Send to KindleWhile hanging out in a Facebook group over the course of a few hours, I noticed this question asked several times: “How should I price my Kindle book?” The options for Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing system can be confusing unless you approach Kindle pricing from a strategic position.
The powers that be over at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing are smart. They initially set up the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program to sell competitively priced eBooks. They knew that if they put the power of pricing eBooks into the hands of the authors and publishers, they could end up with any range of prices. After all, eBooks on websites have been priced $97, and sometimes even higher. To keep people from running wild pricing eBooks way beyond their real market value, KDP decided to offer authors and publishers an incentive. And no incentive is as good as money.
KDP users can choose if they want to make 70% “royalty” (aka: profit per eBook sale) or 35% royalty. The catch is, to make 70% users must price their eBooks competitively—between $2.99 and $9.99. The lowest price of $2.99 keeps the content from being devalued, while keeping it at a no-brainer investment for consumers. Anything lower than $2.99 and many consumers begin to wonder if the content inside is worth it, unless the description of the eBook states the eBook is unusually short (30-60 pages).
So why would anyone want to price outside that magical range of higher profit margins? Because sometimes the content demands it.
Lead Generation
Kindle books used for lead generation are usually short, powerful bursts of information. They’re typically priced between 99 cents and $2.99, due to their shorter length and ability to capture people onto the author’s list for future follow up. Lead-generating eBooks have a call to action inside them (sometimes in several places) designed to entice the reader to visit a website for an extra free goodie—typically something only available to Kindle readers.
For example, my lead-generating eBooks have a call to action to receive a free webinar via a clickable URL. Readers who wish to access that extra free gift visit the website (either on their reader device or at a computer) and opt-in to my list to receive the webinar. I have that opt-in page hooked up to an autoresponder system like Aweber that automatically adds them to my e-zine list and a system of messages designed to continually educate, inspire and reach them with more content. This system creates a level of trust so when the few sales announcements come across their Inbox, they’re more likely to view them than hit the delete button.
With the 99-cent price point I set my lead-generating Kindle books at, it’s a no-brainer for people to purchase the eBook and it’s an easier sell for them to sign up for my additional free webinar.
Core Content
Core content books are those that are meant to be read, devoured, notated and referenced. They’re the books you’d see in the business section of a bookstore. These books typically start their lives in print, and then get released in eBook format. They’re the types of books people buy to learn as much as they can about a specific topic. They include a lot more meat than just the main points about a topic.
These are the eBooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99. They’re considered “trade” titles—mainstream topics that may have a lot of competition, but sell well anyway as each book covers parts of topics not covered by other books on the same subject.
Specialty Books
Specialty books include textbooks and niche books on specific topics like SQL programming. The tighter the niche, the harder it is to find quality information, so the higher the price can be. Specialty books are seen priced at $14.99 or even higher. I’ve even seen some eBook format textbooks selling for almost $200. At those prices with no print cost, a 35% KDP royalty isn’t too shabby compared to 70% of a $9.99 book.
Fiction
Fiction is weird. I’ve seen novels priced at $2.99 and $14.99. Other than the name of the author, there’s no difference in variety of fiction. I would recommend for unknown or first-time authors, fiction be priced closer to $2.99. For authors who have built a platform of followers and know they will sell thousands of books based off their existing cult following, a higher range of pricing closer to $9.99 will work.
Traditional publishers of fiction will put previous books on sale for a lower price (or free) when the next book in a series is released by a popular author. This drives more sales for a short time and also brings more attention to the latest release.
I hope this detailed description of pricing strategies for Kindle helps you set a price that works for your readers and adds more money to your bank account. I’d love to hear what you think about Kindle pricing strategies in the comments below!
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Pricing a book is always something that I have always agonised over, so obviously I found your blog topic very interesting and helpful.
How do you feel about pricing books ending in odd numbers like .27 or .46, etc? Does Amazon care how you price your book if you use numbers like that?
Such a timely topic. I will soon be launching my book on Amazon and Kindle KDP soon. I am going to launch the e version of my book for $9.97. I believe in it’s value plus it comes with a downloadable workbook.
Toni Nelson recently posted..Does Your Business Snap?
I’m in the process as we speak on setting my ebook price for Kindle and did a Google search and found this site. I’m still not sure what to do but will probable set the price at $4.99. Hope that is good.
Here’s some info on my book:
Waiters, are you tired of working your butt off in restaurant after restaurant and never really making the money you deserve? Are you tired of not getting the tips you want? Tips of 20% or more on every table?
So what are you going to do about it?
This is the book you must have to earn more tips, bigger tips, tips that will change your life! Don’t you want that?
Only by making your guests feel special, feel as if THEIR enjoyment is YOUR primary concern, will you make the big tips. All else is not important.
http://earnmoretipsonyourverynextshift.blogspot.com
Thank you for the tips! Question: what do you think about pricing for debut YA novels? Releasing my first book in march and trying to decide. A lower price point ($2.99) seems like it would fit the younger generation’s budget but I don’t want to devalue the book with too low a price.
What about KDP Select Program? What strategy do you recommend for newbie authors? If we have 5 day to promote our ebook during 90 days, so how often should we give an ebook for free? Should we continue promoting at the next 90 days?
Very well thought out article. I must confess, I have never purchased a .99 book – it’s like shopping in the bargain basement – never done that either. I’m sure there are some really fine books in that price range, I just have some sort of thing about buying at that end. In fact, when I published my first (nonfiction) book I was advised to price it low – new author and all that – so I priced it at $2.99 and sold squat. I increased the price to $7.99 all of a sudden it started selling!
marquita herald recently posted..You Were Born an Original, Why Are You Settling for Life as a Copy?
Reminds me of Martha Stewart’s pies… She couldn’t sell any at $5 each, but at $25 each she couldn’t keep them in stock! It all depends on your target audience and the content inside the book. For higher quality or higher perceived value, higher price works better.
Kristen Eckstein recently posted..Editing Essentials—The Top Six Things to Know about Book Editing
Kristen, your 1st pricing strategy obviously works … just picked up 2 of your Kindle books (the timing is perfection in motion)!
I LOVE the topic of pricing so it’s no surprise that I’m resonating with your take on different pricing strategies for different types of books. I’m a big believer in quality first, second, third and ALWAYS … and charging what you’re worth to reflect the value your offer.
Okay, one last thing Kristen … brilliant how you’ve illustrated the bigger picture marketing strategy behind Kindle books! Very well done. It worked!!
Miki xo
Miki Strong recently posted..Overcoming the 3 Common Challenges to Making Money In Your Business
Thanks Miki! I’m glad you got some tidbits from it – enjoy the eBooks!
Kristin – thanks for a great article. I was wondering what your thoughts are about Amazon doing discount pricing on their own, and not really letting the author/publisher know they are doing it. I am not sure it is a bad thing—just curious about your thoughts and if you know how they decide what to discount and how much.
Hi Ruth,
Unfortunately just like people who make clothes can’t control what Kohl’s puts on sale and when, Amazon is the same way. Usually the discounts come out of their cut, not the author’s. You make the same amount of money no matter what they sell it for, so if sales help people decide to buy your eBook, that’s a good thing!