When you embark on the journey of getting a book published, there’s a lot to consider and one of the things that should be on your priority list is how much you’ll be pricing your book for, which is a crucial piece of yourbook metadata. The editors of traditional publishing houses must fill out a profit and loss spreadsheet (P&L) before they can even acquire a book, let alone publish a book. The P&L accounts for decisions they’ll need to make in order to turn a profit on the book they hope to add to their list. So one of the best places to start when determining the profit goals of your book publishing endeavors is to seriously consider how you'll be pricing your book. An essential aspect of your book publishing plan will be to determine how to price your book. Before you can do that, you should consider your publishing goal. Is it to make as much money as possible? Sell as many copies as possible?Reach as many readersas possible? While many may assume these are the same goal, that’s not always the case, and how you price your book can impact all of these goals separately. You will need to think strategically about setting your price in yourbook metadata, but pricing is less overwhelming when you consider these few basics. So, How Much Does it Cost to Publish a Book? In self-publishing versus traditional publishing, traditional publishers are already aware of what a book in a specific genre and of a particulartrim sizesells for because it’s their business to know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t too. What kind of book have you written? Is it a biography, history, or memoir? Perhaps you are publishing a quick beach read. Take your genre into consideration and do some research. Go to any bookstore and take a look. You can learn a lot by observing the books your book will be rubbing shoulders with, including the average price readers expect to pay for the type of book you’ve written. You can also ask abooksellerat what price point they typically sell a book like yours. Visit your local bookstore and find the section where your book would be shelved, pull the ones similar to yours, and look at the price listed near the barcode. Only look at books you’d consider printing though. If you don’t intend to print a hardcover book, make sure you only compare prices withpaperbacks. Be sure you also only look at examples that are roughly the same trim size, number of pages, and genre as the book you plan to publish. You can alsosearch onlinefor books similar to yours to get a good idea of where to start when pricing your book. Look for both traditionally published and independently published titles. Remember thatlibrariansbuy and stock books, too, so you might also talk to your local librarian for their perspective. One key to book publishing is making sure your title is priced similarly to titles like yours in order to be competitive. If you can price your book slightly less than other books in its genre, yours may have a competitive edge when potential buyers try to decide between your book and another. On the other hand, don’t cut the price too drastically. You still want to make sure you’recompensatedat the rate that traditional publishers have valued books like yours, but if you can decrease the price by a small margin, it may helpinfluence the consumer’s purchase. While you’re at thebookstore, make sure to compare other trim sizes and formats to see if there’s something better suited for the book you’ve written. Maybe you thought you’d publish a book in the 6x9 trim size but discover that’s not apopular sizein your genre. Perhaps you thought you’d print a book that was spiral bound but find that the books it’d be shelved with are all perfect bound. IngramSpark provides a handypublisher compensation calculatorthat easily lets you figure out how much you can earn from the sale of each copy of your book depending on a few key factors. Simply enter your book's specifications, including thetrim size, interior color and paper types, whether the binding will be paperback or hardcover, laminate style, the number of pages, list price,wholesale discount, and your market area (U.S., U.K., European Union, Australia, or Global). Then select "calculate" and see how much money you will make from the sale of one copy of your book at the price you've determined and the specifications you've chosen to print it. You may find that the per book compensation you'll receive for a book with your specifications isn't quite what you thought it would be. The easiest way to manipulate your P&L is in the price of your book, but you never want to make the mistake of pricing your book significantly higher than the competition to receive a higher per-book compensation. There is generally a little wiggle room in price between books that are similar in genre and format, but not much, so you don't want to make your book too expensive or too cheap compared to the books it will be shelved next to. Instead, don't be afraid to play with different aspects of your book to help you reach a better per book compensation. Perhaps you want to change the trim size or go with apaperback book versus a hardcover. Maybe you want to change the cover finish. Work with the many available options and see how they affect your level of compensation. A note of caution: Don’t do anything so extreme as to make your book an anomaly in its category. One of our most helpful tips for publishing a book is making sure it fitsin your genre. You want your book to stand out, but not in a way that makes it peculiar or unfamiliar to the readers who typically buy that type of book or in a way that makes it difficult to stock in itsappropriatebookstoresection. If your book-style does not