Ego-driven book pricing

Some authors have an unjustified opinion of their books' value, and maybe their own value. If a book is priced too high, especially if it's much higher than competitive books, or if it seems to offer poor value, few people will buy it.

High prices seem to be common in the self-help/inspirational field, and also with books from self-publishing companies that dictate high cover prices to ensure high profits.

Some of my previous posts about high prices:

• http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-author-says-his-book-is-perfect-i.html  (58 printed pages for $20, or $10 ebook)
• http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/landmark-day-westbow-press-releases-its.html ($39.95 hardcover version of an overpriced $24.95 paperback)
• http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/one-book-page-can-cost-little-over.html (the high cost of adding one page to a book)
• http://bookmakingblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/price-and-pride-how-much-is-your-book.html (expensive books from newbie authors compared to similar books from established authors)

Outskirts Press -- the company I love to hate -- recently started promoting a new book, Life Just Happens. You can left-click to enlarge the image for easier reading.

The book has just 50 pages. That's more like a pamphlet or a magazine article -- not a book, but the paperback is priced at $9.95 and the ebook at $6.95.

Those are HIGH prices for a first-book by an unknown author. Maybe Pierre De Coene is revealing the secret to eternal life, eternal bliss, fat-free pizza or eight-hour orgasm -- or maybe not. I won't pay more than $4.99 to find out.

There are plenty of informative and entertaining ebooks available at prices from 99 cents to $4.99. (I make much more money each month from the $4.99-list-price ebook version of my Stories I'd Tell My Children (but maybe not until they're adults) than I do from the more expensive paperback and hardcover editions.)


...