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M. Darusha Wehm

Explorer of Worlds Real and Imagined

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pricing

Crowd Pricing – An Ebook Price Alternative

November 15, 2012

How much should an ebook cost? This is one of those questions that is discussed endlessly among authors these days. “Price low and shift a bazillion units.” “99¢ devalues literature.” “I worked on this for five years; I can’t stand practically giving it away.” “All ebooks should be $4.99.”

To a certain extent, I think it’s a question with no answer. Everyone has their own top price they are willing to pay for a book, and not every book is going to have the same value to a potential buyer. Some people think paying under $10 for something is cheap enough to be an impulse buy, others hem and haw over paying a buck for anything. There is no right answer for everyone.

However, there’s a new model being proposed and I’ve decided to participate in the experiment. Scribl.com is a new ebook marketplace that uses a fluctuating pricing structure based on popularity. The idea is that by charting popularity of downloads, they can prove what the market will bear.

On Scribl, all ebooks start at free. As more people download the free version, the price moves up a tier. The more downloads at any price, the higher the price becomes.

The idea is that the market will bear a higher price for more popular books and that, as a reader, you know that if a book is priced at $6.99, that’s because a lot of people have already purchased it.

I’ve put Beautiful Red and a new novella (maybe more of a novelette, really) called Fire. Escape. on Scribl. For now, they are both free, so if you want to get an ebook copy of either or both, head over to Scribl soon.

Disclaimer: This is an experiment for me. I don’t believe there is a correlation between quality and popularity, so being able to judge a book by its price isn’t something I buy at all. However, the current state of the art in ebook pricing is out to lunch, so I welcome people who are trying to innovate in this space, and want to support the attempt. If this interests you, go check it out.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: business, ebooks, pricing

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Retaking Elysium

Mars is good place to reinvent yourself, isn’t it?

Jules Morales’s life has always been a state of contact change. When the opportunity comes up, why not take a trip to Mars to work on the platinum mining operation—and make a load of money? But what if there is more to Mars than just a payday and an adventure?

The woman now calling herself Lisa Marie has spent her whole life trapped by the struggle to make ends meet, and sometimes held hostage by her own memories. On Mars she might finally find financial security, but will she also find something to care about today, and maybe even for the future?

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Free Stories

The Foreigner

I slip into the fake-leather seat, and look at my watch. I have about an hour before the shareholders' meeting, but I have to stop by the day care first, so I want to make this snappy. I've found that … Read More... about The Foreigner

Chekhov’s Phaser

I never planned to end up here. I've never planned anything, really. All my life has been like that: I see an opportunity and I take it. Sometimes that works out better than other times. So why should … Read More... about Chekhov’s Phaser

Fame

"Pupusas?" The woman's nasal voice reached Randall at the back of the bus before he saw her pushing her way down the aisle. He could smell the warm, raw meat smell of his own sweaty body, and his … Read More... about Fame

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