I was asked recently by a reader: “Will your new book be available on Kindle Unlimited?”
To which I responded: “No. The Winston Brothers series will never be placed in KU. ‘Truth or Beard’ will likely be the only one I ever put on sale (but I have no immediate plans to do so). ‘Grin and Beard It’ (as well as the rest of the WB books and KitC books) will be released at $4.99 and then the price will be increased to $5.99 where it will stay forever (unless it’s raised again to account for inflation).”
Book pricing (for me) is a strategic decision, as follows:
- Length of the book -v- average length of “similar” books.
- Average price of “similar” books.
- Price necessary based on historical sales (i.e. assuming I sell X copies in 12 months, how much do I need to charge for this book in order to keep writing books?)
- Setting the expectations of readers appropriately (i.e. setting high expectations, challenging the reader, you get what you pay for, expect big words, expect an “expensive” book).
- Consistency and (therefore) trust.
You can expect:
- First book in any given series will cost less than the rest of the books in that series. This is what is called a “loss-leader”. Neanderthal Seeks Human is $4.99 where the rest of the books are $5.99; Truth or Beard is $4.99 and the rest of the books will be $5.99; The Hooker and the Hermit is $3.99 and the rest of the books will be $4.99.
- First book in any given series will go on sale but only after it’s been out for a full year (or longer); as well, the rest of the books in that series will likely never go on sale. Neanderthal Seeks Human was free for a good part of last year; The Hooker and the Hermit was reduced to $.99 for a short period of time leading up to the release of The Player and the Pixie.
- Books will be generally cheaper upon release than they will be 1-month after release (or likely ever again). The Player and the Pixie was $3.99 upon release and is now $4.99 (where it will stay). Happily Ever Ninja was $4.99 upon release and is now $5.99 (where it will stay).
- As above in #2, subsequent books in any given series will rarely (if ever) go on sale. I have never reduced the price of the Knitting in the City books (1.5 – 3) and only recently reduced Beauty and the Mustache for the first time since release (and only for 1-week).
- My full length books range from 110k to 130k words. They are double the average length (60k) of most contemporary romantic comedies and are priced accordingly ($4.99 – $5.99). Maybe long books aren’t in your wheelhouse. That’s cool.
- My “serials” (The Hypothesis series trilogies) and novellas (e.g. Ninja at First Sight) are 45k – 60k words and are priced accordingly ($2.99), but the bundles will be the price of a full length book.
- I will rarely release a book at full price. It will generally always be released at a discount.
- I will never discount a book (further) shortly after release day/within a year after release. Nope. I won’t do it.
A note about Kindle Unlimited (or any other subscription which requires Independent authors to be “exclusive”)
I will can’t see a situation where I would put The Knitting in the City series in Kindle Unlimited. But I will likely put The Rugby series and the Hypothesis series in Kindle Unlimited from time to time. This is because of the Kindle Unlimited reader. The typical KU reader (I am convinced) will not like the KITC series. These books aren’t the droids they’re looking for.
I hope this helps someone.
<3 Penny
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
As a Kindle Unlimited subscriber I’m not sure if I should be offended or not. I’ve read and enjoyed all of your series and especially enjoyed the intelligence of your writing. Are you inferring that Kindle Unlimited subscribers are only in it for the “books” that are basically sex scenes with a few words strung in between? Granted, I’ve had to do a fair amount of digging to find decent books to read, but I do take the time to look.
I’ve never had a problem with your pricing and think that you are more than fair.
Elle- I hope you’re not offended because no offense was meant. EOC and the Rugby series both do very well on KU and I’d like to think neither of those are sex scenes with a few words strung in between. 😉
I really appreciate your transparency about your book prices and what we, as readers, can expect! I get so frustrated when I buy a book at full price, only to have it drop to $0.99 the next day. Or to buy a book on release date, only to see that it’s been added to KU three days later (this has happened four or five times to me recently). I feel bad for waiting for prices to drop, but it’s hard *not* to when you know certain authors inevitably will make the book free or $0.99 in a month or two… but I’ve felt shamed by some authors who claim that people who watch for price drops don’t value books or the author’s work.
Penny! I love your posts on how and why you make your strategic business decisions. So interesting! Is it ‘indelicate’ to ask how many books you’ve sold? Like NSH, for example. I feel like that is so popular! (I’m an analyst and a project manager so this is where my brain goes.) but the internet is silent on this info. Any thoughts on why?
I think KU must be changing because the quality available has improved. I only recently joined (well not true, I tried for a month a few years ago and cancelled because I never found things I liked to read). Two months ago I signed up again (mostly because a few authors I liked had books coming out only on KU first!) and was pleasantly surprised I’ve kept finding things to read. Of course I want my favorite authors to succeed. I mean I want ALL authors to succeed, especially those who are giving us whole worlds to join. And I will always support them, so I hope this is working out for everyone. When you read 4-6 books a week it can get tricky and you think hmmmm should I stay in kindle unlimited AND buy everything I want? Or do I have to choose?
I know this is old but I wanted to chime in. I usually read a book a day and I love series. I can afford to purchase books so I do. And when I say a book a day that means most of it is read by Siri while I work and drive I am a KU reader but only because it’s such a great place to find Indy authors which I’m a huge fan of. I remember getting your book for free and then spreading the word to all my reading friends. I’ve purchased all your books and usually when they’re released. I adore your newsletters with typo sprinkles on top. I’m going to borrow that one day. Anyway, I just wanted you to know about how I use it because maybe others do the same. I’m also terrible and judge many books by their cover when it comes to kindle unlimited. If the photo doesn’t ‘match’ the market then the books usually aren’t for me as they a PWP. Thank you for all you do any for all the laughs and tears. I just read kissing Galileo within 24 hours and it had all the angst, love, friendship and ‘big words’ that I love. Keep them coming…and come to ATL for a signing sometime.