Happily Ever After Cafe discussion

Why would you price a book that is less than 200 pages at the same price of a book that is over 300? If you are self-publishing you can give your book any price and you choose to charge your readers $4.99 for 125 pages. It drives me crazy and I refuse to support the author. It is one thing when a publisher sets the price, that's bad enough. But come on authors, be fair to your readers, you might keep your fans and you might even gain a few new ones.

I don't know, Mary but I know that I myself am leery of buying ebooks that are overpriced.

Maybe the author is trying to make back the money paid for the cover, editor, other things...?

I know we all want a good deal on books, but my guess is they want to be paid for all the time, effort and love they put into the book. It's their job, after all.

I agree. I want to support authors, self-published authors especially. But you have to admit a book that is 65 pages, while it still takes a lot of effort, is not worth the same money for the reader.

For me, any author has to prove to me his/her writing is worth any $$. Lately there have been too many who are "publishing" works that aren't anywhere near ready for publication. Works that ramble, have poor grammar and spelling, confuse the characters, etc. need to be re-worked, not published.

A new author needs to make a very good first impression on me if he/she thinks I'll be back to buy books. I've found some great new Indie authors, and I've found some who need to take writing classes before attempting to publish.

Off my soapbox now...

So true. Take the extra time to reread, edit, spell check. If you can't afford to hire a professional editor get your family and friends to read and edit. An extra week of intense editing won't kill you and might win over readers. It will be worth it in the long run.

Or put it away for a month and look at it with fresh eyes.

Sorry - I forgot what group I was in. :-)

I've seen several reviewers who add cost, Number of pages, and value for the money, at the end of their review. I wish more reviewers would do the same, or at least mention that the book was over-priced for the length or quality. I don't think some authors, particularly new ones, realize how many sales they lose because of their list price.
I'm a writer as well as a reader and I'm a lot less tolerant of flaws as the price goes up. Give me a flawed but inexpensive book where the writer has potential, I'll be back to see if there's improvement. But if I feel cheated, I won't ever buy another of your books again.

I agree. If you are a new writer we as readers understand that you will grow and hopefully get better. Do yourself and us a favor, read and reread your book before you publish and give the book an attractive introductory price. I like to try new authors but a high priced book by someone I'm unfamiliar with will make me hesitate.

I always look at the price and compare it to the number of pages or word-count, regardless of the media.

Me too. I don't always trust the random gushing reviews. Three dollars for 35 pages, why wouldn't you mention that somewhere.

I'm with you, Lisa Kay and Mary. After I got burned a couple of times, I always check. I also watch for trilogies after I paid $9 for the first 'book' only to find it was the first third of a book, leaving me in the middle of a scene. I don't care if it was a best seller. No way will I pay a hard cover price for an ebook. She's since lowered the price, but it could be free and I wouldn't buy it.

Oh, yes. I'm with you and the major cliffhanger thing. It does seem that some authors are trying that trick... and I do mean trick!

We've had authors offer their books to the group for free and it we got burned once on one of these. So, from now on, we always ask that as a question when the offer comes in. "Is there a cliffhanger ending?"

I don't read them, but I don't take offence at authors who write serials and promote them that way, but I'm old school and a trilogy is three complete stories with a united theme. Even Tolkien's books each had a beginning, middle, and end.

True, Jacqueline, very true.

Pricing is a really tricky one. Amazon drives it to some extent with their commission structure where there is a trigger point at $1.99 (as I remember!) that changes 30% sales commission to 70% sales commission. Any lower and you basically get next to nothing.

I guess authors are caught between a rock and a hard place - months of work to write, rewrite, edit, polish and prepare for sale then the risk is to value it too highly. Too low though and it isn't worth the effort.

Any book though owes it to the reader to be complete and well presented (edits etc) though even then occasional errors slip through the net!

I have a hard time paying the same price for an ebook as I do a hardcopy book. I just don't feel like I'm getting as much for my money with an ebook. I know its the same story but I don't feel like I actually own anything with ebooks more like I'm just borrowing it until my kindle breaks.

I know its still out there but I can't seem to get past that to pay more for the ebook editions.

Melissa wrote: "I have a hard time paying the same price for an ebook as I do a hardcopy book. I just don't feel like I'm getting as much for my money with an ebook. I know its the same story but I don't feel ..."
I totally agree, Melissa. We don't actually own the e-books, we are basically renting them. They are also saving the costs of paper, ink and packaging.

And while you can lend some ebooks, you can only lend it once and not all are lendable.

Plus, I've heard of authors no longer going with publishers - and then the eBook (you've purchases) but haven't yet downloaded (or in some cases downloaded, but not read) is no longer available on your device or there to download. Which sucks and proves it isn't really "yours."