fitindustry standardsfor your particular genre or looks too different from its immediate competition, you may be putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to book sales. Booksellers don't buy books they don't know how to shelve and consumers don't buy books in their favorite genre that don't look like the books they're used to purchasing.There are many ways to make your book stand out in its category; format shouldn’t be one of them. Keep in mind that the average compensation per book matters less the more books you sell, which depends on your business model. Some publishers selling 30,000 copies per year are comfortable receiving less than $1.00 per book in compensation. You may decide that compensation isn't your end goal and your publication is more about creating a beautiful keepsake or spreading the word on something about which you're passionate. If that's the case, your price point and formatting are less about industry standards and more about personal preference, which is why setting goals for your book before you begin the publishing process is always wise. Global book distribution and pricing your book for other countries can often be daunting for independent and self-publishers. You may be sitting in your small town when you decide to publish a book. You think you'll sell itonlineand perhaps to yourlocal bookstores and libraries, but there's a world of possibilities available to you that you may not be taking full advantage of. If you could set pricing for markets outside of your home country and achieve more book sales, why wouldn't you? IngramSpark grants you the ability to provide global pricing for your book, which means availability to more potential readers, potentially resulting in more book sales. Other markets open up a world of readers and require different pricing to fit into their marketplace. Check the pricing of books in your genre across the globe, and use that as a guide for pricing your book in those markets. If you don't set prices for your book in additional markets, you are limiting the sale of your book. You may be surprised where your potential readers may be, but you'll never know if you don't first make it available to them. When youcreate an IngramSpark account, you sign the Global Agreement, which gives you the option to add pricing in all available markets—USD (United States), GBP (United Kingdom), EUR (European Union), AUD (Australia – GST Exclusive), and CAD (Canada). Adding pricing in these main markets is easy and may make a world of difference in growing your fan base and increasing sales. You enter this information per title in yourIngramSpark account. So when you're setting up a new title or editing an existing one, it will be on the page where you enter your retail pricing and will look like this: If you leave any of these blank, your title will not be for sale in those markets. There is a currency converter available on this same screen to help you price your books in markets you're unfamiliar with. Here's an extra tip, bookstores in all countries prefer the list price to end with .99 or .00 so when you convert your price for other markets, make sure what you enter in the box ends in that way. For example: if the currency converter suggests you price your book for $22.12, you'll probably want to round it up or down to $22.00 or $22.99 to avoid any special hesitation from bookstores. Add Additional Pricing to Your Book(s) Now Thrillers, crime and mystery novels still dominate the Australian book chart, with 49% of all Australians having read a book of that genre in the last 12 months. With the couple of clicks it takes to add pricing in Australian Dollars, you could be widening your audience by nearly 12 million readers. Are you a first-time Spanish author who has only priced their debut Spanish-language novel in Euros? There are 41 million native Spanish speakers in the United States, meaning that even if your book marketing efforts only reach 1% of this you are exposing your book to 410,000 people who may not be able to purchase the book if it does not have a price in both Euros and United States Dollars. In the United Kingdom, 2016 saw a rise of almost 10% in sales of non-fiction titles. With the launch of Ingram’s ipage® in the UK, providing bookshops the opportunity to purchase directly from Ingram in Pound Sterling, adding appropriate pricing to your titles (of any genre or target audience) could easily contribute to a rise in sales in future years. It doesn't cost you anything more to have your titles priced in five markets than it does to only have your titles priced in one, and opening up your book distribution network through IngramSpark may uncover a potential fanbase in Italy or Canada that you never knew was out there. Update Pricing in Your Account Determining how to price your book—and in which markets—might seem overwhelming at first. However, it's rather easy when you go step-by-step and take advantage of resources like your local bookstore, online bookstores, IngramSpark's publisher compensation calculator, and the currency converter calculator. If you haven't uploaded a book yet, consider this post a helpful tip to get you started on the right foot for when you do!How to Price a Book
Consider Your Goals
Look at Other Book Prices
Make Your Book Price Similar
Review Formats and Trim Sizes
Use IngramSpark's Publisher Compensation Calculator
Play With Aspects of Your Book
Set Global Pricing
Markets by the Numbers
FAQs
What is a fair price for a book? ›
Most average-sized trade paperback novels fall into the $13.95 to $17.95 price range. That being said, this range is true for most books—always do the research into comparable books and price your book accordingly.
