Ebook Pricing

What is the best price for an ebook?

This is a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. Are my books only selling decent because they are just 99 cents? Or would people be willing to pay more? Another interesting question is this: Are some people not even bothering to read my book because of the price? Some people have expressed opinions online that when they see a book priced at only 99 cents, they automatically assume it's a poorly written book. I certainly don't want to get a reputation for writing bad books. On the other hand, at 99 cents, some people will buy it anyway. Hopefully once they've actually read it, their opinion on the quality will change.

Here's the thing, though - at 99 cents, I'm only making about 35 to 40 cents a book, depending on where it's bought. Even if I sell 1,000 books in a month, that's only $400 for me. On the other hand, if I price the books at $2.00, I go up to a 70% royalty rate and bring home $2.09 a book. That means in order to make the same $400, I only have to sell 200 books instead of 1,000. And if, by some miracle, I still sold 1,000 books, I'd be making $2,000, which is almost the equivalent of a full-time entry-level job. It's a huge jump.

But would the readers who have been loyal so far feel cheated if my book went up in price? Would they be willing to pay the $2.99? Or would some people write me off as a greedy person who doesn't care about her readers? It's a tough decision to make.

Writing is not all about the money. Of course not. I write because I love it. I love the adventure my characters take me on. I love exploring the world of my novels - which is one reason I like to write series so much. But if this is what I want to do full time for the rest of my life, the plain truth is that I have to think about the money. If I can't make a living at selling books, I'll have to find another profession - and that would mean less time to write and less books coming out. As much as I hate it, money is a huge part of this thing since I'm basically starting my own business here.

I'll continue to debate this topic with myself and my husband over the next month or so before Book 3 of my Peachville High Demons series comes out. If anyone out there has any advice or opinions, I would love to hear it.