I agree. Books should be priced according to page length. I wouldn't want to pay $5.00 for an ebook with just 150 pages or lower. If it's 400 pages, then yeah, if I know I'll like the author's work.

Since I'm a new author, all of my books are at the lowest Amazon will allow me (2.99) And they all range to about 270 pages. If my books ever become popular and sell really well, then I'll change the prices according to page lengths, but not by much. First, I have to prove myself to the readers.

I won't pay more than $1.99 for an Enovella unless it's from an author I adore. And I almost NEVER pay more than $5.99 for a full length Enovel. Period.

UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick wrote: "I won't pay more than $1.99 for an Enovella unless it's from an author I adore. And I almost NEVER pay more than $5.99 for a full length Enovel. Period."

Why almost NEVER? And what would make you change your mind and pay the $5.99?

I think $5.99 should be the top an ebook should bring because it doesn't cost the same amount a print book costs to publish, ship to merchants, store in warehouses, and have to take a loss on if the copies don't sell. They should never charge the same price as a print book. Ever.

If it's a series or author I love, then I'll pay more, but I hold it to a higher standard. The book better rock my world or I'll make sure my review reflects it.

AND, if I pay $11.99 for an ebook, which I recently did, and said book is horribly disappointing, which it was, I'll share it in my review and return the book to amazon, which I did. I've only done it a couple times, but I will do it under certain circumstances. $11.99 and I don't appreciate being jerked around by the author. Or her breakfast cereal.

Also...Amazon states that you never actually buy - as in own - an ebook you get from them, you only lease it. They can, and have, removed books from peoples amazon.com library without refunding their money.

What???? That doesn't seem fair. But that's a topic for another thread. But knowing this now, I may just have to keep my ebooks at $2.99 since Amazon can just take them away.

UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick wrote: "I think $5.99 should be the top an ebook should bring because it doesn't cost the same amount a print book costs to publish, ship to merchants, store in warehouses, and have to take a loss on if th..."

I also wanted to ask, how many pages was the ebook you were willing to pay $11.99 for?

Groovy wrote: "I also wanted to ask, how many pages was the ebook you were willing to pay $11.99 for? sts to publish, ship to merchants, store in ware..."

500+. The book was The Shadows and all of her books tend to be in the 500+ page range. She's the only author whose stories I've been willing to pay that much for, but I'm going forward being very cautious where her stories are concerned from now on.

I do not take Amazon's return policy lightly, nor do I abuse it, but I was so, so, soooooo, disappointed that I had to make that disappointment known, hitting the publisher and the author in the wallet - which is about the only time they listen.

To make matters worse, the book did so poorly in the numbers that after only a couple weeks the publisher dropped the ebook price to under $7.00. People who did NOT return the book to share their upset are now upset for a whole nuther reason... the price drop.

I've noticed books released in hardback but not paperback tend to have ebooks with elevated prices.

Unless I know the author, I don't pay an outrageous price for an ebook and by that I mean more than $2.99. Maybe not outrageous of a price, but if it's not that long it is kinda. I'm more of a paperback fan away and will pay your $5.99 up to $7.99 price for them. I have never bought a hardcover.

As a new author, I set it at $.99 right off the bat. I would spend that on someone I don't know well, so I'm not going to price it at something I wouldn't even pay.

Amanda wrote: "Unless I know the author, I don't pay an outrageous price for an ebook and by that I mean more than $2.99. Maybe not outrageous of a price, but if it's not that long it is kinda. I'm more of a pa..."

And at $0.99 you'll have a lot more people willing to take a chance on you.

UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Unless I know the author, I don't pay an outrageous price for an ebook and by that I mean more than $2.99. Maybe not outrageous of a price, but if it's not that long it is kinda. I..."

That's what I was hoping for when I did it. But I'm okay with only a few sales because really I just enjoy writing. If I can entertain a few people while I'm at it, then great.

You just need to reach the right readers, those who review the books that they read and talk about them with others. That's what makes goodreads such a great place.

Best wishes for much success!

Thank you. I'm new to goodreads and still navigating it myself. But I appreciate your well wishes!

UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick wrote: "Also...Amazon states that you never actually buy - as in own - an ebook you get from them, you only lease it. They can, and have, removed books from peoples amazon.com library without refunding the..."

On that topic, if you guys want to make sure Amazon doesn't get rid of the books you paid for, just transfer them to your computer (with their program). Once that's done, you should have a folder in your Documents with the file in their... Just copy and paste the books somewhere else and if they take it away, you'll have a backup :)

Ginnie wrote: "On that topic, if you guys want to make sure Amazon doesn't get rid of the books you paid for, just transfer them to your computer (with their program). Once that's done, you should have a folder in your Documents with the file in their... Just copy and paste the books somewhere else and if they take it away, you'll have a backup :) "

I downloaded several of my hundreds of Amazon ebooks to my Windows 8.? but there is no file in my Documents that I can find. There's nothing in My Digital Editions folder or my Downloads, so I don't know where these downloaded. What is your file named?

