Pricing a book is the toughest job any author must do. There are basically two factors the author must take into account: “What is the value of my book,” and “What will the market bear.” However, we believe the question should be, “What is the maximum I can get for my book that will still produce good sales?”
To help you make the right decisions you should be asking yourself questions about content, reader, and market. “Who are my readers?” "Did I write a novel, short story, or a do-it-yourself book?" "What is the market?" With a novel the price might be lower per page, however, with a do-it-yourself book the content might be valuable to a larger group of people. And then there is the marketplace: are you "coat-tailing" another author on another subject, are you breaking new ground, or are you re-inventing the wheel. These are questions you have to ask.
As you price your book keep in mind that there are basic costs that go with each book. RDMc Publishing’s basic cost for producing the book is $4.53 plus $0.0325 (3.25¢) per page. Also, RDMc Publishing includes Media Mail shipping in the final retail price, through their website. Media Mail shipping price is $3.53.
There are also other costs or commissions that come out of the retail price. If the book sells on Amazon.com, for example, they get their share before the author gets his. If you sell your book at a bookstore, typically the bookstore gets 40% of the retail price just for shelf space. These are all factors that must be taken into consideration in pricing your book.
Typically an author receives from $.50 – $1.50 for each book sold. This might not sound like much, but for 10,000 copies the author would receive $5,000 to $15,000. It is all in how it’s priced.
A good retail price rule of thumb: |