Kindle Direct Publishing: Pricing Your Book

I published my novel with Kindle Direct Publishing almost three months ago, but am still trying to figure out what the best price is for it. Thankfully, Kindle makes it easy to change your book's information, including its price, so self-published authors can experiment and see what readers are willing to pay.

I initially sold BAND GEEK for $2.99 because several other indie pub YA titles that I like sell at that price. However, what I didn't take into account is that these authors are more established than I am and have had their work up on Amazon for a while. Readers know what they're getting with these authors so they're willing to pay a bit more for their work. New authors, like me, still need to prove themselves. That said, I did manage to sell a few downloads at $2.99, but it was mostly to friends and family members. After that, sale died down.

I decided to lower the price significantly and repriced my book at 99 cents. Sales went up tremendously! I guess people are looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to unknown names. I ended up making more on my book at $.99 because I sold so many more copies. I also sold a bunch of books in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

My last free giveaway was a success and gave my sales a huge boost. It was then that I decided to take a chance and raise my price back up to $1.99. And ... sales went down. I still did alright, but not as well as before. Plus, I didn't sell any copies overseas at that price.

I've kept my book at $1.99 for a few weeks just to see how it would do, but I've now decided to relist it once again at $.99. I'd like to eventually sell my work at a higher price, but as I said, I'm still a new author and I feel like I can make up for the cost with increased volume. It's now so easy for readers to get thousands of free books for their Kindles that I need to stay competitive and remember where I stand. I'm still at the bottom of the ladder in terms of author recognition. BAND GEEK is getting good reviews and readers are enjoying it, but it's not yet a bestseller. Until that time comes, I think I'm just going to keep it at 99 cents.

I'm not epxecting to get rich from my writing. I would like to make some money, but more than that I'd simply like to get my work out there. If pricing my book low is to way to do it -- for now -- then this is what I'll do to reach my goal.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now just 99 cents!