Janeiowa wrote: "Ginnie wrote: "On that topic, if you guys want to make sure Amazon doesn't get rid of the books you paid for, just transfer them to your computer (with their program). Once that's done, you should ..."
Hi Janeiowa-Saw your question and thought maybe I could help. I have windows 7, but my files are called "My Kindle Content", (if yours are kindle)right after e-books (otherwise they should be here) and my digital editions. They are located in local disc/users/owners/my documents.

Mary23nm wrote: "Janeiowa wrote: "Ginnie wrote: "On that topic, if you guys want to make sure Amazon doesn't get rid of the books you paid for, just transfer them to your computer (with their program). Once that's ..."

Like Mary23nm said, "My Kindle Content" in "My Documents". You should have everything there! But then I also have Windows 7, so I don't know how it works for Windows 8.

Thanks, Ginnie and Mary23nm...Nope...no "My Kindle Content" in "My Documents." I see all my 783 Kindle books when I open the Kindle app on my laptop, and I can download them. I just can't find out where those suckers go! I've done a search for the titles, for My Kindle Content, for My books...and zip, nada, rien, zero. Mysteries, mysteries...:)

I am not sure, but I think anytime amazon connects to your Kindle for PC, or any device that is connected to the internet, the books that they "end the lease on" will be removed from your computer and your devices. I suppose you could copy all those files and put them in a different folder than the one amazon created for your kindle content, but whether or not they'll open when you try to read them in a Kindle device is anyone's guess.

I've never had any books removed (that I'm aware of). I had a problem with a book cover not downloading and customer service finally had me "deregister" my IPAD and re-register it. That didn't fix the gray blob poblem. All the books I'd downloaded disappeared and I have to redownload from the Kindle cloud thing.

Janeiowa wrote: "I've never had any books removed (that I'm aware of). I had a problem with a book cover not downloading and customer service finally had me "deregister" my IPAD and re-register it. That didn't f..."

It only happens if they pull books from their database. For example, Selena Kitt had some very taboo erotic books that Amazon pulled because...well...I'm not sure what they were about but people were protesting the stories. Amazon, according to their TOS, has the right to remove books from your registered devices because you don't purchase them, you lease them. So, if you go on your computer that's connected to the internet and open Kindle for PC, and if there's a book Amazon doesn't want you to have, it will disappear from your device, including the folder.

BUT, I THINK if you create a separate folder and copy the books to that folder, they can't get to them. I THINK. Whether or not you're ever able to read them, I have no idea.

For me, the bigger problem isn't how to "hide" the books so amazon can't get them, but how to get Amazon to change their policy. It's ludicrous that they can do that. Would they dare come into my home and remove a hardcopy of a book? Not unless that rep wants to get shot!

UniquelyMoi ~ 1-Click RockChick wrote: "Janeiowa wrote: "I've never had any books removed (that I'm aware of). I had a problem with a book cover not downloading and customer service finally had me "deregister" my IPAD and re-register i..."
I agree the policy should be changed. If Amazon would let you know and then refund your money, I'd be okay with that. But I'm guessing that's not how it works.

Mary23nm wrote: " If Amazon would let you know and then refund your money, I'd be okay with that. But I'm guessing that's not how it works."

And you'd be guessing right. I don't think that's a good practice at all unless, as you say, they refund the money.

I've heard of people putting their ebooks on a CD also. I guess you can do that with kindle books too.

Pamela(AllHoney) wrote: "I've heard of people putting their ebooks on a CD also. I guess you can do that with kindle books too."

The only problem I can see is that the book you buy is only coded to work on your registered devices. You can have them saved on CD, but if you go to read them on a device that isn't registered, or a device not for Kindle books, they won't work...

About pricing. I had an epiphany the other day. I got my daily offers from Bookbub. There was a free book by an author I didn't know so I went to Amazon to check it out. As I suspected, it was a short book and the first of four--with cliffhangers. The next two books, also short, were priced at $2.99. The fourth book? 10 pages long and you can pre-order it for another $2.99. At first I was outraged. 3 dollars for a book that is a mere 10 pages? How dare the author? What nerve. But once I had time to think I realized something. She was asking what she thought she could get. This is not her first series of books. She had been writing for at least five years. The problem isn't with the author, but with the readers who pay for the scam. If readers stopped paying, she, and authors like her, would drop their prices. I won't pay. But I can't blame the author for making some money if other readers will.

Yep, I'm the same Mary. Especially now that the exchange rate has increased my prices yet again. If an author thinks just cause they gift the 1st bk, I'll pay through the nose for the rest of them, think again.