Shortly before I deleted my author page on Facebook, I began giving some marketing advice to the authors that followed me.
Nothing too controversial because I am not one to spend hours dealing with people in the comment section, but solid principles that can be beneficial to self-published authors.
One was to stop underpricing their books.
There are a lot of reasons for that, the most obvious being that if you don’t sell it at a fair price, you’re not going to earn a fair amount back per copy.
People think self-publishing is easier than what a traditional publisher does, but in truth, all the work a traditional publisher does just falls on the author instead.
Self-published authors deserve more money per sale for their extra work, not less.
The primary reason I gave, though, was that having a book that is priced too low makes it more obvious that you are a self-published, independent author, which causes many people to question the quality of your book.
Often, authors think having a lower price will get them more sales. While having a price that’s too high is counterproductive, I’ve often found that so is having a price that is too low.
To look like a professional worth reading, you often have to set professional prices, the same prices that a publisher would set on your behalf if you published traditionally.
I priced I Will Rise at $5.99 USD for two reasons, neither of which have anything to do with looking professional, should that reasoning not speak to you.
First, I wrote all of the poetry inside; arranged it all in a way that made sense; edited it for clarity, length, content; edited it for grammar and spelling; designed the cover; formatted that cover to the specifications I was given; formatted my manuscript to the specifications that I was given; wrote my own book blurb; made my own arrangements for reviews I could use ahead of release; created all my own advertising and marketing strategies (poorly, this time around); did and still do all my own book promotions; arranged for global distribution myself; and created my own author page.
I use services I pay for to accomplish many of those things, so it’s not like I’m only investing my time. There’s also a financial investment on my part.
I’ll have to pay for my print copies up front, too, and for all the book box items to be printed, inspected, and laminated.
I also (try my best to) maintain my own author website where readers can find and connect with me.
I deserve to make a decent amount off of each sale in exchange for all that- and it’s still not really a fair amount unless I sell a ton of books.
Second, I intentionally set it slightly higher than I would have liked so I can regularly run promotions and sales on the platforms it’s available on and also offer it on my own website at an exclusive reduced price.
This drives traffic to my website and still enables me to make it available for as little as I would like other places to attract new readers!
I’m fully aware of how much I put into creating this book, and of the toll it took on me to do so all by myself.
Everyone can make their own decisions about pricing and what they are willing to accept in return for the work they put in, but I chose this price and plan because it seems most fair to me and my readers.
J.A. Steckling 