"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Friday, January 20, 2017

Counting the Cost of Words

Five years ago I wrote a blog post called "Word Count Woes" which can be read here. While I feel those are certainly still an average sought by traditional publishers, what about when you are self-publishing an ebook?

Readers still have certain expectations which have been dictated by the traditional houses. In addition to quality, readers expect a certain length for the amount of money they shell out. Below is a guide to average word counts and subsequent pricing.

Remember, this is not an exact science, but only an average based on trends. Amazon pays the highest percentage for books that cost $2.99 – $9.99 and more sales seem to occur on books between $2.99 - $7

1.      Flash Fiction – less than 1,000 words  – $0.00 – $0.99 (maybe offer these for free on your blog, or bundle them together in an anthology before you charge more).
2.      Short Short – 1,000 – 3,000 words  -$0.00 – $0.99 (same).
3.      Short Story – 3,000 – 7,000 words - $0.99 – $1.99 
4.      Novelette – 7,000 – 20,000 words - $1.99 – $3.99
5.      Novella – 20,000 – 50,000 words - $2.99 – $5.99 
6.      Novel – 50,000 – 120,000 words - $2.99 – $7.99 (I collect books, so if I don’t get a hard copy in my hands to feel and touch and love, I have a hard time paying more than $7.99 for it)
7.      Epic or Super Novel – more than 120,000 words - $5.99 – $12.99 (if it’s really long, why not divide it into a series?)

What are your thoughts on e-book pricing? How much are you willing to spend?

1 comment:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I certainly won't pay more than ten bucks for an eBook. A lot of the big names come out at the same price as the print copy, which just means they don't get my money until that price comes down.