Author Topic: How short is too short to sell  (Read 1633 times)

alhawke

How short is too short to sell
« on: October 10, 2022, 01:46:22 AM »
What's the shortest book that could, or should, be sold on Amazon? I'm referring to fantasy, sci-fi, romance. And how should you price it?

The reason I ask is I'm having second thoughts over a novella I've written. My original plan was to use it as a reader magnet only, but I've received advice from beta readers that it should be sold as a title on its own. My short is 16k which amounts to around 60-70 pages. It's a complete standalone short story, but it's definitely on the short side. Can such a book be sold for 99c on retailers? I mean, of course it can, but should it? Or should I go back to plan and allow it only as a download for newsletter sign ups? The other book I have for newsletter signups currently is about half the size of this one. I was thinking, a 99c book can draw in readers too, right? I don't sell any books at such a low price point (except in sale promotions).

Another marketing thought. Should I release at 99c on KU? I'm not in KU with my other books, but I could draw in KU readers that way. Or would this upset my readers wide?
 

TimothyEllis

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2022, 01:53:13 AM »
16k is quite long for shorts.

I've several under 10k.

99c is appropriate.

I've got one at 11k, one at 12.5k, and another at 13k, all of which are 2.99.

If you're pricing novels at 4.99 or higher, then a 16k short could be 2.99. But if you're pricing novels at 2.99, then 99c.

If you don't already have traction in KU, then putting it in there on its own isn't going to do anything, unless it sells so well first it gets a decent rank.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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alhawke

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2022, 01:56:58 AM »
I've got one at 11k, one at 12.5k, and another at 13k, all of which are 2.99.

If you're pricing novels at 4.99 or higher, then a 16k short could be 2.99. But if you're pricing novels at 2.99, then 99c.

If you don't already have traction in KU, then putting it in there on its own isn't going to do anything, unless it sells so well first it gets a decent rank.
Thanks! My average book selling price is now set at $4.99 USD. $2.99 ?? Hmm...
What about $1.99? It's weird with lower royalty, of course, but it's another option.
 

Bill Hiatt

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2022, 03:51:19 AM »
For what little it's worth, I used to get some sales from shorts, but those dried up over time. When I first started, there was even a market for $0.99 short stories. But those titles have now sat for years without a sale, even though the longer books they're associated with still sell.

I think the problem is the overuse of discount pricing. When people can get whole novels for $0.99 (and sometimes even box sets), a $0.99 short doesn't seem like that much of a bargain.

That said, there's no harm, to quote the old phrase, in "running it up the flagpole and see who salutes." Put it up at a price that feels comfortable and see what happens. You can always use it as a reader magnet later if you aren't getting sales. You can even leave it up on Amazon, just in case it picks up a stray sale here or there later on. (The same shorts that do nothing for me in sales terms make great magnets. Interestingly, one of them that hasn't sold in years picked up four five-star ratings o Amazon, presumably all from people who picked it up as a magnet.)

I agree with Timothy, though--don't put it in KU. KU readers seem to much prefer authors who are all in. If they look and see that's the only piece in KU, they're less likely to bother at all. But wide readers, if they notice it, will probably be irked. Also, if it's in KU, that forces a slower pivot if you decide to use it as a magnet.


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alhawke

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2022, 04:06:57 AM »
That said, there's no harm, to quote the old phrase, in "running it up the flagpole and see who salutes." Put it up at a price that feels comfortable and see what happens. You can always use it as a reader magnet later if you aren't getting sales.
I'm thinking this too...
I probably won't go with KU. It could help with Amazon but it could hurt visibility in the other markets. Still thinking about my options. :icon_think:
« Last Edit: October 10, 2022, 04:09:34 AM by alhawke »
 

Lynn

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2022, 04:18:14 AM »
I personally wouldn't sell anything standalone shorter than about 3k words. I'd make a collection for them. But I have several shorts in the 5k to 10k range that I sell for 2.99 that are tie-ins to my series novels. They sell. Fans like in-universe treats and will pay for them if you don't set a precedent for giving it all away. :D
Don't rush me.
 
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alhawke

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2022, 04:48:00 AM »
Fans like in-universe treats and will pay for them if you don't set a precedent for giving it all away. :D
Do you link these on Amazon with the novel as "series"?
 