How do you price books to sell? ›For books listed as like new, start from a base price of 70-75% of retail price. For example: if the book is currently retailing at $15.99–you shouldn't list it any higher than $12. If it's in excellent condition, you can price it for about 55% of retail. For good condition, think 40% retail.
How much should I charge for a 200 page book? ›The average retail cost of a paperback book with about 200 pages ranges from $9.99 to $18.99. It's important to recognize that this price range includes traditionally published and self-published books and holds true for fiction and non-fiction titles.
How much should I charge for a book review? ›In general, review prices range from $100 to $595. A great way to choose a review service is by reading each publication's past reviews. This is the best way to get an idea of the quality, detail, and depth of critical attention indie authors can expect.
How much of a book can you legally quote? ›Unfortunately, quoting or excerpting someone else's work falls into one of the grayest areas of copyright law. There is no legal rule stipulating what quantity is OK to use without seeking permission from the owner or creator of the material.
What is a fair and reasonable price? ›A determination that a price is fair and reasonable is really a conclusion that the proposed price is fair to both parties, considering the quality, delivery and other factors. The basis for reaching the conclusion is found in the facts and information considered and analyzed by the buyer.
How much does a typical book sell? ›Research suggests that the “average” self-published, digital-only book sells about 250 copies in its lifetime. By comparison, the average traditionally published book sells 3,000 copies, but as I mentioned above, only about 250-300 of those sales happen in the first year.
How much do first books sell for? ›Then I'd say if you're getting an advance on your first novel, it's most likely going to run somewhere between $5000 and $15,000, depending on the publisher and the story you're telling.
How much does the average book sell? ›Average book sales are shockingly small—and falling fast.
Thus, the average book published today is selling less than 300 print copies over its lifetime in the US retail channels.
Answer: the average reader takes about 2.8 hours to read 100 pages. You might take more or less time than 2.8 hours to read 100 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).
Is 50000 enough for a book? ›
For most publishers, a book is “novel-length” when it's between 50,000 and 110,000 words. At a writers conference I recently attended, publishing veteran Jane Friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isn't novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much.
Is a 300 page book a lot? ›300 pages is a lot, and sometimes, even if you're interested in the book, you can start to slow down after a while. My suggestion would be to read 50–150 pages of one book and then read 50–150 pages of another book in one day, and then the day after do it all over again.
How many pages is a typical book review? ›Standard length is 4-5 typed pages (approximately 1000-1250 words).
How do you rate a book in a book review? ›- IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I'M TOTALLY OBSESSED! — This book was absolutely breathtaking. ...
- I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — This book was a really enjoyable read. I really liked it. Some moments I may have even loved. ...
- IT WAS GOOD! — This book was good. I didn't love it and I didn't dislike it.
In determining the value of a book there are three basic elements: 1) rarity, 2) condition, and, 3) demand. Books with the most value normally have all three of these elements, and the loss of any will likely result in a loss of value. Age of the book is not always a key factor in value.
Do I need permission to quote from a book in my book? ›If you're going to quote someone's words, even if you appropriately attribute the quote to the rightful owner, you should have their permission. Many commonly cited authors don't mind having their famous lines reused, but some do, so tread carefully. Always get legal advice, or if in doubt, leave it out.
Can I publish a book with 30000 words? ›30,000 words are enough for a novella but would be considered too short for most fiction novels or a nonfiction book. As you can see, having the right number of words per page is important to its success.
Is it legal to quote a book on social media? ›Translation: Don't use a quote if you don't have written permission or it's not in public domain. Better safe than sorry when dealing with legal issues. Penalties for copyright infringement are high and can reach up to $150k for each work infringed.
How do you set a reasonable price? ›- Add up variable costs per product. ...
- Add in your profit margin. ...
- Factor in fixed costs. ...
- Test and adjust accordingly. ...
- Understand common pricing strategies in your industry. ...
- Conduct market research. ...
- Experiment with pricing. ...
- Focus on long-term business profit.
