Should Indie Authors Charge $2.99 for Short Books?

You Want to Charge $3 for 35 Pages???

I charge .99 because I am a reader as well as a writer, and I want to make my books affordable. However, I wonder if am I losing potential readers because of my price.

I really want to know what readers think on this one. If you are familiar with my work, you know I normally write novelettes (between 12,000 - 18,000 words). I personally like erotica at that length and feel comfortable charging .99. I am confident it is worth at least that much for the hot sex scenes. ;)

I have been noticing other erotica authors charging 2.99 for the same length novelettes and I am a little shocked, especially if it is part of a series. If an author charges that much for five novelettes within a series, he/she has just made the reader pay $15 bucks for what ends up being a simple novel by the end. That is a lot of money!

* For those not in the industry, an indie author makes 35% for books under 2.99 and 70% for any books sold 2.99 or higher on Amazon. There is a financial incentive for charging more.

However, I think 2.99 is too much for books under 20,000 words. Yet if you look on Amazon's erotica list right now, you will see the series Anything He Wants is doing VERY well, even though reviewers are complaining about the price of the last two novelettes.

So, my question is this:

Do you generally feel that a book is more viable if there is a higher price attached to it - no matter the length?

Let me put it more bluntly...

Do you feel a  .99 book is normally not worth reading?

June Numbers for Red Phoenix on Amazon

If you write with love, it will show up in your work similar to when chefs bake love into their creations.  You can just taste it...

I was excited to see what June would bring. May had been such a good month, but I must admit that part of me feared it was a fluke. I am happy to say June exceeded all my expectations. The most I hoped for was to double my sales, but they tripled and I have my many readers to thank for that!

Not only did I publish the fifth in the Brie series this June, but I was also able to release the third in the Blissful Series. Two accomplishments I am proud of. Based on the reviews for both, I am thrilled that readers are happy with my newest work. :)

Again, all of my books are getting attention (sales/downloads) and that is gratifying. I love the characters I write about, so it's awesome that my older work is getting more notice now. Again, thank you.

For the Month of June 2012:

18,021 Total books sold
60,329 Total Freebies Downloaded

Best Sellers for the Month of June:

Paid - Brie Learns to Obey  4799, Brie Lives Her Fantasy 4134, and  Brie Learns Her Power as a Submissive 3766

Freebies - Deeper Baby! 17,317, Brie's First Day of Submissive Training 14,816 and Blissfully Snowbound 8550

* For the month of June I added two books on Amazon and another book went FREE. 

   (I now have a total of 11 freebies on Amazon.)
 

Quick Recap of Past Months:

Brie #5 is doing well.

May 2012:
6,079 books purchased
71,212 freebies downloaded

April:

878 books purchased         

29,879 freebies downloaded 

March:

693 books purchased
27,571 freebies downloaded 

February:

298 books purchased         

12,386 freebies downloaded


What I am Learning:

You can see that my freebie downloads are starting to slow. (Although, who can complain when the paid ones jumped up so high?) However, what it tells me is that an author needs to keep writing and moving forward. You can't sit back and expect your older books to carry on like they have. Bring something new to the table but always, ALWAYS have fun in the process. I think if you start to overwork yourself to the point of resentment or publish a book too soon due to pressure, it will only end up hurting you.

Here's an example: I was set to publish Blissfully Broken in May. I thought I was ready but my editor, Tameika Ortiz, and my beta reader both said it was lacking. I postponed the release and retooled it. My readers expect and deserve only my best - deadline or no deadline.

I shall update you next month to see how July pans out. Thanks for joining me on this journey. I hope it will encourage other aspiring writers to take the leap. :) 

Indie Authors - Don't Let the Amazon Returns Scare You

Keep in mind that there are an overwhelming amount of readers who wholeheartedly support authors. They far outweigh the few misguided souls.

When I first started publishing on Amazon, I totally freaked out when someone returned one of my books. It was shocking, it was embarrassing, and it... hurt. I felt sad that someone hated my work so much the person felt the need to return it - even when it was free. 

Now that I have been doing this for five months, I've come to realize a few things and don't allow returns to mess with my head or my writing. The fact is people have different reasons for returning an eBook.

There are legitimate reasons:

• They didn't mean to buy it.
• The formatting of the book was bad and made it unreadable.
• There were so many errors in the writing that it detracted from the story.

I also know (having read some of Amazon discussion boards) there are a few misguided Kindle users out there. Some readers do not understand if they read the book, they are expected to pay for it.

