Dien Rice
January 30, 2014, 05:08 PM
Thanks for taking the time to create a post and share the information. I imagine that many people who publish their own books and informational products online struggle from the problem of knowing how much to charge for their products. I have seen various examples of people who sell mini-reports for $1 or $2 and do very well. These are reports that are only a few pages long. The typical book online ranges into the tens of pages if not hundreds. A small report can be created in a day where as the book requires several days to write. The challenge is finding that price point that is the most profitable while also selling the largest number of copies possible.
Hi,
You're right, that a lot of people struggle on how much to charge.
But I thought your post highlighted another issue... How long should your book be?
Should you write a short book, or a long book? It's not always an easy question to answer!
Often, people write longer books because they feel they will then sell better, and you can charge more for them.
However, in reality, a lot of long books are really just short books or articles. They are then "beefed up" with lots of examples and anecdotes! (The examples and anecdotes, though, can often be entertaining...)
As you said, you have seen "various examples of people who sell mini-reports for $1 or $2 and do very well."
There are a lot of these kinds of things around nowadays!
One are Amazon Kindle singles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle_single) - which are shorter ebook works. Some have been quite popular!
Here at Sowpub, we (especially Gordon Alexander) have also talked about "Hotsheets!"
There's quite a lot in the archives about Hotsheets... Here's a sample post, and a report (you can buy) on them (which I sell)...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15695
http://www.hotsheetprofits.com
Another thing I've seen is where an author breaks up a longer work, into a series of shorter ebooks, to sell on Amazon. The reason why they've done this is probably because of Amazon's royalty model... If your book is below $10, they will pay a 70% royalty, but if it is $10 or over, they will only pay a 35% royalty. So, to take advantage of this, instead of selling a single, longer book at a high price, they sell a series of shorter books, at prices below $10.
Here's something which may be an example of this... "Sun Tzu's Art of War Rule Book" by Gary Gagliardi, in 9 volumes, sold individually for $5.99 each...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=gagliardi+sun+tzu%27s+art+of+war+rule+boo k&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Agagliardi+sun+tzu%27s+art+o f+war+rule+book
On his own website, you buy the whole lot for $49.95...
http://scienceofstrategy.org/main/content/complete-sun-tzus-art-war-rule-book-all-nine-volumes
By selling each volume individually as Amazon Kindle ebooks for $5.99 each, he can make a 70% royalty, instead of a 35% royalty if he sold it as one volume for $49.95...
As you point out, it is much quicker and easier to write a short report, than a "full-length" 100+ page book! (And it's easier to read, too!) So now, there's little reason why anyone can't become a "published" author, if they want to...
Another angle on this is that if you do want to write a longer, "full-length" book, you can write a series of related articles. These articles can then be compiled into a longer book...
Thanks for your insightful observations! Writing shorter works is now more possible (and commercially rewarding) than ever before!
Best wishes,
Dien
Hi,
You're right, that a lot of people struggle on how much to charge.
But I thought your post highlighted another issue... How long should your book be?
Should you write a short book, or a long book? It's not always an easy question to answer!
Often, people write longer books because they feel they will then sell better, and you can charge more for them.
However, in reality, a lot of long books are really just short books or articles. They are then "beefed up" with lots of examples and anecdotes! (The examples and anecdotes, though, can often be entertaining...)
As you said, you have seen "various examples of people who sell mini-reports for $1 or $2 and do very well."
There are a lot of these kinds of things around nowadays!
One are Amazon Kindle singles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle_single) - which are shorter ebook works. Some have been quite popular!
Here at Sowpub, we (especially Gordon Alexander) have also talked about "Hotsheets!"
There's quite a lot in the archives about Hotsheets... Here's a sample post, and a report (you can buy) on them (which I sell)...
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15695
http://www.hotsheetprofits.com
Another thing I've seen is where an author breaks up a longer work, into a series of shorter ebooks, to sell on Amazon. The reason why they've done this is probably because of Amazon's royalty model... If your book is below $10, they will pay a 70% royalty, but if it is $10 or over, they will only pay a 35% royalty. So, to take advantage of this, instead of selling a single, longer book at a high price, they sell a series of shorter books, at prices below $10.
Here's something which may be an example of this... "Sun Tzu's Art of War Rule Book" by Gary Gagliardi, in 9 volumes, sold individually for $5.99 each...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=gagliardi+sun+tzu%27s+art+of+war+rule+boo k&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Agagliardi+sun+tzu%27s+art+o f+war+rule+book
On his own website, you buy the whole lot for $49.95...
http://scienceofstrategy.org/main/content/complete-sun-tzus-art-war-rule-book-all-nine-volumes
By selling each volume individually as Amazon Kindle ebooks for $5.99 each, he can make a 70% royalty, instead of a 35% royalty if he sold it as one volume for $49.95...
As you point out, it is much quicker and easier to write a short report, than a "full-length" 100+ page book! (And it's easier to read, too!) So now, there's little reason why anyone can't become a "published" author, if they want to...
Another angle on this is that if you do want to write a longer, "full-length" book, you can write a series of related articles. These articles can then be compiled into a longer book...
Thanks for your insightful observations! Writing shorter works is now more possible (and commercially rewarding) than ever before!
Best wishes,
Dien