Fair price is a selling price that considers quality, performance, supply conditions, time of delivery and payment options. It is calculated at the level that is fair for both sides. The seller gains some margin, which is not excessively too high. Therefore, both sides of the transaction should be glad with that price.
What is fair price example? ›
Example of Fair Value
The management of company B believes they could sell the stock at Rs. 40 per share after they acquire. Thus, the management decided to buy one lakh shares at the original price. Therefore, it is considered to be the fair value because the price is agreed upon by both sides.
It's something fresh and interesting. You must find an idea that will get readers excited to pick up your book. This goes for fiction, nonfiction, advice, how-to, and memoir. A small idea for a book results in small sales.
Is selling 5000 copies of a book good? ›A book is considered a bestseller if it has sold more than 10,000 copies in its lifetime by Publishers Weekly and the New York Times. A book that sells more than 250 copies on average is considered to be a bestseller. If you want your book to be a bestseller, you should aim to sell at least 5,000 copies within a week.
How much do first-time authors make? ›How much can authors expect to earn from their books? A first-time author with a traditional publishing deal might expect an advance of $1,000-$10,000 and 5-18% royalties once they “earn out” their advance. Self-published authors do not receive advances, but their royalties can reach up to 70% for ebook editions.
What is a typical book deal? ›Sometimes called a traditional book deal, this is when the gatekeepers of the legacy publishing industry offer you an advance on book profits in return for several benefits. How much do you get for a book deal? You can get an advance between $5,000 and $100,000 if you land a book deal.
How much does a beginner author make per book? ›Publishers typically pay a $5,000 to $10,000 advance to good first-time authors. This means they would need to sell around 1,000 copies of a book that costs $20 per copy to break even after printing and distribution costs. Following that, the author will receive royalties, typically about 10%.
How many books does a new author usually sell? ›Most self-published authors sell 250 books or less, regardless of how many different books they write. Traditionally published books sell around 3,000 copies on average, with only 250 of those sales in the first year. It's rare that books sell over 100,000 copies and even rarer to sell more than a million.
Do self-published books sell? ›Independent authors who sell their books on their own websites receive up to 96%. The average self-published book sells 250 copies. The average self-published author makes $1,000 per year from their books. 33% of self-published authors make less than $500 per year.
How many books do you have to sell to make 100k? ›To make $100.000 / year, you have to sell 50.000 books, which equals to 50.000/12 = 4.667 books per month. After the first year, you'll have 12 books published. To make $100k with those 12 books, you'd need to sell 348 copies of each book each month.
How many self-published books are successful? ›How many books does the average self-published author sell on Amazon in a year? Again, it's important to be realistic about how many books the average indie author can expect to sell. Some research shows that 250 to 300 books per year is pretty average.
Is 20 pages an hour slow? ›
While a slow reader will only get through 30 pages per hour, the average person can read around 40 pages per hour. Statistics show that quick readers can even go through 50 or 60 pages in one hour.
How fast is the average reader? ›The average person should be able to read between 200 and 300 WPM. These statistics apply to college students and fully-grown adults. Avid readers can read even faster, with an average speed of 350 words per minute.
How many words a day should I write for a book? ›It's makes sense to have some idea of how much you can expect to write every day so you can plan around your other commitments. Stephen King has claimed to write 2000 words a day but most new writers end up writing around the 500 – 1000 words a day mark.
How many chapters is too many? ›Most nonfiction books have between 5 and 20 chapters. Any less than 5 and your chapters may be running long or may contain too many ideas. That said, there are plenty of books with 30 or 40 chapters. And some books, usually with very short chapters, can have 50+.
How many words is a 100 page book? ›A 100 page book is about 30,000 words. If you write more than 1500 words per week, you can expect for it to take 2 – 4 months to write a 100 page book.
How many words is a 350 page book? ›350 pages is 175000 words single-spaced or 87500 words double-spaced. Typical documents that are 350 pages or more include full-length novels. A typical single-spaced page is 500 words long.
How long should a 500 page book take? ›Answer: the average reader takes about 13.9 hours to read 500 pages. You might take more or less time than 13.9 hours to read 500 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).
How long should a 200 page book take? ›That's about 4.5 hours to read a 200-page book (55,000 words). By increasing your reading speed to 600 words/ minute, you could read a 200-page book in 90 minutes. The best speed readers can reach 1000 words per minute which equates to approximately 55 minutes to read a 200-page book.