Bill Hiatt

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2022, 05:31:29 AM »
Fans like in-universe treats and will pay for them if you don't set a precedent for giving it all away. :D
Do you link these on Amazon with the novel as "series"?
Does Amazon now allow that? I know they had reached the point of linking items as related materials, but the last time I checked, you couldn't make a short be an actual part of a series.


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alhawke

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2022, 08:52:43 AM »
Does Amazon now allow that? I know they had reached the point of linking items as related materials, but the last time I checked, you couldn't make a short be an actual part of a series.
:shrug I'm new to the whole short story thing. Of course, if it's against TOS, that takes care of that idea.
 

LilyBLily

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2022, 10:39:34 AM »
I've seen people put the number 0 in a short but it doesn't get into the official series page Amazon creates or any of the sub-series pages Amazon does.

As far as selling items one has already given away, that's what we do all the time when we revert "free" sale prices to regular ones. Mary Kingswood gives away ebook shorts to subscribers to start her series and then publishes the shorts as paperback books only. I'm planning to do the same for a couple of mine.

Also, you might change the sign-up giveaway item after some years and publish that as a paperback or even an ebook and do a new, even more exclusive sign-up freebie. There are many possibilities.
 
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TimothyEllis

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2022, 11:47:20 AM »
Do you link these on Amazon with the novel as "series"?
Does Amazon now allow that? I know they had reached the point of linking items as related materials, but the last time I checked, you couldn't make a short be an actual part of a series.

You can do anything you want with your own series page now.

So I finally was able to insert my own shorts back into the series where they belonged.

The other thing I did was a series of prequel shorts. So instead of being tied to the first series, they are an actual prequel series. The longest one is 13k.

When they finally did the facility for us doing our own series pages, they also removed all the rules on them.

The only thing you can't do still is define a book as book 0. Or link series.

You do still need to ensure cover = metadata = front matter.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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Lynn

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2022, 03:05:43 PM »
Fans like in-universe treats and will pay for them if you don't set a precedent for giving it all away. :D
Do you link these on Amazon with the novel as "series"?

I add it to the series as related content.
Don't rush me.
 

TimothyEllis

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #12 on: October 10, 2022, 03:19:58 PM »
I add it to the series as related content.

But related content doesn't actually show up anywhere you can see it. Or it didn't when I tried it.
Genres: Space Opera/Fantasy/Cyberpunk, with elements of LitRPG and GameLit, with a touch of the Supernatural. Also Spiritual and Games.



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writeway

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2022, 03:20:54 PM »
Any length allowed on Amazon is what should be sold there. It's about what length the author feels is necessary to tell a story. My shortest stories are around 5,000 words. I've stopped writing novels. I enjoy writing shorts and novellas more now and my money is better because I can get work out faster than when writing a novel. My novels were around 70,000-80,000 words on average. A few in the 100,000s. My shorts are around 5,000-15,000 words. Novella 20,000-40,000. I was wide for a while but went back into KU a few years ago. I do well with shorts in KU and if you move a good amount you can make good page reads. I write romance, erotica, and mysteries. Needless to say, my erotica is the shortest word count. With romance and my romantic suspense, these are mainly novella lengths though I have a few romance shorties as well. I know some doing well in erotica with 3,000-word shorts but I can't write that short. My erotica includes a story and character development. It's not just porn where folks just have sex and that's it. Not that I am knocking it but I need room to tell a satisfying story so 5,000 is my limit on the short side. I have a new erotica series I am working where the first book is probably the shortest. There are 9 books in the series so far and I am shooting for at least 30 in the series. The first is 0.99 and the rest 2.99.
 
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Bill Hiatt

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Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2022, 12:52:48 AM »
I add it to the series as related content.

But related content doesn't actually show up anywhere you can see it. Or it didn't when I tried it.

I just checked. Some time ago, my prequel that was listed as 0 got bumped out. At some point, I listed it as related material. It appears on the bottom of the series page.


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cecilia_writer

Re: How short is too short to sell
« Reply #15 on: October 12, 2022, 04:49:49 AM »
I published something in the summer that was a stand-alone novella plus a handful of short stories I thought my readers might like. I developed the novella from 5 linked short stories I'd written during 2021 as part of a short story writing challenge. I almost always write in series but I was starting to feel trapped by series novels, so I really enjoyed writing sonething a bit different.
I did put it in KU because I wanted to enter it in the Kindle Storyteller competition, but I probably shouldn't have bothered with that. At least one of my regular readers was quite cross about that.
I plan to work another short story up into a novella soon as it was such fun but I doubt if I will put the next one in KU.
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