid more than $2.99. Most purchases are in the 99 cent range. The rest are free reads or contest wins. A few are picked up from the Kindle Lending Library. I will mention too, that I’m selective about the freebies I DL to my Kindle. I choose only my favorite genre and only if it has favorable ratings.
I am also one not to keep books, including ebooks, after I read them. I recycle them back to Half.com and PBS. After I read an ebook, I remove it from my device but I do keep a log of the print titles and e-titles I’ve read. That way I know if it comes up in my face again, I won’t make a mistake and buy it again! I’ve done that before in paperbacks.
I’m sort of in between most of the other commenters. I love supporting independent writers so if I see something that looks interesting by a new or independent author I will usually buy if it is $2.99 or under. Above that price, I might think about it a bit. I’m unlikely to pay more than $4.99 unless it’s something I’m pretty sure I’ll like. I never buy from the big publishers. If I want to read one of those books, I get it from the library. I like saving my money to support the less famous writers. I guess I’ve always sided with rebels.
I have never bought an e-book. I only buy books that I will want to keep & therefore buy paper. I do win some e-books now & then, but most of the e-books I have on my Kindle are classics, no longer governed by copyright & are now are freely available.
The pricing on paper does not really affect my purchases. The prices are pretty standard.
I find it interesting that you have never bought an ebook Mary.
I suppose maybe it’s because we come from opposite ends of the spectrum in a sense. It sounds like you look at books as something to buy, read, and keep.
I don’t keep books once I’ve read them – with a VERY FEW exceptions, predominantly in the non-fiction category where I usually don’t read straight through but pick around for information I need – like with a dummies book on how to build a website or cookbooks which I do keep/collect.
Fiction books I look at as temporary entertainment. I buy them, read them, and give them away. I’ve only re-read a fiction book a couple of times. Both books that I read very early on in my romance reading career. I re-read them mostly because I remembered them so fondly and wanted to see what made them work and whether they really were that much better than other books or whether they were memorable because they were early reads.
I really prefer ebooks. The only thing I don’t really like about ebooks is that you can’t give them away when you are done with them — though you can loan Kindle and Nook versions.
You’re right paper book prices are pretty standard…a lot of the price is determined by what it costs to produce the paper book – which pretty much comes down to so much per page — just like if you were printing something at the copy shop.
When it comes to ebooks price plays a huge part in what I buy. I don’t like to pay more than $5.99 for an ebook. If the book is going to be available in print at a later date I will wait and spend the money on that. I have no problem paying more for print because this is my first choice.
I don’t have an Ereader yet and that is also a big reason why I don’t jump at paying more for ebooks.
Price plays a huge part in my decision to buy a book. I’m retired and living on Social Security so I can’t afford many extras.
Price plays a big part in my buying of ebooks. If the ebook costs more than the paper book than I do not buy them. It is not an indulgence that I can afford. $6.00 is about as high as I can go.
I have to admit I do have a limit in what I will pay but if it’s one of my fav’s I will save up and get it.I am not ta pickie about soe prices if I know the authors work , or the excerpt or cover grabs me it’s mine asap, tho I admit I LOVE the print form best, it’s my frist love . Guess I’m the orginal impusal buyer LOL :- )
Price, unfortunately, plays a big part of if I buy a book or not. Mainly because I don’t have a lot to of money to spare and, when an e-book costs as much as a paperback, then I need to rethink how much I really want it