What is the best Kindle pricing range? To answer how to price your Kindle book, first ask yourself, “Am I more interested cash sales or gaining exposure/subscribers?”
When to Offer Your Book for Free
If your goal is to use your Kindle eBook to attract subscribers to your website and other offerings, or branding is more of a priority than sales, opt in for the KDP Select program. People on Amazon Prime will be able to borrow your book for free, but the aim is to gather reviews and ratings. Keep in mind though, that you can’t publish it anywhere else if it is enrolled in KDP Select.
How to Price Your Kindle Book
But you didn’t write your book just to give it away. What do you set the price for everyone else who isn’t enrolled in Amazon Prime?
- Examine the pricing range among the top sellers in your broad niche and specialized exact niche
- Come up with the ballpark price range (e.g. $2.99 – $18.80)
- Factor in:
- Your status – are you a new author? One with a modest following?
- Your topic’s popularity – is it trending right now? Are you ahead with breaking news for that niche? Do you have material on a celebrity that is red hot right now? Will your book change the world? Change peoples’ lives?
- Your book’s originality – Are you really saying something new and exciting or regurgitating the same thing as your competitors? What edge does your book have? What will excite people? Make your book irresistible?
- Your cover photo, Title and Sub–Title – Yes, these factors contribute enormously to your Kindle sales appeal. (Your description and keyword use matter too, letting people know how much your book will be worth emotionally, in perceived value.)
Price your Kindle book based on these factors and how many of them swing in your favor – not on how “new” you are as an author.
Look at other books in your genre to determine their pricing. Ask yourself: “Which one is my book most like? Have I advised people what to expect? Have I got a strong, appropriate cover and title? Does it look professional, like a “real book?” Did I feel sure and confident in arranging the interviews and inserting my commentary?
Be familiar with the KDP pricing range. You’ll receive 30% of the royalties if you price your book under or over the recommended KDP range.
Then promote the heck out of it.
Finally, you would see how well it does, and make notes so you can be even more clear on your pricing with your next Kindle offering.
Moral: Pricing is not an exact science, though many factors such as the ones above will affect your success. And don’t waste too much time analyzing the competition.
Many of Pat Iyer’s recent books are in Kindle form. See a complete listing at patiyer.com/books.
