There are a ton of ebooks out there these days. Most of the sites I visit in my circle have at least one available.
My question is simple: Do you charge anything for your ebook?
If so, how much do you charge? On what criteria do you base that price? Is it the type of content? Is it the number of pages?
Pros and Cons
Free Pros:
- Greater exposure for the content of the ebook
- Viewed as more community friendly (?)
- Gain names and email addresses for mailing lists, etc…
Free Cons:
- No $
- No $
- Content viewed as less valuable
- It’s a lot of freakin’ work to put one of them bad bears together
Charge Pros:
- The potential to make some money
- If the ebook goes viral, then it could make a LOT of money
- Content seen as valuable
- Author/site credibility (?)
Charge Cons:
- Less exposure for the content
- Potential to drive away viewers
- Once you charge, you’re locked in. Even one sale precludes offering it for free
So this is the dilemma faced by ebook authors.
This post is not some lame attempt to drive comments or bring traffic. I honestly need to know what people think because this is an issue for me right now.
If you’ve published an ebook, what was your thought process in this regard?
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These are great points, George, and something I’m struggling with myself right now. Something you didn’t mention but that I think is important is the fact that a lot of newbies–myself included–tend to devalue our work, and perhaps give things away that we should be charging for.
I’m interested to see the responses you get.
It really depends on what you doing with the ebook and what you trying to get. I give away my ebook free to build a email list which has done some great things for me.
KushMoney´s last blog post..January & February Income Report 2009
Hi Cindy,
I think that’s is where I’m coming from a bit too. I do have some sense of being too new to charge.
I very much look forward to seeing what folks have to say.
George
I’ve asked a lot of people this same question and I’ve come to the conclusion that charging is better than not charging. It’s all about perception. A person tends to value what costs them something. I have authored 41 “real” books in the past 10 years and breaking into the e-book market is a way to reach more people with good information that will help them. That is why I have launched an e-book branch of my business. Having said that, I think charging less for an e-book than you would charge for a hard copy of the same information is fair. Even Stephen King charged for one of his early books when he serialized it and made it available on the Internet. However, I also believe you could give away a teaser chapter that contained good information but leaves them wanting more.
Hey folks, Everyone welcome Alice! She emailed me and said this comment was her very first blog comment!
Three cheers!
Welcome aboard, Ms. Alice!
I think if the authors **truly** believes in the value of the e-book they have created, then charging is the only way to go.
That’s really what it comes down to. Do you believe the content is truly stellar, unique and helpful? If so – you must sell it.
If, on the other hand, it is the type of content that has been explored before… and yours is just another… then going the free route may be wise.
If I made an e-book… and poured myself into… and believed what I offered can’t be found elsewhere. I’d sell i, most likely.
Bamboo Forest – PunIntended´s last blog post..A Rushing River is The Ultimate Metaphor For a Wise Life
George, just to clarify…I wasn’t calling *you* a newbie! You are the Great Freelance Sage. I’m the newbie.
Cindy´s last blog post..Productivity Boost
George,
There are a few ways you could go, but the final choice depends on your goals for writing the ebook in the first place.
If you wrote it to generate income, sell it.
If you write it to increase traffic and build your brand, give it away.
There is a third option as well. Write a much smaller version with some of your main points outlined. Give it away, then try to upsell those who downloaded it to purchase the full version.
The smaller version would serve two purposes. You would build your online brand, and it could go viral too. It would also build your email list and some of those people might buy the complete version.
Normally, I would charge for that advice.
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Winning the Game
Cindy,
Haha. No, I didn’t take it that way.
But sometimes In the back of my mind I’m thinking that only folks like Kawasaki and ProBlogger should be charging.
George
George,
What a great post and as someone who has an e-book for sale I thought I would share my reasons with you. My book has been for sale since 2007. Back then there were quite a few books doing the rounds as there always is. I didn’t realise there were so many books until afterwards when I began doubting my creation and searching the market. Cindy is right, when you are a new writer, or if it is your first e-book you can be quite critical of yourself and I was the same. I kept thinking that people would read my e-book and think it was rubbish. When it came to pricing my e-book I knew that I wanted people to be able to afford it, I wanted them to see that I really did want to help and wasn’t just looking for a way to make a fast buck. I did my research and discovered that there were e-book going for $67 and more and I knew this was not a price I would have paid when starting off. I knew the most I would pay would have been around $25 and that is how I determined my price.
I genuinely wrote the e-book to help others who wanted to earn a living from writing and the comments I have received have been really pleasing so I am very grateful for that.
I guess if you have something that you think can help people, and you really do want to help, then yes go ahead and create an e-book, just remember to think of people’s budgets when you are selecting your price tag.
Amanda
Amanda Evans´s last blog post..How To Write Effective Articles And Content Part 3 of 4
Bamboo Forest,
Those are great points and exactly the thoughts that are going through my head.