How many pages is a 100000 page book? ›An 80,000-word book is about 320 pages. A 90,000-word book is about 360 pages. A 100,000-word book is about 400 pages.
How many pages is a good first book? ›Number of pages in a book for a first-time author
How many pages in a novel? For a first release, 200 pages are enough. One can also look at authors like Chetan Bhagat, who continue to release books well below the 300-page mark even today.
How long is a decent book? ›
Literary agent Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment says that 80,000 to 100,000 words is often given as the standard for adult novels, and much of what authors are trying to do can be done within that word count.
How many chapters should an average book have? ›However, there is no exact minimum or standard for how many chapters a novel should have. Because chapters are just places where the author decides to break up the flow of their story, you could go a more traditional route and end up with 12-28 chapters or choose to be more experimental and have as many as 200.
What are the 3 elements of a book review? ›The book review format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. Describe the book cover and title.
What are the 4 parts of book review? ›The four stages of writing a book review are: introducing the book, outlining its contents, highlighting parts of the book by selecting particular chapters or themes, and giving a detailed evaluation.
What is a 3 star book review? ›According to the Goodreads system, three stars means “I liked it” and that's exactly how I feel. In every book that I have rated three stars, it still meant that overall I enjoyed reading the book. There are many, many three star books that I would (and do) whole heartedly recommend to others!
What is book value cost? ›Book Cost, sometimes referred to as Book Value, is the total cost of purchasing a security. It includes any transaction charges related to the position (such as commissions) and is adjusted for reinvested distributions, return of capital, corporate actions and any subsequent purchases.
Is the book value The fair value? ›Is Book Value the Same as Fair Value? The book value of an asset refers to its cost minus depreciation over time. It is the value of an asset based on its balance sheet. The fair value of an asset reflects its market price; the price agreed upon between a buyer and seller.
What is an example of book value? ›Mathematically, book value is the difference between a company's total assets and total liabilities. Suppose that XYZ Company has total assets of $100 million and total liabilities of $80 million. Then, the book valuation of the company is $20 million.
How much should a 300 page book cost? ›For a typical 300-page paperback, you could be looking at a cost of something like $9 or more. With that cost, you'd end up charging $18 for your paperback to get a 100% markup.
How much do authors make per book? ›Publishers typically pay a $5,000 to $10,000 advance to good first-time authors. This means they would need to sell around 1,000 copies of a book that costs $20 per copy to break even after printing and distribution costs. Following that, the author will receive royalties, typically about 10%.
How much does 1,000 books cost? ›
It's almost impossible to quote a price here without knowing the quantity of books you'll be ordering. For example, 1,000 books will usually cost you between $5 and $7 apiece, whereas if you print 5,000, the price goes down to around $3, and more than 10,000, the price often drops below $2.
How long does a 100 page book take to write? ›A 100 page book is about 30,000 words. If you write more than 1500 words per week, you can expect for it to take 2 – 4 months to write a 100 page book.
What is the fair price formula? ›Fair Value = Cash [1 + r(x/360)] – Dividends
Here, cash denotes the current value of the security, r is the prevailing interest rate charged by the broker, x is the number of days left in the contract, and dividends refer to the number of dividends that the investor will receive before the expiration date.
What is “fair” pricing and a “reasonable” consumer surplus? Value-based pricing is a pricing strategy that is based on creating differentiated value for the right, target customer segment(s) and capturing a fair share of the value created.
How many copies does an average book sell? ›The average book in America sells about 500 copies. Those blockbusters are a minute anomaly: only 10 books sold more than a million copies last year, and fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000.
How many books sold is considered successful? ›Want to hit top 10? You'll need to sell roughly 300 for print, or 2,000+ copies for combined formats. Those numbers aren't exactly set in stone, but they're a pretty close approximation. To get onto Amazon's Bestseller Top 100 radar across all titles you're usually looking at about 1,000 sales of your book.
Do self-published authors make money? ›Since we covered this above for the most part, let's give a quick overview of what author royalties look like. Self-published authors can make between 40% – 60% royalties on a the retail price of a single book while traditionally published authors usually make between 10%-12% royalties.