Ask HN: Marketing and Pricing Advice for Self-Published eBook

[maguay]

If you were writing a technology centric eBook, would you publish it free online and sell a digital eBook (PDF/ePUB/etc.) and Print on Demand version, or just have it for sell with a free sample chapter like most traditional publishers? I'm noticing many online eBooks that are available fully free online but with for pay extras, http://railstutorial.org being a good example. The free content would obviously be a great way for people to discover your writing, but also lowers the likelihood of them paying. Then again, a for-pay eBook that no one knows of won't get sold either. Most of all, there's no reason we need to stick with only the most traditional sales methods with eBooks. What's your feelings about each method, and which would you choose? I've almost decided what I want to do, but would be interested to see the general thoughts on both models

Note: This is a repost of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2042898, as the original post didn't get any response.

[jasonfried]

When we published Getting Real (http://gettingreal.37signals.com) we only offered it in two flavors: $19 for a personal-use PDF, and $49 for a you-can-share-it-with-10-friends/colleagues PDF. We didn't offer a free version.

A few years later, we offered a free version in HTML online. Sales of the PDF plummeted. That was fine with us - we'd already pulled in ~$500k on the PDF. At that point we just wanted to spread the Getting Real word as far and wide as we can. The free HTML version helped do that.

But the lesson is: If it's pay only, people will buy it. If it's pay and free, you'll lose a ton of potential buyers. Id start with pay only (starting at $19) and then phase in a free version down the road once you're happy with the money you've already made.

[maguay → jasonfried]

I didn't realize Getting Real wasn't always available free, but then I only discovered it last year. Very interesting; I assumed the free online book was designed to drive sales of the for-pay PDF. (As a side note, thanks for the great info offered in Getting Real; it's a book I recommend often!).

I was actually planning to price my eBooks very low, even undercutting the industry average $9.99 just to try to gain traction. Would you still start at a high price even as a new book author? I have a fair online audience from various blogs I write for, but really am virtually unknown in tech writing. I know 37signals always advocates charging higher prices for products, but would you feel the same starting out fresh without an already strong readership and support?

Thanks so much for your advice; I really appreciate you taking time to reply!

[jasonfried → maguay]

I'd charge $19. If people don't know you, they probably aren't going to buy your self-published book anyway - even at $9.99 or less. Those who do know you, and want to support you, will pay $19. If they book is excellent, and people begin talking about it, people will pay $19 if they are referred by someone else who liked it.

My quick 2 cents. In the end it all depends on your goals. Is it to spread your message as wide as possible? Is it to profit nicely? Is it somewhere in the middle? Some stuff to think about. Remember: You can always lower the price and/or go free later. Raising the price later is always harder. I'd test the higher end of the market at $19 first. See how that goes.

FYI, even today we still make a few thousand dollars a month on the PDF and paperback version of Getting Real.

Thanks for your kind words re: Getting Real.

[maguay → jasonfried]

My main goal is to profit while addressing a market I feel is under-served. At the very least, I planned to shoot for a $9.99 or less price to get the higher royalty rate on Kindle (and to not looked overpriced versus other books in the same eBook marketplace). I notice Rework is $9.02 on Kindle; does this pricing have anything to do with the Kindle Marketplace dynamics?

So, essentially, I'm planning on writing eBooks that I would sell as PDF/ePub on my own site or in a marketplace like TutsPlus, and also list the same eBooks in the Kindle and other eBook marketplaces. I'm hoping to fill a need I see, as well as take advantage of the increasing popularity of eBooks and eReaders in general. Just like the iOS store, there's a bit of market advantage to having a lower price since it gives your item more visibility. My idea is to make books that are somewhat small (~150 pages or 10 short chapters), but a good value for the size. Additionally, many self-published eBook writers are recommending taking the prices extremely low, to as little as $2.99 or so just to boost overall sales.

I know this isn't the approach 37signals usually takes, but with the above in mind, would you see an advantage to lower pricing or would you stick with a higher price? Thanks again for your time and advice; I appreciate it more than you could ever know! I'm thinking I ought to go ahead and get Rework about now...

[jasonfried → maguay]

"Additionally, many self-published eBook writers are recommending taking the prices extremely low, to as little as $2.99 or so just to boost overall sales."

I would recommend against this unless you don't want to make much money.

[revorad → jasonfried]

When you made the book free, did you not get any backlash from people who'd already bought it? Any thoughts on how a similar strategy would work for software?

[jasonfried → revorad]

Maybe some people, but you can't worry about those people.

[revorad]

I just finished writing a programming book (an R graphs cookbook), in the traditional way, so here are my thoughts.

I had a print publisher, who did all the administrative and editorial work on the book. I just had to do the writing.

Because of the publishing house's work, my job was easy. But I don't think I will ever do it this way again. Why? Because publishing books, especially programming books, in the traditional way just feels completely out of sync with the times.

If I had to write a book now, I'd rather blook it. Blog every day and then compile and edit the blog posts into a book. It's the only way that makes sense to me now, especially for programming books because they need to be live, fresh and up-to-date documents, not works of art frozen in time (unless that's what you are aiming for).

So I would give away the whole thing for free in the form of blog posts and also sell it in various convenient ebook formats.

That's my opinion based on very limited experience. Here are some more qualified opinions:

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-should-self-publis....

http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/

http://ejohn.org/blog/online-book-vs-ebook/

[maguay → revorad]

Thank you very much! Lots of great food for thought here. I'm thinking the same as you; I'm planning on writing tech-centric books, aimed at a general audience but with eBooks that are priced much better than the average tech eBook for normal readers. At any rate, at least for my first one, I really think blogging the book a chapter at a time (or hey, parts of a chapter at a time) would be a good way to do it.

Thanks again for your time, thoughts, and info! Greatly appreciated :)

[revorad → maguay]

I just bought a Kindle and noticed that Amazon sells subscriptions to blogs ($1-$2). If you can get your blog on that, it would be a great marketing/advertising platform, if not money maker.

[maguay → revorad]

That might be a great idea. I've never thought my blog would actually be something someone would subscribe to on Kindle, but you never know. Plus, that'd be a great idea for syndicating a blogged book and making a little extra revenue while it's in writing. Definitely something to keep in mine. Thanks!

[flog → revorad]

I've just finished co-writing my first book too, but with a publisher who hasn't helped out as much with the editing phase. This part sucks, and would be the main detractor for the go-it-yourself route (imho). If you're self-publishing you'll have to deal with indexing, editing, and proofing yourself.

[revorad → flog]

Doesn't search take care of indexing?

A good blog audience can help with the editing and proofing. I wonder if one could also outsource those tasks to professional freelancers, who I'd hope to see more of in the new publishing landscape.