Any Thoughts on $0.99 Short Stories?

[GoblinWriter]

Hi, guys.

I'm mulling over a blog post on the feasibility of selling short stories (< 8,000 words) for $0.99 for the Kindle and elsewhere.

Considering how many full-length novels are out there for 99 cents, it seems like readers might be a little disgruntled at the idea of paying a dollar for such a short "ebook," but I've seen quite a few people selling shorts for this price, and I didn't see any reviews complaining about the length.

Do you have a short story that's doing well at this price point? As a reader, do you think this is a fair price for a short story? (I know there's not an alternative to go lower on Amazon.) What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

[Vivi_Anna]

I'm going to be writing a short story related to my just released book GLIMMER. And I'll be pricing it at .99

I think it's a great price for a short story.  I think 2.99 is a steal for novels. 

[daringnovelist]

A lot of people are doing it.  Dean Wesley Smith is doing a LOT with short stories at that price. He's successful, but I don't know how successful. The thing is that you don't have to sell a lot of stories to cover you effort.

Me, I think 99 cents is a little high (not a lot high).  I like to put together a couple of stories to make it more than 10k words.  (A lot of my stories are in the 2k range, so imho, that's right out -- but I'm considering having a floor of 7-8k or something.  Still pondering.)

Camille

[Bakari]

I am a non-fiction writer so I have no short stories to sell. Yet, I have bought fiction short-stories for .99 cents. The authors clearly labeled them as short stories so I felt fine about the purchases. When I buy a fiction novel for .99 cents I feel as if I am getting over on the author (a little) because the author could have charged more. For instance, if I am really interested in a book then $2.99 is not too much to ask.

[Ben White]

I think it's probably fine, as long as it's made transparently clear to the reader that what they're buying is only 2,000 words long (or whatever).

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

Hi, guys.

I'm mulling over a blog post on the feasibility of selling short stories (< 8,000 words) for $0.99 for the Kindle and elsewhere.

Considering how many full-length novels are out there for 99 cents, it seems like readers might be a little disgruntled at the idea of paying a dollar for such a short "ebook," but I've seen quite a few people selling shorts for this price, and I didn't see any reviews complaining about the length.

Do you have a short story that's doing well at this price point? As a reader, do you think this is a fair price for a short story? (I know there's not an alternative to go lower on Amazon.) What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

I personally don't think 99 cents is too much to ask for a short story. In fact, when authors first started publishing on Kindle, 99 cents was pretty much the standard for short works of fiction. However, as you mentioned already, the proliferation of 99 cent novels has pretty much destroyed the short story market for Kindle. The way some authors get around this is to package collections of their short stories and publish them on Kindle as a 99 cents compilation. As a reader, I don't mind paying 99 cents for a short piece of fiction. But I admit that I'm probably in the minority. The saturation of long works of fiction competing against short stories at 99 cents pretty much guarantees that short stories won't sell very much unless you already have a loyal base of readers who specifically seek out your work, long or short.

[WillemThomas]

I have a 3,500 word short story that I released about 6 weeks ago (under a different pseudo), priced at $0.99. Currently, it's sold over 400 copies and has made roughly $140.00 dollars. Sales have seriously started to spike in the last week, jumping from 10 sales a day to 25 - 30 copies per day (it's on track to sell about 40 today, alone.)

I'm amazed, and even a little delirious, at the response it has gotten.

I have other shorts that have sold about 50 - 100 total in the last 6 weeks to 2 months, with absolutely no marketing effort on my part.

It certainly encourages me to write/post more.

Willem Thomas

[bobdev]

No stories published yet on Kindle, but when I do, they'll be priced at 0.99.

[lacymarankevinmichael]

There was an erotica short story about a month ago that made the kindle bestseller list.  It was going to 99.  Like people have said, if you label it as a short, it should be fine.  Fact is, it's not like we're aloud to price it any less.

[EllenFisher]

My erotic romance short stories are doing just fine at 99 cents.  I have gotten a couple of bad reviews over at B&N (where readers don't seem to read the descriptions for some reason), saying, "This is a short story! It should have been labeled as a short story!" even though I DID have it labeled as a short story in the description, and even listed the word count.  So yes, short stories do seem to generate a certain amount of complaint from readers, but mine are still selling really well.

