Pricing & selling your self published book.
Final Step in the ‘How do I self publish a Children’s Book’ series.
(The words and opinions of this blog are that of the author and her experiences. This is not professional advice, and should not be used in lieu of that.)I get that being an author sounds like such a glamorous and lucrative career and prior to the last 16 months I thought the same. Maybe for a select few that’s how it is, but in reality for a lot of people being an author and ‘making bank’ are not two things that often go together. Book profits are not as high as people think and to ‘make bank’ you need to sell BIG volume and that is hard - especially if you are self published.
I really wanted to stay away from any kind of negative rhetoric and deter aspiring authors, but the reality is that it is hard. Most authors do not make a life sustaining wage, but more a bit of ‘financial cream’ to go on top of life.
Words Rated Self Publishing Statistics (read the whole article here).
This was published a year ago, but gives some insight - it is hard to make big money as an author, or earn a wage to fund your lifestyle.
Have a look at these statistics, don’t let them limit your dreams but instead inspire you. We’re looking at averages here but the thing about artists - we have to believe we will be the exception, as art is the exception of the mundane and the rules.
I think the main takeaway from this is, writing to share a story should take place over writing to make money. Of course money is nice, but if the money doesn’t meet the expectations then creativity and desire to share may die.
How did I decide my books worth?
This question consumed me (and still consumes me now occasionally). What is my book worth? I want to go through what I think are a few important factors that need to be considered in deciding your books retail price.
One thing I can say with definite is - price your books for what YOU are happy with. As if I am not rife enough with imposter syndrome, I am told every week either my books are too cheap or my books are too expensive, both as often as each other. It’s hard getting that feedback, as I get direct comparison to shops like Kmart where you can go in and buy a hardcover book from a well known author for $5 vs. other indie authors who usually set a bit of a higher price point than I do.
Kmart’s book ordering volume vs mine would be slightly different (REALITY IS IT’S A LOT DIFFERENT), the more books you order from a print house, the more money you save (it’s cents, but cents add up over numbers). Print houses in other countries charge different rates as well, they are selling books for the same amount I pay wholesale for mine.
Indie (independent) authors have complete freedom to decide their book prices, some authors are splitting costs with illustrators, some authors want to earn more per sale for it to be ‘worth while’. Higher royalties for a sale is more money for less work, but can affect volume of sales. Lower royalties means less money for more work but potentially higher volume of sales. Finding that sweet spot is key. Looking at your ideal consumer helps.
The cost of printing is affected by whether you go hardcover, softcover, paperweight, number of pages, print colour quality. You can save money picking paperback, lighter weight paper, lower ink quality, but remember that the physical piece will reflect that too. Especially if it’s a full colour picture book.
So why did I decide on $15?
I wish my answer was a lot more complex than what it is. I priced my paperback books at $15 as that is what my bestie (remember me telling you about my amazing a talented artist friend Tenyka Jay taught me how to self publish a book? Check out her amazing oil work here and have a look at her affordable and easy to digest writing & publishing guide here - where she talks about character development, creation, story boarding, and so much more!).
On seeing her price for her paperback and purchasing it myself, it gave me a chance to look at it from the consumer point of view. Looking at my story, I asked myself, ‘would I, as a customer, pay $15 for this book?’
Reality for me is I do and I would pay a lot more for a book like this, particularly a self published creative piece - but buying from independent artists is a passion and past time of mine. By all means, scoping the current market is important and gives you a ‘ballpark’, but you also have to factor your book in a stand alone view.
My thoughts & logic about pricing my books
Looking at my books, alone and with no comparisons, I feel it’s important to note that I created my books for the neurodivergent community. There’s this thing I call the ‘neurodivergent tax’ where as soon as a product is marketed to a sensitive community that are limited or particular in resources, the price goes way up (like the wedding tax, except weddings aren’t a necessity to living). I think that is called capitalism, but whatever it is, it irks me in ways I cannot put into words, I’m sure anyone else who is in this community would see and agree exorbitant markups are rife.
The goal of my books was never to ‘become rich’ (if they can sustain a living wage for me that does free me up to bring more books, resources, and advocate for change), but instead for the next generation of kids to understand and love themselves simply as they are. I recognise and prioritise that formal identification is both a financial and time based privilege not everyone can access, so I like to have varying levels of accessibility.
For those who can’t afford to buy my books, I recognise and validate that is a reality. I offer a free version as an author read through of my books on my YouTube and am aspiring to upload ASL, Auslan, BSL (SSL) translations before the year ends. Does this affect my book sales? Maybe, I’m not really sure not would it change my mind either way. BUT WAIT! A kids picture book is one to be often read again and again, instead of just once like a novel is usually read. If someone uploaded a read through of their novel to the internet - for free - it most likely will remove the need for anyone to purchase. Originally I was going to put this paragraph in the marketing blog, but decided against it as I don’t want to sell it as a marketing strategy due to the fact it could lose as many sales as it gains and I don’t want people to be pressured or feel it’s the thing to do.
For you to price your book, I recommend you ask yourself ‘This price I’ve set, would I pay that for a book like this as the target audience?’ AND then ‘this price, do I feel I am supporting my creative self in selling it at that amount?’.
So, do I make ANY money in a book sale?
Yes! I hope I haven’t made it doom and gloom as my intended final entry about self publishing (I’m already thinking about more - such as receiving negative reviews), I just want to manage expectations and not sell delusion. So let me break the sales of my books down honestly and truthfully, as so many people are hesitant or afraid to talk about money and this can be another hard thing to research when NOBODY will share.
Amazon
Amazon KDP is its own print on demand service. They print, package, and post with no involvement from me -WIN! But, they don’t do it from the kindness of their hearts - it’s all summed up in the cost.
