One of the biggest struggles I’ve had as an indie author is switching
caps between my Writer Self and my Business Self.
For me, my Writer Self is the one who loves writing,
creating, imagining, and dreaming. I’d rather focus on the fun stuff – the craft
of writing, if you will. It’s why I do this in the first place.
However, my Business Self is what needs to kick in when it
comes time to actually sell books. “Sales” can seem like a bit of a curse word
to people who are focused on their craft, but it’s something we all need to
learn if we’re to achieve that ever-distant dream of supporting ourselves with our craft.
Making Good Art should definitely be a focus. You won’t feel
proud selling it if it isn’t good. But, if you have generated a quality piece
of work, applying some business sense to the mix will do wonders for you. And
some of that business sense means knowing your value, i.e. knowing what to
charge.
One of the top mantras you’ll hear in most business models
is as follows: Don’t
Compete On Price. What does that mean? Don’t try to always have the
cheapest product. Cheap products attract
bargain shoppers. While we can all understand shopping on a budget, luxury
and entertainment purveyors (which includes authors) don’t make a living by marketing
to people who claim they can’t afford certain products.
The problem with offering the cheapest product is that it’s
possible to eventually get priced out of the market. If your goal is to
actually make some money, it’s a lot harder on 99 cent eBooks at
a 35% royalty rate than on something more reasonable, and more reflective
of your time, effort, and talent.
My Writer Self balks at that lesson. I want to share my
craft, and be accessible, and frankly, I feel very hurt when critics suggest my
price is too high. I struggle between wanting to be an artist and wanting to
support myself doing what I love.
Here’s the thing: you can experiment with pricing. You can
have promotions to offer people more opportunities to buy your book, and you
can optimize
your pricing to find the best range for your target readership. But, don’t
feel like you must impoverish yourself for the sake of your art. You have a
dream, and your dream is valid.
You may get the occasional nay-sayer, who leaves you a bad
review without ever even reading your book, merely to complain, “This isn’t
worth the $2.99 price tag! You should price your book at 99 cents!” This type of review says more about the bitter,
haughty reviewer than it does about you. Other, more reasonable people recognize that. Don’t get sucked into
the price wars that do a disservice to you, your readers, and your fellow
authors.
And, really, here’s what’s at issue: is a 2 dollar price
difference really that substantial when it comes to buying a book? The effect
of 2 dollars on a single reader’s pocket book isn’t huge; but the cumulative effect
it has for you as an author who wants to be in the business of writing is
game-changing. On Amazon, it’s the difference between 35% and 70%, and being
that much closer to your dream of supporting yourself with your writing.
You work hard to turn your dreams into reality, and it takes
strength to share your writing with the world and to be vulnerable to other
people’s comments and criticisms. When you deliver a quality product, you
deserve to have it recognized, and to have pricing that reflects that. For the
readers who love you, it isn’t about price, but about delivering the best work
you possibly can to them.
My new dystopian young
adult book, Remnants, is available on Amazon Kindle for the
reasonable price of $2.99. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you
think!
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