My Stand Against the Underpricing of eBooks
Authors, do you see yourselves making a living from writing? Of course you do, it's what ninety nine per cent of authors dream about. Sadly, only a tiny proportion of us are going to achieve it
Unfortunately, in our honest attempts to realise our dreams, we are dramatically lowering the numbers of people who will be able to make a living from writing.
By the end of the year, readers will have downloaded a quarter of a million Rosen Trevithick eBooks. I've topped two Amazon charts, I've been featured in the national press and schools do projects about my work.
So will I be basking on my luxury yacht over Christmas? Will I heck!
Writing is still very much a hobby, and one for which I struggle to cover costs.
Quarter of a million downloads. So where is all the money going?
I can tell you now, it's not costs. I do pay both an editor and an illustrator but both are very reasonably priced. I purchase a modest amount of stationary - bookmarks and a few postcards. These outgoings would be negligible if it wasn't for one small problem...
Guilty as charged - I have pandered to every underpricing trick in the book - free promotion days, not-so-temporary price drops and even running a bargain book website.
Many of us actually pay websites to list our free promotions - effectively paying for readers.
Even when my books aren't on promotion, I adhere to the rule of £1.99 (An indie shalt not price thy book over £1.99, no matter how much blood thou hast shed.)
I do these things, because I want to be noticed. But the consequence is that I have been noticed - I'm chalking off life ambitions left, right and centre - and I still can't earn a living.
Not many readers know this, but when an author drops a book's price from £1.50 to 99p, his or her royalty is dropping from about £1 to a mere 35p. Yet authors continually make this sacrifice in the name of visibility.
What am I going to do about it?
Obviously, can't fix the entire entertainment industry single handed, but I am going to pledge two significant changes to the way I do things.
1. As from tomorrow, Indie Book Bargains will feature books that cost up to £3 (not £2) to help redress people's concept of a bargain.
2. I will NOT decrease the price of My Granny Writes Erotica. The title is currently at #174. The temptation is to chase the top 100 with a price drop. This pledge may mean sacrificing a bestseller, but I've undersold myself enough times to make a stand for indies on this occasion. I pledge not to reduce the price of this title during the next 28 days.
Will I run price drop promotions in the future? Almost certainly. They are a good way to get new releases noticed and breathe life into older titles. But My Granny Writes Erotica has already had its boost. This is a popular title in its prime, and I'm not going to undersell it. Its full price is £1.54, which is quite frankly, already a bargain.
+
Interesting post. I'm trying to follow a similar plan and also not running free promotions, although I will stand hand out free copies in staged events.