[lacymarankevinmichael]

My erotic romance short stories are doing just fine at 99 cents.  I have gotten a couple of bad reviews over at B&N (where readers don't seem to read the descriptions for some reason), saying, "This is a short story! It should have been labeled as a short story!" even though I DID have it labeled as a short story in the description, and even listed the word count.  So yes, short stories do seem to generate a certain amount of complaint from readers, but mine are still selling really well.

Short story is still a broadish term.  How short are your shorts, if I may ask?  2k?  10k?

[Jennybeanses]

Hi, guys.

I'm mulling over a blog post on the feasibility of selling short stories (< 8,000 words) for $0.99 for the Kindle and elsewhere.

Considering how many full-length novels are out there for 99 cents, it seems like readers might be a little disgruntled at the idea of paying a dollar for such a short "ebook," but I've seen quite a few people selling shorts for this price, and I didn't see any reviews complaining about the length.

Do you have a short story that's doing well at this price point? As a reader, do you think this is a fair price for a short story? (I know there's not an alternative to go lower on Amazon.) What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

I have had complaints about one of the short stories I sell: Call of the Selkie. It's over 5,000 and I sell it for $.99. One woman left a review and said that while she enjoyed the writing, she felt like she got ripped off because it was so short. So... maybe if you're going to sell shorts, at least note it in the summary and description so people don't feel like they got ripped off.

[jillmyles]

I think as long as it's clearly labeled (and maybe put in the description how long it is?) then readers don't feel ripped off.

[Tina Folsom]

I have four short stories out there all between 12000 - 15000 words which I sell at $0.99 to $1.99.  

My best selling at present is actually the one that's priced at $1.99: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Wrong-Suitor/Tina-Folsom/e/2940011935930/?itm=4. It's selling approx. 140 copies daily on B&N, barely anything on Kindle. At B&N it's ranked 167 at the moment.

Yes, and I always tell people how long it is approximately even though you can see from one of the 1-star reviews I got, it's obvious that people don't read that.

So, short stories do get bought.

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

I think as long as it's clearly labeled (and maybe put in the description how long it is?) then readers don't feel ripped off.

I have three short stories currently available and all of them are appropriately labeled as short stories. I agree that it really does make a difference when readers know up front what it is they are purchasing.

[EllenFisher]

Short story is still a broadish term.  How short are your shorts, if I may ask?  2k?  10k?

6-9000 words.  The very shortest (which is slightly under 6000 words) doesn't sell well thus far, but the others have all done very well.

So... maybe if you're going to sell shorts, at least note it in the summary and description so people don't feel like they got ripped off.

As I said, I label mine "short story" and with the word count, and I still get the occasional bad review due to length.  You can't make readers read the description, I guess.

[Alain Gomez]

Hi, guys.

I'm mulling over a blog post on the feasibility of selling short stories (< 8,000 words) for $0.99 for the Kindle and elsewhere.

Considering how many full-length novels are out there for 99 cents, it seems like readers might be a little disgruntled at the idea of paying a dollar for such a short "ebook," but I've seen quite a few people selling shorts for this price, and I didn't see any reviews complaining about the length.

Do you have a short story that's doing well at this price point? As a reader, do you think this is a fair price for a short story? (I know there's not an alternative to go lower on Amazon.) What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

I started a blog featuring the short story genre (click the link in my signature).  Writers have been sending me their work along with a paragraph on why they like writing short stories.  There have been some really interesting insights so far. 

I'd be happy to feature your blog post if you write it.  I feel it's a valid concern you bring up.  Send me a PM if you're interested.

On a more personal note, I don't feel that 99 cents is too expensive for a short story.  I actually think it's just right.  As a few others have mentioned, I feel like 99 cents is undercharging for a quality novel if you consider how long it takes to create a novel vs. a short story.

Less than 99 cents would be too little.  What would authors charge?  50 cents?  You can't even buy soda from a vending machine for that price.

