One of my writing coach clients, who is just about to self-publish her book, wondered about book pricing.

Having priced out other books in her category, she’d done her due diligence, but that only confused her more.

“I don’t understand how book pricing works,” she confessed.  “I have a hardbound book in my category that is 234 pages and $28.99. A second hardbound is 259 pages and $24.99. A third book, also 259 pages, is a paperback and is $17.95. These are all recent Barnes & Noble purchases on ‘my shelf’ at the store.”

When you’re self-publishing, you can set your book price at whatever amount you want. Of course, set it too high and you’ll price yourself right out of the market. Set it too low, and you’re leaving money on the table, especially since consumers are funny little bunnies. When I wrote advertorials (the print version of an infomercial) several decades ago, we would run A/B split tests where the only difference in the two advertorials was the price. Routinely, the ad with the higher price (for the same exact same product being advertised in exactly the same way) pulled better. So, a bargain price on your book might just work against you.

You need to understand, however, that regardless of what you decide to charge, you’re not going to get that full amount when your book sells. For starters, the printing costs will come out of that price.

Amazon will calculate those printing costs, assuming we’re talking about a hardcover or a paperback rather than an e-book, based on page count, trim size, and paper type, and then factor in the royalty you selected.

IngramSpark works differently because it sells to bookstores and libraries. So, with them, you set a wholesale discount for retailers, typically 50-55% for brick-and-mortar stores. (If you don’t provide the standard discount, retail stores will never buy your book, since they need to make a profit.) In addition, the print costs come out of the price you set.

So how do you determine that price? You do exactly what my client did. You research what similar books of a similar length in your genre are selling for to determine a competitive and profitable price point. 

Next month, we’ll explore just how that profitability piece works when we dive into author royalties.