A question about KDP price strategy

[iwannabepublished]

I have recently posted my first two books of a multi-book series on KDP. I'm putting hte finishing touches on the third. Now I'm trying to figure out what kind of pricing strategy to use and am looking for suggestions. I should point out that my main goal right now is not to make money, although that would of course be very nice. I figure that once I get people interested in my work future stories will be easier to sell. My first thought was to price everything for 99 cents. Then I thought about just making each new book one dollar more. Now I'm thinking the best idea is to put the first out for no cost in the hope of enticing readers to take a shot and hopefully generating enough interest that people will be willing to pay for new books in the series. Any suggestions will be most welcome.

I'm also trying to figure out ways to promote my work. I've been playing with a Facebook page but can't seem to get it to work the way I would like. Any suggestions for self promotion will also be most welcome.

[J. Tanner]

Heavily discounting the first book in a series to .99 or free then pricing the others around $3.99 has shown for many to be an effective strategy.

You'll have the opportunity as a self-publisher to try various pricing strategies to see what works best for you so you don't need to make any final decisions now.

[WackAMole]

As for promoting, I am no expert and I am still learning but I think goodreads has been a good experience in terms of getting to know other writers and to find people willing to review indie books. Be warned though, if you ask for a review, goodreads has some people who have a reputation for really liking to give out snarky reviews.

I joined up and i noticed that one woman I became friends with added my books to her 'to-read' list. Because she added it, I guess her friends saw and added it also. Goodreads has good and bad sides but I have found it to be a pretty good experience so far.

Facebook is easy. If you get your facebook up and running start making some friends. have your friends post your link (tastefully of course) Do not solicit reviews from family and friends. This looks bad. Some will do it anyway even if you don't ask, I would try to discourage that. But the thing is, if they link it on their wall, their friends see it and so on. If you go KDP taking advantage of those free promo days is a fantastic way to give your book a little jumpstart. (at least it was for me) I am still learning but I hope some of this helps somehow! Good luck to you!

[merrihiatt]

My suggestion would be to offer the first book for $.99 cents, the second for $1.99, and the third for $2.99 as a starting point. Watch your download stats and see how it goes for a month. With Amazon KDP, you can change the pricing at any time. Give each change at least a month, though, as downloads can fluctuate a lot and giving it a month will give you a better idea than, say, a week. I have also found the free promotional offers through Amazon KDP Select to be helpful (I think this works better with a series or if you have multiple books available).

Good luck!

[Nick Russell]

I priced my first book, Big Lake, at 99 cents, and the sequel, Big Lake Lynching, at $2.99 and that has worked out well for me.

Here are a couple of blog posts I wrote on how I promote my books.
http://publishing4profit.com/blog/20...l-e-books-q-a/
http://publishing4profit.com/blog/20...ust-an-author/

Good luck with your publishing efforts. Please let us know how you are doing.

[Katie Elle]

I would not bother with $1.99, you either want a loss leader at 99 cents or you want that 70% commission at $2.99.

[Nick Russell]

I agree with Katie on that

[AnneGlynn]

Isn't KDP the "Free for Prime" members that Amazon has been promoting? Or are you just wanting pricing ideas for general Kindle books?

[Nick Russell]

K D P is Kindle Direct Publishing which is for all Kindle books. KDP Select is the free book program you are referring to.