 

[Matthew W. Grant]

I put out two short stories the over the past couple of weeks.  Sales haven't taken off yet, but I did heed the advice of mentioning in the descriptions that they are shorts.  I also included the word count.  As an extra precaution, I even added the fact to the covers.  If you look at the covers in my signature line below, you can see the two with the starburst symbols (one about the soap writer and the other about the author) are the short stories.

[MeloniePhillips]

My two short stories aren't doing to bad on Barnes and Noble, for the Kindle they are going horrible.  But they are holiday stories, so I get it.  I didn't get the Christmas story up for the Kindle until January, where I got it up in December for the Nook. They are about thirty-five pages in length.  I clearly mark them so readers know what they are getting.  I don't think .99 cents is to much for a short story, I will pay it.  And I do think over time the .99 cent novel length authors will be able to raise their prices to at least 2.99.  If there is something I really want to read I am more than willing to pay a little higher.  At first when I got my Nook I was very skeptical of the lower priced novels, but now that I have been around a bit I understand whats going on with them.  (Hopefully by the end of the year I will have a whole collection of holiday stories to publish in one volume.) 

[Doomed Muse]

I put up three literary short stories at $.99 (four, technically, but two were so short I bundled them together) last July as an experiment.  One sells a little, one sells not at all, and one sells 5-10 copies a month (It might be because it's a sort of romance and the other two definitely are darker in tone/theme).  They are clearly labeled as short stories and I've never had any complaints.  I plan to post more as introductions/teasers for my work and then put up collections.  

Short stories are great for reading on my Kindle, especially when I'm short on time, or on the bus, or waiting for something, etc. I think as long as the story is over a couple thousand words and you clearly label what it is, why not?  People (like me!) who like short stories will be fine with paying less than a dollar for one

[Gerald]

This is a tricky one. As people have said, with the proliferation of $0.99 novels (and who knows how long some of these novels are), something that is 'short', and labelled as such, might struggle. I think the day of the well-written, well-constructed short story is yet to come. I think it might be a lifestyle thing, and with modern, busy lives, I really think some people can only read in short, 10-15 minute slices. Reading a novel, this wouldn't work. Frequent breaks in the reading chops up the story, and I find I forget some of the nuances of the story, reading like this.

Once people begin to realise that they can buy a quality short story, that they can read at 1-3 sittings, they will get more satisfaction from that than they do from buying a novel for $0.99.

I did some tests a few days ago. I'm a regular reader, but not an especially fast reader, but I can read 350 words a minute. Ten minutes is 3,500 words, fifteen minutes is 5,250. So a 10,000 word short story should take an average reader half an hour to read at a moderate, undisturbed pace.

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

I think the day of the well-written, well-constructed short story is yet to come. I think it might be a lifestyle thing, and with modern, busy lives, I really think some people can only read in short, 10-15 minute slices...

Once people begin to realise that they can buy a quality short story, that they can read at 1-3 sittings, they will get more satisfaction from that than they do from buying a novel for $0.99.

This is exactly what I'm hoping for too. Short stories are a great way to read fiction for the time-strapped reader. They serve a purpose in a way longer works of fiction cannot.

[NadiaLee]

$0.99 for a short is acceptable, provided that it's clearly labeled "SHORT STORY".

[GoblinWriter]

Many thanks for all the thoughts, everyone!

I hadn't thought of doing this myself (though I have a couple short story anthologies at $0.99), but you've got me rethinking things. My novels tend to run 100k (at least), so it takes a long time to write one. I could probably knock out a 10-15k novella more quickly though. Maybe I'll do a couple after the next book.

I definitely agree that you should put short story or novella and the word count in the description (it's actually not a bad idea even for a novel), so people will know up front (if they read the description *g*).

I'll refer to this thread in my blog post and pick out a couple people's short-story ebooks to point out, so feel free to talk 'em up if you've got 'em.

Thanks!

[Mark Feggeler]

I put out two short stories the over the past couple of weeks.  Sales haven't taken off yet, but I did heed the advice of mentioning in the descriptions that they are shorts.  I also included the word count.  As an extra precaution, I even added the fact to the covers.  If you look at the covers in my signature line below, you can see the two with the starburst symbols (one about the soap writer and the other about the author) are the short stories.

Brilliant idea labeling the covers with the starburst.