Confessions of a frustrated reader

I've read more books this year than in any other year of my life. Exhausted, I've looked for easy, light reading. I've dropped every free women's christian fiction ebook onto my kindle.  I've read, or partially read most of them.

Confession 1. My phone is my favoured reading tool. (See pic on right) It's light, portable and convenient. It saves the page for me when I fall asleep.  I've read a few paperbacks but, when I'm tired, they seem heavy and ungainly.

Confession 2. Occasionally I've spent real dollars on a wanted book for my Kindle. The Captivating Lady Charlotte by Carolyn Miller and Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek are two examples.

Confession 3. I haven't written any reviews. This gnaws at my conscience a little, but not enough to try and string a few words together. This year I've been wordless...and reviews need words.

Confession 4. Some books I will never finish. Some are so bad I delete them before they infect my Kindle! I'm a generous reader and overlook a lot of flaws to skim through a story. However if there isn't enough connection to the characters, it gets dropped. Today I started a book but there was no hook. A quarter of the way through I closed it. Will her father suicide? Will she fall into a new age affair? Well...who cares? I have no connection to the protagonist so the book becomes meaningless.

Confession 5. I read one Amish romance, by mistake. I didn't realise what it was until I was hooked and then I wanted to know what happened. But it was so sickening, unreal and ridiculous that I won't make that mistake again.

Confession 6. I've read a lot of American authors. But mostly they aren't as good as our great Aussie authors. However I've been pleased to discover Caryl McAdoo's Texas Romance series  and Sharon Srock's Inspirational Women's fiction.

Confession 7. Most Christian fiction isn't- isn't Christian at all. Some of it is religious, relying on laws and rules for plot. Some books send their characters to church, or feature a preacher. Some start each chapter with a Bible verse that has no relevance. Very few present the person of Jesus, or a character that lives in relationship with Him. Every now and then a gem will shine through and present a person that fights against negative circumstances with the love and power of God.

I guess that is why I plow through so any books, for every now and then I discover a book that shines with real Christian faith, where God is real and helps characters with their struggles, where real life problems are tackled, where the ending is unexpected.

Jo Wanmer is a lapsed writer, a pastor, wife, mother, grandmother and the daughter of the King of Kings. She lives in Queensland with her husband Steve. Her book 'Though the Bud be Bruised' was published in 2012. Other books are coming when this season is over and she finds words again.

Indie eBook Pricing

By Narelle Atkins

The pricing of eBooks is a popular conversation topic among indie authors. A big advantage of independent publishing is the author has control of the price of their print and ebooks. Indie authors set the price for their eBooks, and can adjust the price at any time.

Print Book vs. eBook Pricing

The prices of print books tend to be similar, irrespective of whether the book is traditionally published or independently published. There are costs of production for print books that must be factored into the selling price. Retailers will mark up the price of the print books they sell.

In contrast, there are fewer costs to factor in when determining the price of eBooks. There are fixed costs in terms of book formatting, cover design, editing, etc. The per unit cost of selling an eBook is smaller than the per unit cost of selling a print book.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Pricing Model

Indie authors who sell their eBooks on Amazon via KDP can select the price they charge for their eBooks. KDP currently offer a 70% royalty for eBooks priced $2.99-$9.99 and a 35% royalty on eBooks priced below $2.99.

A Kindle eBook priced at $2.99 will earn six times the royalty of a Kindle eBook priced at $0.99.

Supply and Demand

The housing market is a good example of how the economic principles of supply and demand influence price.

Demand is greater than Supply

The current Sydney housing market is an example of demand exceeding supply. The price of houses in Sydney has risen in recent years due to demand from buyers being significantly larger than the supply of houses for sale.

Supply is greater than Demand

The US housing market after the Global Financial Crisis is an example of supply exceeding demand. The supply of houses for sale was larger than the demand for houses by buyers, leading to falling house prices.

The are many factors at play in the housing market that influence the supply and demand for housing. These factors influence the price that buyers are willing to pay.

Supply and Demand factors for eBooks

The supply and demand of eBooks will influence the price of eBooks.