Initially thought the book would be about a dozen pages and I would not charge. Right now I’ve got two out of ten chapters complete and I’m at 20 pages…
George
Terry,
Get me your paypal details and I’ll send ya a big, fat AIG style bonus
Good points my friend.
Cheers
George
Amanda,
I’m so glad you stopped by – I was hoping you would. I do know that you have an ebook for sale and your thoughts on the matter are important to me.
Your point is well taken about the pricing. I do think there is value in what I’m doing and if I go the charge route then I don’t want to price myself out of the market.
All: Amanda’s book is here:
http://ghostwritinguncovered.com/sl.html
George
@George: No payment necessary. Just say nicer things about me when you comment on my blog!
Uh . . . what’s “AIG” anyway; maybe I wouldn’t want that anyway.
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Winning the Game
I think best solution is to have some of both, then you aren’t torn between the two options. Of course, finding time to create good quality infoproducts is another story…
Meryl Evans´s last blog post..Guest Post: Writing is Rewriting
George:
I agree that you have to decide what you want out of the eBook. If you want to give away your great ideas, start a blog! Another idea to generate interest is to put excerpts of your eBook on your blog!
Dee Langdon – BloggerNewbie´s last blog post..Personal, Professional or Both?
Hi Dee,
I like your idea of giving a peek through excerpts. I think I’ll do just that.
George
Good to see the discussion here on whether or not to charge, and how much to charge. Good post and useful comments.
~jon
Jon,
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the contribution.
I’ve wrestled with this a bit recently with the Smashwords ebooks and the only conclusion I can really draw is to say that it varies on a case by case basis and you need to go with what your heart is telling you to do.
George
I found this article through Twitter, and felt compelled to add my two cents.
I’ve had some experience with offering my book, Waiting For Spring, both for free and at a small charge…at the same time. How obnoxious can a writer get?
I wrote an article about the experience at Publishing Renaissance. Warning: it’s full of “pros.”
http://publishren.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/why-free-pays/
RJ Keller´s last blog post..Absence makes the heart grow a flounder
RJ,
Thanks for coming by and weighing in. Your two cents is very valuable and I’m glad you posted the link to your article. It is very informative and I highly recommend folks to head on over and have a peek.
Love your site, by the way. I followed you on Twitter and I’ll spend more time on PubRen later today having a look around before I subscribe.
Cheers!
George
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I’m in the process of completing an eBook for my soon to launch blog. It will be a free eBook as I suspect I could stand to make money off of it, but I’d rather just help someone else out.
Also, I love the idea that if it indeed does go viral, it could only help my promotional efforts as well.
Yolanda,
YAY! Be sure and let me know when your site is live and when the ebook is done – I’d love to see them both.
Cheers!
George
I’m planning on writing an eBook for my blog soon, and I’m definitely going to charge. I give away tons of valuable content in my blog posts, and I don’t clutter my blog with tons of ads. So the eBook will be something extra that I’ll be putting a lot of effort into that people will have to pay for. The question I have is: What’s a good price tag to put on an eBook?
.-= Diana Freedman´s last blog ..5 Reasons to Lower Your Blog’s Bounce Rate =-.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for coming by. Whoo-weee. It is a tough question for sure. I lowered my ebook price on Kindle from about 6 bucks to 99 cents. It did give me a pretty big bump at first. I see so many pricing strategies out there. It kind of depends on what you think the perceived value will be by potential buyers.
My advice is to publish on Smashwords where you can actively adjust your pricing as you see fit.
Let me know what you decide!
George
Hey there George,
Thanks for this post and thank you everyone for your comments. I’m getting set to release my first book, Your Great Awakening and have been struggling with this for over a month now.
Do I have an answer to this question yet…?
Maybe…
Above Diana mentioned that she gives away tons of valuable content on her blog and that she doesn’t clutter her site with ads. I try to run my site the same way.
Did I work hard on this book? Yeah over a years worth of work.
Is it a good book? Best book I could have written so far.
Do I think there’s value in the book? Yes. Lots of it.
So is an ebook price of $9.95 and a paperback price of $14.95 too much to ask?
I think time will truly tell.
I think a couple of the people above really honed in on the two main questions that we need to ask ourselves:
1) Are we looking to build our tribe and our status as a thought leader?
Or
2) Are we looking to have an additional income stream, however small that may be after royalties or production costs and increase our status as a thought leader?
I think if you already have an OK sized tribe then most people will move to option 2. If you don’t have a tribe then option 1 and giving the book away for free may be the best choice.
So is that where I’m going with my book?
I’m going to go have a coffee and really make my mind up on this once and for all.
Thank you again for giving me the chance to get these thoughts out of my head.
Be Inspirational!
Ian
Ian Paul Marshall´s last [type] ..Stepping Into The Unknown
Ian,
Thanks for the thoughtful and intriguing comment. I think you’ve managed to opine what a lot of us are feeling in terms of our goal with writing a book. In some ways, I think authors had it easier before the electronic age.
Feel free to stop in anytime!
George