You see my books for $20 AUD on Amazon, immediately $1.82 AUD of that is GST.
Down to $18.18 AUD
Printing cost is $6.42 AUD
Down to $11.46 AUD
Shipping (Amazon offers ‘free shipping’ but really the shipping is factored into the price, charging both seller and buyer) is $6.97
Down to and profit from $20 (drumroll) is …
$4.49
Oh yeah, I still need to pay income tax on that. It’s not the worst, and I am content in what I receive, it could be better sure - but it could also be worse.
In person / website
This is my most ideal (and I’m sure everybody’s) way of selling, as profit stays with me. My profit in this circumstance is $15 minus printing cost of around $5. So my profit potential is $10.
But still, I need to factor in and minus:
Website and eftpos selling fees (I do not know what this is divided into by sale - I should, and when I do I will come back and update this blog - please remind me if you havent seen it in awhile),
Time packing (I am very slow as I get so anxious in forgetting or making a mistake - it’s quite often I’ll double send an order by accident due to pure fear, goodbye profit).
The packaging (I like my book purchases to be an experience, wrapped and including some activities - this is not something I have to do but chose to do so allow that to come out of my profit margin).
Expo / stall / market fees. These can vary greatly in cost, and you need to try to guess what your cost vs income profit will be - or chalk it up to profit loss but gaining exposure. Research your markets and their attendees - are they your ideal buyers?
Surely by now, you’ve realised I’m no corporate baddie and due diligence on your end is a must.
Wholesale
The recommended retail value for my book is $15.
It costs on average $5 per book to be printed and delivered to me, leaving a $10 profit margin.
I currently sell my wholesale for my book for $9, the retailer can make $6, while I make $4.
That shows my retailers are paying 60%, which is on the high side but as I increase my order volume, I reduce my wholesale rate as I get books for a bit better price. In the early days I would sell for $10 wholesale as I wasn’t getting any volume discounts. All these lessons are hindsight, as I never planned for wholesale and my recipe isn’t overtly wholesale friendly. I never planned for my books to do so well, so I have bumbled through this whole experience… and I would love to note the stockists I have are amazing and supportive small businesses that sell my books from their connection to my messages, meaning larger and more emotionally detached companies are not going to be able to engage with me this way as I don’t meet the financial bottom line.
But there are 2 ways to Wholesale!
Yourself, as mentioned above. This means you need to have a wholesale price as well as a retail price for your book. You need to factor in the set retail value minus (the cost of book + cost of delivery to you divided over the number of books you ordered) which leaves profit margin. That profit will be split between you and your stockist, however way that looks. Retailers usually pay around 45 - 55% of retail, so calculate if the wholesale amount is feasible above book cost for you.
Expanded distribution. Some print houses will offer expanded distribution for their publishers (remember YOU are the publisher). That’s where they add your book to their catalogue and retailers can purchase direct from the print house and you’ll receive royalties from sales. This is a lot lower than any other version of income. Thanks to Ingram Spark’s expanded distribution, my books are on both Target (US) and Barnes & Noble websites! Amazon also has expanded distribution options, but only for certain book dimensions, so if you’re wanting to access that check KDP approved sizes.
Where I sell my books.
These days I sell my books on my Website, Etsy, Amazon, expanded distribution, through stockists, in person at markets /expos.
When I began, it was on Etsy and by DM on my socials. My gosh that feels like forever ago.
This is a rare time you will see me complimenting Etsy, don’t expect much more of it. Etsy was great in the beginning as a website seemed expensive and over complicated for me, and then there’s non-follower exposure opportunity from shoppers just browsing their site. As my sales grew, the fees for Etsy began far outweighing the worth of me being on there, they charge you to list, to sell, ‘advertising charges’ if they come in from an ad, and there’s more charges… it’s daylight robbery. Also the metrics Etsy shared with me was that all my buyers were specifically searching my name or my book to find me, so that indicated to me I’d outgrown Etsy shop.
But Nell, you still have an Etsy shop?
I understand that people have preference to different buying platforms and so accessibility is always paramount to me, but ever since my website started my Etsy sales have dropped to about 3 a week average.
What I’ve noticed about my book sales
Although I’m an Aussie, my strongest market by far is America (so thank you to my American friends who are reading this, but also thank you to ALL - I’d never invalidate the presence anyone has given me anywhere).
I’ve noticed trends in my sales that I would love to share, I don’t know if this would affect or benefit deciding launch dates - and don’t take it as finite rules as remember my books are for a niche group of our population.
October, November, February, and March are my highest earning months which I assume being;
School year in Australia begins late January / early February.
November being pre-Christmas shopping.
Sept/October is American school year start (I think).
Alternatively, my quiet months are July, August and January.
January is school holidays in Australia, post Christmas (surely everyone is all shopped out).
July and August are Americas summer school holidays, who can think of school, shopping when the sun is shining and the beach or pool is calling? Maybe even on holiday so not seeing yur allied health team either.
Remember, these are observations and assumptions - not facts. The months not mentioned are a gentle taper up or taper down to those key months. These observations also recognise that my books sit at the crossroads of parents, teachers, and health professionals - very grateful place to be. If books were more focused on birthdays, or on a particular season the you would probably see different trends.
A meme to wrap this series up.
I wanted to revisit this meme I have as this blogs cover image - I adapted it from one I saw adapted from ‘Perks of Being an Artist’ (woe is the life of a creative) to share as a laugh - NOT TAKE AS FINITE.
Yes, it is hard to make a strong and consistent income through your creativity as how can you put a price on passion, genuine enjoyment, and working from the soul?
No, a lot of authors do not get to the big earning number status.
But, that does not mean you should not write and share your story. Who knows, it could be the story the world is desperate for.
More importantly, write and create to feed your soul. You write because you want to share a story - an incredibly human thing to do.
