Pre orders

[idontknowyet]

Can I start my pre orders at .99cents then raise the price to 3.99?
Or can I start my pre orders at  3.99  offer a sale at .99cents for a week or two then return them to 3.99?

[PaulineMRoss]

Be careful changing the price of pre-orders. If you start high and then reduce it, the price goes down for EVERY pre-order in the bag at that point. On the other hand, if you start low and then increase it, the low price stays for the early ones, and the later ones get the higher price.

At least, that's how it used to work.

[TimothyEllis]

Be careful changing the price of pre-orders. If you start high and then reduce it, the price goes down for EVERY pre-order in the bag at that point. On the other hand, if you start low and then increase it, the low price stays for the early ones, and the later ones get the higher price.

At least, that's how it used to work.

Still does. afaik

Better to set a pre-order price low, then change it up a day or week after release.

Mind you, I don't understand the release low philosophy.

I get that it can work to boost rank, but unless it does so into the top 200, you're leaving a lot of money on the table, because below 200, most of those people would have bought regardless of the price. And at 4.99 instead of 99c, that's a huge amount left on the table, that takes a huge number of additional sales to get back.

Anderle was an advocate of the 99c release, although I'm not sure he does it anymore. But he did used to get his new releases in the top 200, and often 100. So maybe it worked for him.

But if your releases normally top out around 1000, I can't see any benefit in using 99c to release at, since you'll probably never make back what you leave on the table by doing it.

[idontknowyet]

I'm thinking of doing this only for first in series.

Often those are the ones that get discounted anyway. My readers are buying book 2 and 3 via preorder but not one. I'm guessing they want to avoid the full price and get it when its on promo. At this point they've read 10 of my books and the next series is 9 books giving one to loyal fans at .99cents so that they will not forget my books between releases doesn't seem like a bad idea.

[alhawke]

I'm thinking of doing this only for first in series.

It's a consideration for a series if it will push enough sales of the other books. I might do this very thing with a future release. My idea, still evolving, is to set a sale for the first book at 0.99, put the second at regular price, and the third on preorder. I might reduce the second and third book price by like a dollar, but I'm unsure yet ($2.99 instead of $3.99). I've even considered running--cringe time--a free sale on the first book to move the others at the time of the second book release, but I'm as averse to free sales as Timothy is to 99c sales.

So to say with less verbiage, imo, 99c might push the other books in a series forward or help a single book with rank. But the trick is the book and the market and whether it will be worth it. It's a gamble.

As far as changing price, I try to keep preorders the same prices unless there is a sudden change in my marketing plan or a price error (both of which have happened to me). Be cognizant of the final sales price remaining at your lowest, as people mentioned above.