How Much Should a Novel Cost?

It’s a tough question, and it’s one that shouldn’t be answered with a shrug and a blindfolded dart toss: How much should a novel cost? More specifically when it comes to me (and, maybe, you), how much should my novel cost? There are plenty of factors that go into figuring that out.

If you’re an indie author, answering that question is, essentially, all on you. But, at least on Amazon, they’re going to give you a gentle nudge in the direction they want. They do that by varying the royalties they offer at different price points. If someone buys your ebook at $2.99-$9.99, you get a 70% royalty for that sale. Woo-hoo! But if you price it anywhere outside of that, you only get 35%. That’s Amazon trying to steer indie authors into what they’ve deemed a sweet spot of sorts. That almost certainly means you should hit that range, unless it’s during an authorized promotion to please the Amazon gods.

Traditionally published books seem to have no such qualms. As a recent example, I saw a great piece from Bookbub the other day where they listed 6 Thrillers for Alfred Hitchcock Fans. I thought, “Self, you’re a Hitchcock fan! And, hey, you also love thrillers! This is perfect for you!” So, I click and read. The descriptions sounded like I’d love them. And several of them were authors who were new to me. Even better! I searched for them on Amazon, ready to click the “Buy” button and start reading them. But then, I see the prices: $10.99, $12.99, $15.99! The cheapest was $9.99, for a digital version of the book. I don’t begrudge authors getting paid for their work, but maybe I’ll keep an eye out for these at the library.

The key is, all of those were traditionally published. The big guys don’t care what Amazon says. They have their algorithms, Amazon be damned. For the rest of us, though, we might not have the leverage to be quite so cavalier when it comes to fiction. Once we figure we’re going to be between $2.99 and $9.99, where should we land within that range?

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to that. If you’ve established some sort of an audience with earlier works, you can probably climb that ladder a bit. But, for jackasses like me who are publishing their debut novel probably have to lean toward the bottom of that range to entice people to take a chance on some dude they’ve never heard of. As such, I’d expect to put the ebook version of “Killing the Immortals” up for $4.99 to start, and adjust from there if need be.

As far as the paperback version goes, that’s an entirely different ball game. A good rule of thumb for indie authors, though, is to multiply your cost to purchase the book by 3 to 3.5, and hit the closest $.95 mark. For me, Createspace is going to charge me around $3.50 to buy my book from them. That means that I’d probably price my paperback in the neighborhood of $11.95-$12.95 for the list price, if I follow that guideline. Your mileage, of course, may vary.