Tips for Pricing Self-Published Books
How do you price a self-published book?
Many indie authors struggle with this. What is the average price of a self-published book? What is the right price? How to encourage people to buy the book while optimizing earnings?
If you’re wondering “How much should I charge for my self-published book?” this post is for you.
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For the standard book printed on white or crème paper in black ink—
Price self-published ebooks between $3.99 and $9.99 US dollars.
The sweet spot for fiction books is $3.99 to $5.99, while the sweet spot for nonfiction books is $7.99 to $9.99.
The $3.99 to $9.99 ebook range will get you 70% royalties on Amazon, in most countries. (Books sold exclusively on Amazon may get 70% royalties in other instances, too.)
Price self-published paperbacks between $9.99 and $19.99 US dollars.
Price self-published hardcover books between $24.99 and $34.99 US dollars.
Typically, you’ll want to make at least $4 or $5 dollars profit on each print book sold.
Within that range, here’s what to consider, what not to consider, and some caveats.
How to price your self-published book
Here’s what you should consider when pricing your book:
Consider what is typical for the genre.
Look at the list price of comparable books, especially the bestselling indie books in your genre. Your book should have a typical or average price point.
In my study of 2020 US history books written on the Revolutionary War, I found that the average self-published ebook was $5.86 and the average paperback was $16.18 (about $0.07 to $0.08 per page). These numbers won’t apply to all genres and categories of books but may be useful for history and biography authors. Be sure to adjust for inflation!
Remember that self-published books are often less expensive than books from traditional publishing houses.
Maybe that’s because self-published authors tend to release books a little more frequently. Maybe that’s because an indie author lacks the overhead costs that a traditional publisher has. In any case, act accordingly.
The length of the book matters—to some extent.
Yes, a longer book or a shorter book can justify a larger or a smaller price tag. But writing a book that is too long and charging a proportional amount means you’ll price out buyers. Writing a book that is too short (like a short novel or novella) means that you’ll need to charge less to be competitive.
Remember buyer psychology.
Most book prices in the US, EU, and UK end with .99. Over the years authors have experimented with other pricing schemes, but readers expect to see a .99 on the end. In the UK, .49 is also common. Don’t try to be cute with your pricing.
If you’re selling internationally, you may want to round up or down when presented with currency conversions that end in numbers other than .99 or .49.
Want to run a special promotion, drop a price for a set period, or create a bundle or a box set? Try it!
For pre-orders, promotions, and first books in a (fiction) series, lower the price.
A short fiction ebook can be as low as $0.99. Is your goal to get readers on your email list?
If your book is a “lead magnet,” it can certainly be priced lower than your other books (in the same series), or even given away for free.
If you’re looking for reviews, you might charge less. You can even drop the price temporarily.
If you’ve got a lot of reviews and a ton of sales, you might bump up the price.
For a cookbook or a heavily illustrated book, you can charge more.
The quality of the images (and the fact that they will most likely be in color) justifies the higher price.
Got a nonfiction self-help or how-to book that solves a major problem or offers obscure expertise? You may be able to charge a little more.
Think about it: If you can make people a lot of money investing in real estate or stocks, or if you are writing a technical guide for professionals or a comprehensive guide to something, you can probably charge more and get sales.
How not to price your self-published book
There are some things you should ignore when pricing your book:
It doesn’t matter how much you spent creating it.
You should produce a quality book, then make an effort to sell it.
Just because you required a lot of editing or you overpaid on book design doesn’t mean you can pass along the cost to your readers and expect them to go along with it.
It doesn’t matter how much you want to make in royalties on each book.
Straying from the average price will usually get you in trouble. If you want to be able to charge a lower price and make more profits, too, keep in mind that the lowest printing costs come from black & white ink books that are 5.5 × 8.5 inches (also known as “digest”) or 6 × 9 inches (also known as “US trade”).
(Here’s an article detailing the best book trim size for fiction and nonfiction books, see this article.)
Set aside your preconceptions.
If you think a certain price would make your book seem less credible or less legitimate than a traditionally published book that costs a little more, your sales may suffer. Again, self-published books cost less than traditionally published books.
Kobo, Apple, and Google Books readers are often willing to pay higher prices.
(I learned this from the now-defunct but well-worth-listening-to Six-Figure Authors podcast, in Episode #083.)
If you publish “wide”—meaning not just on Amazon or with one retailer—your book should be priced consistently across the board so as not to violate terms of service or alienate readers.
But if you want or need to charge a little more or on the higher end for an ebook, for whatever reason, you might have good luck selling it on Kobo, Apple, or Google Books, and you might want to consider making it available on those platforms.
Want to read more on pricing self-published books?
Here are some articles on how much to charge for a self-published book that I found useful.
“How Much Should My Book Cost? Tips for Pricing Your Book” (IngramSpark)
“How Much to Charge When Pricing a Self-Published Book to Sell on Amazon” (Author Imprints)
You might also like my other blog posts
Here are some of my most popular blog posts.
Self-Publishing Royalties (find out how much you can make when your book is a given price)
“Master the Art of Writing Book Descriptions That Sell with These 10 Tips”
I hope these pricing strategies and other considerations for your self-published book will help you make more sales.