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How To Properly Price Your Book

Pricing your book can be a tricky decision—there’s a balance between sales and perception, especially for authors writing business or personal development books. While some may get bogged down in complex pricing strategies that focus on fiction or professional writers, the process can be much simpler for authors like you. In this guide, we’ll break down how to price your eBook, paperback, and hardcover, so you can confidently set the right price for your book.

eBook Pricing: The Amazon Standard

Amazon is the largest marketplace for eBooks, and their pricing structure sets the standard for most authors. Here’s how Amazon pays royalties for eBooks:

  • $0.99 to $2.98: 35% royalty rate
  • $2.99 to $9.99: 70% royalty rate
  • $10 and above: 35% royalty rate

Key Insight: Credibility Matters

When pricing a book, especially in the business and personal development categories, pricing too low can hurt your credibility. People often judge the value of a book based on its price, which makes it a “Veblen good.” If you price too low, readers may perceive your book—and by extension, you—as less valuable.

Research shows that within certain price bands (e.g., between $7.99 and $9.99), there is no significant change in demand. This means you can price your book strategically without sacrificing sales.

Three Pricing Tiers for eBooks:

  1. Maximize Units Sold: $3.99 (or sometimes $0.99 for special promotions)
  2. Balance Between Sales and Perception: $6.99
  3. Maximize Perceived Value: $9.99

Paperback Pricing

For paperback books, many authors turn to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for ease of use and high-quality prints. KDP’s pricing calculator is a great tool to estimate royalties, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll break down the basics.

With paperback books, the typical royalty rate is around 40%. For example, if you sell a paperback for $10, you’ll likely earn about $4 in royalties.

A helpful rule of thumb: add about $7-$10 to your eBook price for your paperback price.

Hardcover Pricing

Pricing for hardcovers can vary significantly due to printing costs, color usage, and size. Despite these factors, we suggest using a price range that follows a similar pattern to paperback pricing:

  • Hardcover should be $12-$15 more than the eBook price.
  • Expect royalties around 45%, though this can fluctuate depending on various factors.

One key piece of advice: Do not price your hardcover above $27.99 unless there’s a very specific reason for it.

How to Price Your Book: The Ultimate Framework

Here’s a simple framework to help you decide how to price your book for the long term:

Maximize Units Sold

  • eBook: $3.99 (royalty rate: 70%)
  • Paperback: $10.99-$12.99 (royalty rate: ~40%)
  • Hardcover: $14.99-$16.99 (royalty rate: ~45%)

Balance Between Sales and Perception

Option 1:

  • eBook: $6.99 (royalty rate: 70%)
  • Paperback: $13.99-$16.99 (royalty rate: ~40%)
  • Hardcover: $18.99-$21.99 (royalty rate: ~45%)

Option 2 (Big Spread):

  • eBook: $4.99 (royalty rate: 70%)
  • Paperback: $16.99 (royalty rate: ~40%)
  • Hardcover: $24.99 (royalty rate: ~45%)

Maximize High Status Perception

  • eBook: $9.99 (royalty rate: 70%)
  • Paperback: $17.99-$19.99 (royalty rate: ~40%)
  • Hardcover: $24.99-$27.99 (royalty rate: ~45%)

 

Choosing the right price for your book is an essential decision that impacts both your sales and your brand perception. By following the strategies outlined above, you can set a price that aligns with your goals—whether you’re aiming for maximum sales, balancing perception, or establishing a high-status book.

For more details on the pricing process and other publishing tips, download your free copy of The Scribe Method or order your hard copy today.