Thursday, September 30, 2010

My $.99 Experiment

Hi, I just wanted to let everyone know how my 99 cent experiment is working so far.  This is only the 4th day, but so far the results are good.

Before I show my sales for the past few days, I'll share a little bit of background.  My average sales for August and September (with the exception of my Kindle Nation Daily spot and my price drop) were 3 books a day.  In order to match this and not lose money from where I was at in August and September, I need to sell at least 17.4 books a day at the new $.99 price. 

Monday - 49 books sold.
Tuesday - 67 books sold.
Wednesday - 40 books sold.
Thursday so far - 31 books sold at 4:42 pm.

My best month was July, for royalties not sales, and I sold an average of 5.6 books a day.  To match my best month, I need to sell 32 books per day.  So far, this has been easy to surpass.  It looks like my 99 cent price is going to earn me more royalties than my $2.99 price, even though I only get 35%.

And I get more readers.  And more reviews.

Something else is happening also.  I am getting mentioned on blogs and facebook pages that list very cheap books.

I'll keep you updated as this progresses.  I must say that Joe Konrath might be missing the boat a little telling people that the sweet pricing spot is $2.99.  At least for me, the 99 cent price is looking sweeter.

Vicki

13 comments:

  1. That's wonderful, Vicki! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. You're welcome. I always find it extremely helpful when others post their sales stats for me to look at, so I thought I would do the same. :)

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  3. I'd like to add my thanks, Vicki. One of my books is priced at .99, but it's a children's book, so it doesn't sell that well. My bestselling book is priced at 2.99, but it doesn't sell as well as yours.

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  4. L.C. - It does take a while to gain momentum. I love the title of your book, by the way. "We Interrupt This Date." That's a fantastic title!

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  5. Very interesting … everyone seems to have a different experience, or even different experiences at different times. When I went from $0.99 to $2.99, my sales cut in half, but at 6x the royalties I was still very pleased.

    Sadly, my sales have slumped since then, and maybe a 99 cent sale would be a good kick in the arm? Congratulations on your numbers, very impressive uptick after the price drop.

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  6. You're totally right, David. Everyone does have different experiences. I do think it's a matter of finding that sweet spot for your individual book. And maybe that is different even for each of your books. And it could possibly change over time. I'm flying high right now, but sales will drop at some point I'm sure.

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  7. Thanks for sharing this. I've been wondering how to price my book. It's an anthology, which are not as popular as novels. But a part of me thought it might be good to hold the .99 cent price as a "sale" price. However, I've also meant it as a loss leader.

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  8. @ David. I have your book! Nice to "meet" you!

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  9. Thanks, Tara! I definitely believe in playing around with your price to find your own "sweet" spot. I think a month or two is a good test run for a price. Good luck with your anthology!

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  10. Well, .99 is definitely an impulse buy. I just had the impulse myself. :)

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  11. Hi Victorine :) I found you through your comment on Joe's site :)I'm excited to read about your success with the new price, I'm still half considering e-booking it myself once I'm done :)

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  12. Hi Nicole! I highly recommend trying it out. Not only is making a little money great, but I love dealing directly with the readers. I've gotten such wonderful emails from people who have read my book and enjoyed it. Nothing in the world can beat that! I'll be posting again soon with more numbers. This month has been crazy!

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