PUBLISHED MAY 2017
Compiled by Alexa Schlosser, Managing Editor,
IBPA Independent
Earlier this year,
IBPA Independent polled the membership about their e-books. We were curious: Is Amazon still the dominant platform? Is there consensus on how much e-books should cost? How do you go about making an e-book special? We received many responses to the survey, and although it isn’t a formal study, we hope the following responses are helpful in building a full picture of the digital publishing market for self-published authors and small publishers.
Anecdotally:
- “New releases typically enter the market at $7.99 and then drop to $5.99 or $4.99. After several months, I run some promotions with promotional pricing, then the e-books typically settle in around the $3.99 price point for the long haul.”
- “$2.99 on Amazon Kindle; $0.99 on Smashwords.”
- “The same retail price as print; most partners/channels already do a heavy discount.”
- “I try to have them at least $5 below our print book price, sometimes with an even greater discount.”
- “50 percent off from what I sell the paperback version.”
- “$8.99, in alignment with other business books’ e-prices.”
- “For new releases, between $4.99 to $6.99. For titles receiving heavy promotion, back-end, or just needing a boost, we stay between $0.99 and $3.99.”
- “$1.99 for novellas; $3.99 for books; $7.99 for graphic novels.”
- “I usually charge $2.99, but I like to have the first book in a series be free if the second book has come out.”
How do you make your e-books stand out?
![](http://articles.ibpa-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/kira-henschel-headshot-150x150.jpg)
“Good cover, often include photos or pictures, hyperlink the chapter titles in the TOC, pay attention to details with carriage returns, layout, etc. Creating the e-book is also a good way to proofread the physical book's text and catch errors before going to print.”
—Kira Henschel, Founder, HenschelHAUS Books
![](http://articles.ibpa-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/KellyPetersonHeadShot-150x150.jpg)
“Metadata coaching is big for us; we use multiple BISACs, keyword coaching, and more to achieve success. Our clients can do a one-on-one marketing session with us to review the metadata quality and consult on covers and files. Metadata is key for discovery online.”
—Kelly Peterson, Director of Client Services, INscribe Digital
![](http://articles.ibpa-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Claudia-Headshot-150x150.jpg)
“Strong cover, [and a] clean, well-organized flow that looks professional and is easy to navigate on different e-readers.”
—Claudia Newcorn, President, Acorn Enterprises
![](http://articles.ibpa-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Tina-Moss-Headshot-150x150.jpg)
“Solid covers, professional editing, and a generous ad campaign.”
—Tina Moss, Chief Operating Officer, City Owl Press
![](http://articles.ibpa-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IanLamont-150x150.jpg)
“I always include links, which are not possible with print, as well as color photos, which would be prohibitively expensive in print. A few years ago, I created a rich media book with video and slideshows using Apple's iBooks Author tool, but I won't be doing it again. It’s lots of extra work, it's not cross-platform, and the videos create huge files for readers to download.”
—Ian Lamont, Founder, i30 Media Corp