Lowering the price

[Bruce Pollock]

After having my book out for six weeks and generating sales in the low single figures (2 to be exact), I've decided to drop my price to 99 cents from $3.99. Let's see if that helps. Otherwise, I'll go back to $3.99. I mean, 70% of nothing is way better than 35% of nothing, right?

[Martin Perry]

Every successful author here advocates adjusting your price to find a sweet spot. Hopefully you'll find yours but don't just assume that the bargain bin is the best place for it. If you don't get much more success, then try another option. Don't forget promotion too!

[Sean Patrick Fox]

Making sales is really a combination of the right book, for the right price, at the right time. Keep promoting your book (in a productive manner), try to get it reviewed, and don't stop trying.

[ervampires]

I definitely agree with Sean and Martin - it being about the right price for your work. In my case, I didn't see any dramatic difference at $0.99, so I went back to $2.99.

Having said that, I do think experimenting with different prices is the way to go. You probably don't want to be constantly changing prices, but it'd be a shame not to take advantage of the ability to change prices that digital self publishing offers.

If you haven't already, you may want to search this forum for info on doing giveaways to get reviews. I was pleased with how mine on librarything went.

[Krista D. Ball]

Here's the thing - is this a sale or a change in price? By changing the price, you are appealing to a completely new demographic. That's fine it you've decided you aren't competitive at your current price in that demographic.

[Bruce Pollock]

What I'm dealing with is the invisibility factor right now. Despite having taken out ads on Facebook and Linked In, I just don't think anyone knows the book is out there. Facebook indicates I got 70 clicks for my money (it was a free ad) but no sales? This doesn't seem possible. When it first came out, in 1983, it sold several thousand copies. Anyway, giveaways for reviews is a good idea. How do I go about it?

[BrianKittrell]

Write that next book or work. Then the next. Then the next. It could take years to gain traction as a new author, and the best form of promotion is another book.

[Krista D. Ball]

What I'm dealing with is the invisibility factor right now. Despite having taken out ads on Facebook and Linked In, I just don't think anyone knows the book is out there. Facebook indicates I got 70 clicks for my money (it was a free ad) but no sales? This doesn't seem possible. When it first came out, in 1983, it sold several thousand copies. Anyway, giveaways for reviews is a good idea. How do I go about it?

Let me put this into perspective for you: how long have you been actively looking for readers?

Me? 4 years. I've been writing fiction for 4 years. I've been publishing for the last 2, nearly all being short fiction, a novella, some non-fiction, some freelance. My first novel was released with a publisher last week and there's been a scramble of folks trying to get an autographed copy of it for Christmas, even though shipping from Canada means that it's nearly doubling the cost of the book if they just ordered it off a website.

4 years ago, no one knew my name. Hell, my mother struggled to remember it. Now, mostly no one knows my name. That's an improvement.

This isn't a race. Take some time to get to know other authors and some readers. Do a handful of guest blogs. Go comment on blogs. Leave off the blog comment signature (it's just tacky anyway, I find) - the email and website gets listed whenever you comment on most blogs through your name. Go and get to know people. Write some more books. Sell some short fiction to magazines. Attend a local convention.

Take some time.


ETA: Corrected the signature thing to make it clearer

[kookoo88]

This isn't a race. Take some time to get to know other authors and some readers. Do a handful of guest blogs. Go comment on blogs. Leave off the signature (it's just tacky anyway, I find) - the email and website gets listed whenever you comment on most blogs through your name. Go and get to know people. Write some more books. Sell some short fiction to magazines. Attend a local convention.

Take some time.

I agree with this.  6 weeks isn't enough time to be successful.  Get some more books out there and make them good.  Do a little bit of marketing as you go.  It's a lot of work and a long road.

[ervampires]

To answer the question about giveaways, here's the page on LibraryThing:

http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaway/list

There are lots of posts about LibraryThing and giveaways specifically on this forum, so you may want to search for those before leaping in.

Essentially, if I remember correctly, all you have to actually do is: sign up for a regular account, make that account an author account, and then list the giveaway.

Note that there is also an early reviewers list, which is different from the member giveaways.

[E. S. Lark]

I've been doing this since September and my sales are slowly climbing. I have yet to break 20 sales in one month, but I'll get there. I agree with what others have said. Market when you can without being aggressive and write another book. The marketing will let folks know you're out there while the writing will keep your mind off the number of sales you are or aren't making.

[Bruce Pollock]

Let me put this into perspective for you: how long have you been actively looking for readers?

To answer this part of your question: 30 years. That's when I started writing articles for major magazines. Soon I got the first of my 14 books published. Then I edited a music magazine for ten years, before becoming a record producer for the next ten. I'm new to the ebook world, but I'd have thought I'd accrued some name recognition over the years.

[Bruce Pollock]

Write that next book or work. Then the next. Then the next. It could take years to gain traction as a new author, and the best form of promotion is another book.

I'm beginning to understand that. A reissue of my 1980 novel It's Only Rock and Roll will be out shortly. Another collection of interviews with rock stars from the 50s will follow.