We now have an almost unlimited supply of eBooks available for sale. There are no barriers to entry to the eBook publishing market. Anyone can publish an eBook direct with KDP (Amazon Kindle), iBooks, Nook, Kobo, and the other eBook retailers, or they can use a distributor to sell to the various sales channels eg. Draft2Digital and Smashwords.

The book selling statistics, for both print and eBooks, consistently show that the demand for books isn’t falling. The growth in the demand for eBooks isn’t keeping pace with the massive increase in the supply of eBooks that we’ve seen in recent years.

Discoverability

Discoverability is a buzz word in publishing circles. How can readers find your eBook among the millions of titles available for sale?

One way to improve visibility is to discount the price of the eBook and purchase paid advertising eg. Bookbub ads that will reach your target audience of readers. Placing an eBook in a competitively priced multi-author indie boxed set may also help increase visibility. I discussed marketing indie boxed sets in my post last month.

http://christianwritersdownunder.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/marketing-your-book-in-boxed-set.html

According to the law of supply and demand, the demand for a product should rise when the price is lowered. This means that the more competitively priced eBooks at $0.99 will sell more copies than eBooks priced at $9.99.

Certain genres eg. romance have a larger target audience and a higher demand for ebooks by readers. These popular genres will attract authors who follow market trends, which increases the overall supply of eBooks in the popular genres to meet the perceived demand.

Willingness to pay

Willingness to pay is a big factor in the demand for eBooks. How much are readers willing to pay for their eBooks?

Readers are willing to pay more for print books than eBooks

This is a logical and rational decision made by readers. A reader owns the print book, can on-sell the print book and can share the print book with their friends and family. An eBook is purchased under a licensing arrangement. This usually means the eBook can’t be shared or on-sold.

Print books have an intrinsic value because they’re a physical product. It’s harder for a reader to ‘steal’ a print book from a physical store than it is for a reader to ‘steal/pirate’ an eBook online. The value our society, in general, places on books, music, film, photography and art that is sold and distributed online is an area of concern for artists and creators.

Connecting with your target audience of readers

If readers love your writing, and trust your brand, they will be more willing to pay a competitive price for your eBooks. If you’re an unknown indie author in a market where your target audience have Kindle, iBooks, Kobo and Nook accounts full of unread titles, why would they take a chance on your debut eBook priced at $4.99? 

That’s why marketing is important. Word of mouth marketing (where readers tell their friends about the books they love) sells books.

Loss leader eBooks

A loss leader is a product that’s sold at a loss (below cost price) to attract customers to sample and buy from a specific product range. If an indie author has several eBooks for sale, they can select a title as their loss leader eg. Book 1 in a series. A loss leader can be permanently or temporarily priced at $0.99 or available for free to entice readers to sample the author’s writing. Low priced multi-author boxed sets can also work well as loss leaders.

Indie authors teach their readers how to buy their books

If an indie author releases 3 ebooks within a year, and chooses to make every ebook free during the first 90 days after the release date, what is the author communicating to the reader?

This pattern of pricing will teach the reader to wait and not purchase book 4 on pre-order or when it releases. The reader will assume that they’ll probably have an opportunity to download book 4 for free within 90 days of the release date.

Indie eBook pricing strategy

Indie authors can experiment with different pricing strategies until they find a strategy that works for their books. Each book is unique and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution to how indie authors determine the price of their eBooks.

A Question for indie authors: How do you select the price of your eBooks? Are there any pricing strategies that have worked well for your eBooks?

A Question for everyone: How much are you prepared to pay for eBooks? Are there reasons that explain why you’re willing to pay more for certain eBooks?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

This post is being shared on the Australasian Christian Writers blog and the Christian Writers Downunder blog.

If you’re looking to connect with writing groups online, you can join the Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group and the Christian Writers Downunder Facebook Group.

Omega Writers Inc. provides helpful resources and membership benefits for writers who live in the Australasian region.

A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia. 

Her latest novella release, Seaside Christmas, is available in An Aussie Summer Christmas boxed set from Amazon for 99 cents. 

Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com

Blog: http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarelleAtkinsAuthor
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins