I’m curious to see what others think about the price of Kindle books.
Here’s how I browse when looking for a new author. I scroll for a title that catches my eye, and more importantly, a tag that looks professional. I saw a tag after a title not that long ago that said, ‘A thriller mystery romance!’ Well, if the author doesn’t know the genre, I’m certainly not going to be able to figure it out either. Plus exclamation points telling me I should be excited have the opposite effect.
After I find something that catches my eye, the next thing I look at is the price. If the Kindle price is over $4.99 I move on. Even if it’s a big name author. If the book is written by one of my favorite authors I’m still not going to pay more for it. Because if I’m going to pay $15 for a book, it’s going to be an actual book I can hold, especially if it’s a favorite author.
One of the reasons I won’t pay much for a Kindle book is I always wonder how they justify the price. ‘They’ as in the authors or publishers. If there are no printing costs, no shipping costs, etc., then why does the e-book cost the same as the paper version?
Once I did spend $13 for a Kindle book by a big name author. I’d never read the author, the synopsis sounded intriguing, and I figured if I liked it, the author had a lot more books I could read. It was one of the worst books I’ve read. I should have at least downloaded a sample first.
I understand the whole concept of valuing the author’s time and how long it takes to write a novel. I understand publishing costs, the cost for editing services, cover art, etc. And I also understand that people want to make a living. But even with all that understanding, I just can’t bring myself to spend a lot on an e-book.
I’m curious what others think about this. I keep my Kindle prices low, and keep the first book in the series free hoping to make the books accessible to all. Do you equate cheap prices with low quality? How do you justify spending on e-books when there are little production costs? Does it bother you that an e-book can cost almost the same as a hardback book?
I’d love to hear opinions on this as I’m very curious – and also looking for something new to read on Kindle.
Lisa Stowe - The Story River Blog 
I’ve been trying to curb my Kindle habit and read actual books. I was really doing a LOT of late at night click-clicking and it was getting out of control. So back to books. Harder to read in bed, though. 🙂
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There is something about holding an actual book… though I agree with you about reading in bed, especially if it’s a book the size of Stephen King’s novels. A friend once told me she would buy a Kindle when it could survive being accidentally dropped in the bathtub.
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I was just reading an exchange on Facebook suggesting that writers, that artists, need a union to help us standardize pricing for our work and reduce the amount of free pieces we have to put out there in order to have our work noticed at all. Every kind of change brings unforseen challenges, but I’m inclined to agree.
I often read the short free previews on Amazon when an author’s work is praised so I have a clue what’s going on in the writing world, but I haven’t had money to spend on books for a long time now. If I did, I’d definitely expect to pay at least two dollars for an ebook, but definitely not as much as for paper.
I hope it’s okay to say this here, but if not please delete this part. Depression has done something strange to my attention span and focus for sitting still and reading more than an article or two. I’m so sorry about that. I’m three quarters of the way through the first book you gave me — rooting for the heroine and hoping a romance blossoms for her 🙂 and I have Lisa Hsia’s piece to read in the anthology she was in, and Averil Dean’s two books to read, but reading books is like knitting is for me now. I love it but it’s hard for me to do when I’m stressed. This is probably also why writing is so hard for me, but I feel so pointless when I don’t at least try that. I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Hope you’re feeling much better. ❤
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I completely understand the weight of depression and how that impacts our art, whether it’s writing, painting, or knitting. I think when that weight is upon us, our attention span is short because it needs to be focused on the tiny little moments that give us some peace. If that makes sense. Interesting about the union. I’m not sure I’m in favor of anything that takes control away from the author. And thanks for thinking about me – energy is returning and blood counts are climbing so all is good so far.
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