How do authors decide what to charge for their books? Traditionally published scribes don’t have to think about it because their publishers make the pricing decision.
And some of those choices raise my hackles. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t see shelling out three Lincolns (or more) for an ebook that I do not own but merely lease.
And the stratospheric prices of paperbacks or hardbacks? Fuhgeddabout it!
Book pricing, however, is under the control of an indie author. As one myself, here’s the way I slice and dice it.
Everything costs way too much right now. Life’s basic necessities are beyond too many people’s reach. Even a small luxury like a book can be unaffordable at the prices most publishers set.
I get it. These businesses have fixed costs they have to recoup before they pay a dime to their authors. So do I before I get paid a red nickel, too.
Happily, however, I don’t answer to investors or boards of directors or even just bean counters. I answer only to me. And my gut tells me to keep the prices of the books in my series as low as possible.
Why? Several reasons. First, I am not a big-name novelist. I am finding Stoneslayer’s audience. Readers tend to be more willing to pay up for an author they like and about whom everyone else seems to be raving.
Second, I can afford lower book prices. I am not relying on book sales for income. That does not mean I am merely dabbling at publishing with Stoneslayer.
Far from it. I am in earnest. Apparently, being in earnest involves spending what sane people would consider a ridiculous portion of my retirement income on bringing this series to its audience.
But that’s what happens when a story bites you in the keister when you are a child and just won’t let go. I am exorcising my demons literarily, not to mention literally, in writing and publishing this saga.
I also hope that in keeping my prices low, readers have enough leftover moolah to buy the wordworks of other authors who do count on book sales for income.
That’s the same reason I don’t charge for my public Substack, Wider Realities. It’s free so readers can spend the money they don’t pay me on a subscription to authors wanting/needing to make money from their Substack channels.
Of course, there is that argument that no one will value something that is priced too low. And I don’t disagree entirely with that viewpoint.
But like the cliché says, the best things in life are free. I cannot afford to give away my books, but I also don’t want price to be an obstacle, either.
Hours of great reading await in the pages of my reasonably priced Stoneslayer books. They are available in ebook and paperback at most online bookstores.
As my mouthy, smart-ass first-generation heroine Helen Andros would ask, what are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?
P.S. Stoneslayer: Book Four Outcast is scheduled for publication on Sept. 15. Coming soon: Advance purchase links and more juicy details about Helen’s latest moves to stay alive under a death mark.
Candace Lynn Talmadge is a USA-based author of dark high fantasy about political intrigue, demonic warfare, and spiritual awakening. Get a free excerpt from Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal when you sign up for her free author newsletter on her Substack channel, Wider Realities.
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