Ebook Pricing Strategies for Indie Authors

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99 cent ebooks, ebook downloads, ebook price psychology, ebook pricing, ebook sales, free ebooks, indie market, strategic price point

Confusion abounds when deciding the best price for ebooks.

Please note that material such as this is time sensitive and may vary somewhat from one genre to another. I offer what is here as a framework for your own research and thinking. Do your homework.

Many fairy tales surround pricing for indie ebooks. Looking over the first four pages of the Smashwords bestseller list for full length science fiction, I see only one title for sale at the often-recommended price of $1.99 – everything else is higher, most of it much higher. I have been studying the price issue for months and have concluded the following:

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Do Indie Writers Need a Pen Name?

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advantages and disadvantages, common surname, name recognition, promoting sales, search results, self-published authors, shared surname, unique pen name

Mark Twain is probably the most famous pen name. A special nom de plume can make you stand out, but there are other pros and cons.

Some indie writers operate under a carefully chosen pen name. Is there an advantage to this? Does it increase the author’s ability to sell his or her works? When I set out to become an indie, I thought the strategy had some merit. Subsequently, I had cause to reconsider.

About two months after I decided to become an indie author, I discovered that I would not have, as I confidently expected, exclusive use of my somewhat unusual surname in the fantasy genre. I finally thought to search Smashwords

Ebook Covers for Indie Writers

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composite covers, concept, copyright issues, free images, licensed images, PhotoScape, public domain images, title fonts

After finding the public domain artwork, I made this cover in fifteen minutes using a donationware application called PhotoScape.

As an indie writer who has not yet made his fortune it does not pay me to have ebook covers made by professionals. This is especially true for short stories. That being the case, I learned – like most indies – to make my own covers. I manage my ebook collection with Calibre and since that stellar application allows me to add covers to public domain ebooks, or even replace covers on DRM-protected works, I set aside a little time each day to create covers for the assorted ebooks that most needed them. It does not take long to get reasonably good at this.

The biggest headache for the ebook cover maker is the infamous copyright issue. Luckily, as long as you

How to Do a Messy Blog Startup and Be Happy

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blog dashboard, blog names, blog statistics, blogging advice, getting started, humour, learning to blog, search engine referrals

How it feels to be a 62 year-old blogger with three weeks experience under his belt! (Image: WPClipart)

This blog is now three weeks old. In the beginning, I took some advice from a slick how-to-blog website and just plunged right in, opting for WordPress as the blog host and choosing the 2011 theme used to illustrate the article. Definitely a monkey see, monkey do scenario. As it happened, the advice was pretty sound.

I had been dithering over blog hosts for a couple of weeks and probably would have dithered over a lot more blogging aspects if not for that gentle shove. Instead, I’m now up and running with a real live blog, and while I’m not doing anywhere near as well as some others who got started around the same time (I have been looking over the fence at their greener grass), I am making progress (unlike some quickly abandoned blogs I have come across). I have a few likes, a handful of followers, and even a comment or two. Things are picking up.

Should Indie Writers Choose Print or Digital?

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cheap ereaders, comparing sales, digital editions, ebook revolution, print editions, print is retro, traditional publishing, vanity presses

Print is now ancient and definitely on its way out. Your local bookshop probably fills space with new kinds of merchandise.

A lot of struggling writers are still hoping to break into print. They see self-publishing as a humble temporary stop on a journey towards grander things. Their ebooks are merely practice runs as they whip themselves into shape for their real careers as print authors. It is easy to see why they might have this attitude. The old publishing paradigm has been around for centuries, an awful lot has been written about it, and it is still surrounded by a powerful aura of tradition, respectability, and substance. Even the least literate know a little something about the lives of a famous print author or two. Many such authors are positively draped in glory, with reputations that span the globe. Some of them have even become very wealthy. What up-and-coming author would not want to join them?

My Favourite Indie Publishing Books

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author advice, experienced authors, how to self-publish, indie publishing, indie writing, publishing guides, selecting titles, vanity presses

Francis Porretto’s enjoyable and enlightening look at the indie writing experience.

I decided to look into self-publishing on January 7, 2012 (thereby fulfilling a New Year’s resolution) and began in the obvious way by reading a whole slew of how-to books. These are often short – little more than articles really – and do not require a lot of time. Since their authors use them to promote other works, many of them are free for the downloading on Smashwords. Most of the rest are inexpensive. What you learn from them is essential if you are to have any chance of success. Do not skimp on this step. My advice is to soak yourself in self-publishing ebooks until the juices have made you a dyed in the flesh indie. I spent about a month with them.