Unreasonable returns:

• A few readers think it's a library. (I've had people buy an entire series and then returned each and every one.) They enjoyed my work, but they had no qualms about returning it.
• Some think they can return a book if they don't like the ending or one of the characters.
• Others don't take the time to read the description or check out the sample and end up buying a book they don't really care for.

Reasonable or not, I believe authors should watch the returns to see if a book has real problems. Normally, I experience between 1-5% returns on all of my books. However, there have been months where some of my books saw 10-20% returns and it upset me wondering what was wrong (especially when no one left a negative review). Funny thing is the following month those same books had only a few returns. So, there may not be any rhyme or reason to the returns but it is worth going back over your story to make sure there aren't any serious issues.

What time has taught me:

Amazon allows for eBook returns, so there will be people who abuse it. As a writer, there is nothing you can do. Amazon currently has the greatest number of readers so even taking into account the loss of sales, you will still see more success there than on any other site.

May Numbers for Red Phoenix on Amazon

Oh wow, what a month May has been for this indie author! I noticed at the end of April that my book, Brie Learns to Obey, was rising in the ranks even though it had just been released. I had no idea then how well she would do in the month of May. So well, in fact, that I ended up continuing that series and putting my other projects to the wayside.

Brie's success on Amazon means that people are starting to look at my other work.  All of my books have done better this month than previous months. The month of May has been a joy ride. Whoop!

For the Month of May 2012:

6,079 books purchased (Keep in mind that I get .35 for every book sold)
71,212 freebies downloaded

Best Sellers for the Month of May: (Numbers not as laughable as the past few months.)

Paid - Brie Learns to Obey 2458, Brie Learns Her Power as a Submissive 1448 and Blissfully in Love 498
Freebies - Deeper Baby! 18158, Brie's First Day of Submissive Training 16983 and Blissfully Snowbound 11098

* For the month of May I added two books on Amazon and no additional books went FREE.


Quick Recap of Past Months:

Starting to rise

April:

878 books purchased         

29,879 freebies downloaded 

March:

693 books purchased
27,571 freebies downloaded 

February:

298 books purchased         

12,386 freebies downloaded 

What I am Learning:

You need to keep the momentum going once a series gets popular. Brie Lives Her Fantasy was just published May 30 and is doing impressively well in that short amount of time. I plan to publish the next Brie book by the end of the month. Doable if I work hard.

Part of my success is due to the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey. I know this for a fact because I have fans on Facebook who have said as much. I am a lucky author because of timing.

There are small time "publishers" who will try to cash in on your indie success. Unless they can do more for you than you are doing now, my advice is to avoid them. They will just slow down the process and take 50% of what you make. (That is not to say there aren't reputable small publication companies out there, I just haven't been approached by any.)

I will update you next month to see how June pans out. You may or may not experience the same success, but there is no reason not to try if your heart is set on writing. 

Right now, I am one blown away indie author.  A big hug to all my readers!

April Numbers for Red Phoenix on Amazon

#6 Top Free Erotica

This has been a fun month as an indie author. I've seen one of my freebies, Deeper Baby!, make it to number 6 on the free erotica list (several others are in the Top 100). I also received a number of good reviews on Amazon this month, which is helping all of my books. 

For the Month of April 2012:

878 books purchased         

29,879 freebies downloaded

Best Sellers In the Month of April: (still asking you not to laugh at my numbers)

Paid -Boy Toys 104 with a tie for Amy's Choice 97 and Blissfully in Love 97
Freebies - Deeper Baby! 11,551, Thrilling Her 7301, Blissfully Snowbound 3131

During the month of April I added 3 new novelettes and 4 more of my books went FREE on Amazon (of the 22 titles I have on Amazon, 10 are free).

Quickly Moving Up

Quick Recap of Past Months:

March:
693 books purchased
27,571 freebies downloaded 

February:

298 books purchased         

12,386 freebies downloaded

What I am Learning:

• Keep the books coming. I have seen the numbers of my older books steadily go down. However, I believe the new ones are getting more notice because people recognize the name. (Brie Learns to Obey was recently published on Amazon and is quickly jumping up the ranks of paid novels.)
• You never know what will appeal to people. Books I thought would be a big hit fell flat, while others surprised me by their popularity.
• Listen to the readers and hone your work based on how they purchase and what they say in their reviews. HOWEVER, be true to yourself. The beauty as an indie eBook author is that you can write and publish what you want, even if it doesn't make big bucks. Someone out there will appreciate the uniqueness of your story and sometimes that is all the success you need.

