To price a book correctly to maximize sales, you need to know how other similar types of books are priced, as well as the costs of the book, in order to maximize your profits. Beyond these two factors, you must also factor in the discounts required to sell online and in bookstores.
Here are the steps involved in pricing:
• Seek out competitive titles, and make a list of the title, the page count, and the retail price of the book. Consider a price that makes sense based comparing your book's page count and complexity with the other books in the market.
Here are some typical retail price ranges for soft cover books based on page count:
• Add up the costs of producing your book, and divide by the quantity to determine the cost per book. You want to be sure you cover your costs adequately, even with the deep discounts you will see explained below.
Typical printing costs for self-published books depend on the quantity printed and are generally between $2 and $5 a book on quantities from 1,000 to 10,000 copies.
Other hard costs include editorial services, book design, illustrations, proofreading, indexing, permissions, bar code, and cover design. Unfortunately, you can't include the expense of your time or marketing costs or the book price would be much higher than the market will bear.
• Consider where and how you will sell the book to determine the discount you will need to offer for retailers and online sales. If you want to sell to bookstores through a distributor, the typical discount from retail price will be 50 percent to even 60 percent. Consider a typical 30 percent discount for sales through Amazon.com.
A mainstream publisher will print the price of the book on the back cover, usually on the bottom right corner next to the bar code with the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) number.
If you self-publish and don't plan on selling in bookstores, you may decide not to print the price on the book so you can easily change it if you find your costs are different from what you expected.
Another cost that must be considered here is shipping. Bookstores and Amazon.com will want you to pay to ship books to them. Most of the time, you can bill an individual customer for the price of the book as well as the shipping charges.
You may also want to create a volume discount schedule for books you sell directly to associations, companies, or other large buyers. This might go from 10 percent to a maximum 40 percent discount. Here is a typical discounting schedule:
2-9 books – 10 percent discount off the retail price 10-19 books – 20 percent 20–49 books – 30 percent 50 or more books – 40 percent
Copyright (c) 2007 Gail Richards
Many book proposals are sent to publishers that aren't ever going to be in the market for that type of book. Many others are sent without checking to see what the publisher is looking for, so the book proposal isn't developed fully enough to convince the publisher that a good book could be written by this author.
A book proposal is like a business plan for your book. If you don't convince the publisher that this is a popular enough subject to sell substantial number of books, and that you are the best author for the project due to your background and experience, and that you will be able to help sell the book effectively, then your project has little chance of being accepted.
Publishers and acquisitions editors weigh in to explain why some book proposals and manuscripts simply do not make it into serious consideration. Avoid these and your manuscript has a real chance of acceptance.
1. Proposal is weak ? The proposal doesn't make a strong case for why this topic and this author are likely to make a profitable book. 2. Nothing new ? The approach to this topic doesn't differentiate itself enough to rise above the other books already available. 3. Author/audience connection not made ? Author's platform is not developed enough to show the author would be a viable salesperson ? the database is too small or there is no direct reach such as a speaking schedule or a well-read blog or newsletter. 4. Writing not polished or compelling ? The sample chapters weren't ready for prime time ? extensive use of passive voice, excessive use of exclamation points or all caps, no statistics, stories or examples. 5. Not right for the publisher ? Either this is not a market the publisher is currently in or the editor/publisher isn't convinced that he or she wants to jump into this market with this book. 6. Author wrote a journal ? The book was written for and about the author, not an identified audience. Personal life stories, in general, are not commercially viable unless you are a famous person or have done or lived through something extraordinary or of significance (made it to the top of Mt. Everest, survived a shipwreck, not just making it through a rough childhood). 7. Unsolicited manuscript ? There is no personal connection between the editor/publisher and the author that would make the editor give the proposal more than a quick once over.
Get help with your book proposal. Have a number of people who have been through the process read it and help you make sure it meets all the criteria. Polish it and polish it until you make the best case you can for the publisher to seriously consider making an investment of time and money in you and your book.
Gail Richards has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, Finances and Guide Guitar. Gail Richards is founder of a dynamic website connecting aspiring authors with the cl. Gail Richards's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.