Pricing for pre-order

[Gerri Attrick]

Hi.

Just wanted to ask for advice on pricing for a pre-order for a second in series. In the Historical Mystery/Cozy Mystery categories and the first book is priced at $3.99.

Do people who pre-order expect a lower price for doing so? Are they bargain hunters? Or should I price at the same as book 1 right out of the gate?

[WasAnn]

I don't often do pre-orders, but when I did, I priced it at 0.99 instead of 3.99. I did that so my newsletter readers could get the bargain they usually get when I launch. I always do a "soft launch" at 0.99 for a few days to give the NL subs a price break.

All that did was dilute my otherwise great launch numbers, so I probably wouldn't do that again.

[Gerri Attrick]

Thanks, WasAnn.

Yes, I’ve done the 0.99 launch for my nl subs before now and it’s just an exercise in leaving money on the table. My sales numbers weren’t that much better for it, either. 

I do feel, though, that there has to be an incentive for people to pre-order. I just wish I knew how to do it without losing any money - I certainly shan’t be running any ads on it.

[VanessaC]

I run pre-orders on my books, and as I'm still starting out and write in series the pricing is 0.99 for book 1, then 2.99 for the rest in series, and I set my pre-orders up with those prices.

I found that as I worked through the first series, the number of pre-orders increased as the series went on - don't get me wrong, we're still talking very small numbers - but the "high" price didn't put people off pre-ordering.

I think if people enjoy your books, and you're reasonably priced, then they will pre-order to make sure they get your book.

Just my tuppence worth.

[LilyBLily]

I've tried it that way and also tried knocking a dollar off for NL subscribers. Didn't make any difference. The only time a pre-order actually worked for me was when Amazon must have contacted the people who bought Book 1, because at that time I didn't advertise and I have never discounted Book 2; its sales were good anyway from the get-go. (Good in a minor number, that is.)

I just got a NL from an author I admire, and her latest book was offered at only 99 cents. I bought it right away because I wanted to read it, but I would have bought it anyway at whatever the regular price ended up being. So there's where the author loses. The true fans do not care about the price. I hope my purchase at least contributed to a rank rise that helped her visibility.

[Rosie Scott]

I have never offered a pre-order discount and I've had a similar experience to VanessaC. The higher prices for later books didn't put people off of pre-ordering. My series goes from $3.99 > $3.99 > $4.99 > $5.99 > $5.99 > $6.99 and each book had more pre-orders than the last.

Personally, I've never pre-ordered a book but I have pre-ordered lots of video games. The ones I do are ones I'm raring to play right away and want to support the developers with as much money as possible. I figure books are the same way. If readers want it bad enough, they'll pay the full price and be happy to do so. There have been times where I've held off on buying books on sale because I want to pay more to support the author, but that's only if I'm a huge fan. Given the biggest fans are likely to be those to pre-order, I'd have to think pre-order discounts only cut into an author's profits without providing much benefit.

[Gerri Attrick]

Thanks, everyone.

Looks like I’ll be offering the pre-order at full price, then.

I put the first in the series up for pre-order at $2.99 then upped to $3.99 within a couple of days of release. I was just testing the waters - the first pre-order I’d done and in a new series, though not a new pen name - and it was only on pre-order for about two weeks. In that time I had a massive (not!) 20 orders. This time I’m going for the full 90 days, though I may bring it forward if it’s finished on time.

If! I’d better get on with it, then.

Thanks again.