* Note: Amazon allows for returns of eBooks. They are the only online bookstore I know of that does this. I noticed a big difference this month. Boy Toys which has done well previous months had 13 returns versus 4 in March. (Same book and I even had more sells last month). I will never know why they were returned - no one left reviews, but it was a significant jump. In total, 58 paid books were returned in April as opposed to 12 in March.  

I will update you next month to see how May pans out. I will say this, if your heart is to have your work published this is the perfect time for Indie Authors. It's a ton of fun!

Deeper Baby Ranked 10th In Free Erotica on Amazon

Update: One Day Later - 

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Erotica

To be honest, I am surprised by the popularity of Deeper Baby as a Kindle freebie. I woke up this morning to find it ranked number 10 on Amazon's Free Erotic eBooks. It is part of the ongoing story of Troy and Amy, two lovers fated to find their fulfillment in the arms of others. 

Most of us have moved on from a failed love affair into the arms of someone who isn’t "the one". It is commonly referred to as rebounding. 

That is the premise of Deeper Baby. Troy and Amy have moved on, but they keep looking back at the one that got away.

A sensual two part "quickie" about partner swapping and a little menage a trois (approx. 7150 words) Perfect for mobile eReaders - have access to a quickie whenever you need a fix.

On the same night...

1) Troy and Kate go to a swingers bar. She convinces him that it'll be fun to switch partners, but Kate secretly wants to take two men at the same time. Troy is unaware he is part of the night's entertainment. 2) Amy cannot pass up the chance for a ménage a trois at the dance club. Mirrors, brute strength, and a little creativity make for an interesting night of pleasure for all three.

Extended Description:Deeper, Baby is told from two different perspectives –

Part One is all about Troy. His kinky girlfriend is eager for attention. Troy doesn't realize Kate has invited him to the swingers bar so she can fulfill her fantasy of being taken by two men at the same time. Troy is in for a rude awakening when he finds out he is supposed to be part of the entertainment that evening.

Part Two is told from Amy's point of view. The same night, Amy meets up with "The Boys" at the dance club. The threesome only has a half-hour to enjoy their last ménage a trois. Amy is in for the time of her life as both men concentrate on giving her sensual fulfillment before they say their final good-bye.

March Numbers on Amazon for Red Phoenix

Most Downloaded

March Totals on Amazon

Since I publish directly to Amazon, I am given constant updates about numbers concerning my books. This can be a good & bad thing (see post Indie Author Addicted to Checking Unit Sales/Downloads). But when you want to get an idea about how many people have been reading your work for the month, it can be a lot of fun. :)

For the Month of March 2012:

693 books purchased
27,571 freebies downloaded

As an indie author, I can't tell you how exciting that is. :) People are reading work by Red Phoenix - Whoo Hoo!

Best Sellers In the Month of March: (don't laugh at my numbers!)

• Boy Toys was the biggest seller of my paid books at a total of 135, followed by Amy's Choice at 81
• Thrilling Her is the largest download (made top 15 of erotica for a brief amount of time) at 7756

Biggest Seller

Quick recap from the last month:

298 books purchased         

12,386 freebies downloaded

* I added 2 new novelettes in the month of March, for a total of 15 purchased and 2200 in downloads. Also, 2 more books from the Sensual Erotica series became freebies during the month at a total of 13,500 in downloads. When you factor those things in, sales increased over 50%, but downloads decreased slightly.

I'm curious to see what April brings. Will sales continue to increase or will it start to dwindle as new books flood the market?

I'll keep you posted, just in case you're thinking of jumping into the self-publishing arena. :)

Indie Author Addicted to Checking Unit Sales/Downloads

Okay, I admit it. I check my unit sales/downloads on Amazon and Smashwords far too much. At first, I found the information interesting and exciting. "Wow, people are reading my work!"

It slowly has morphed into an obsession...

As soon as I get on the computer, I check to see how my books are doing. I cheer when things are up and whimper when things are down. (My worthiness as an author seems to be tied to the data.)

That is one hazard of being an indie author. You don't have an agent or publisher telling you how great you are, nor do you have them there to explain what is to be expected and completely normal. You are in charge of it all. I, Red Phoenix, am not knowledgeable about marketing. I do not know what an average number of sales are for a new author, or how many reviews to expect per x amount of books purchased, etc. I am learning on the fly and evaluating based on my own experience.

I freely acknowledge that I check the data more than I should because of my desire to validate myself as an author. I do not think I am alone in this. While it is true that an author needs to be sensitive to sales, it is foolish to base one's worth as a writer simply on whether you made substantial sales over one particular hour/day/week. The roller coaster I put myself on is of my own design.

Struggling with the same addiction or have some advice? Please share!