In today’s Publetariat Dispatch, author Zoe Winters talks about the considerations that go into setting the price for her books.

So, you guys know I’ve gotten off the publishing talk a lot. But  about every six months or so, I’ll feel compelled to talk about  something publishing-related.

I want to talk about ebook pricing. That topic that just won’t go  away. In light of KDP Select and writers rushing to give their stuff  away for the perceived long-term benefit (which may exist, but seems  iffy in the current market with so many doing it), I have stuff I really  wanted to say… even though I know it just brings me back into the  “Publishing talk” realm. Ick.

People have in the past been offended that I don’t want the bargain  basement only-willing-to-pay-99cents-for-an-ebook reader. I’m really not  sure why that should be offensive. I guess in writing a lot of people  still secretly harbor the belief that an author should just be grateful  they are being READ and not complain about the money.

But I don’t see it that way. Writing fiction is my living. It’s what  puts food on my table and pays my bills. If I ever can’t make a living  doing it, I have to STOP doing it, and go do something else. This is not  complicated. If we lived in some free hippie love culture where money  didn’t exist, sure, I would write for free, just to share my words and  be thrilled doing it. I’m not “in it for the money”. I just “need the  money” for it to be worth it in the world we live in for me to put so  much effort into entertaining you.

But we live in an economy where monetary value is placed on things.  Some people can work full time jobs and have the energy to write  fiction. I am not one of those people. I can do one or the other. If I  need money and want to write fiction then I have to charge an amount for  it that allows me to make that money. 99 cents doesn’t do that. It also  attracts too many one night stands. People who will drive by, click on  the buy button, but won’t respect you enough to tell others about it  (for the most part) and maybe not even enough to read it in the first  place. Many a 99 cent or free ebook languishes for months on a Kindle  unread until a reader loses interest in it altogether. I’ve done this  myself.

I charge $2.99 for novellas 20k-35k and I charge $4.95 for longer  work (though I don’t really write anything over 75k). Some people think  that is too much. They are welcome to think that and read somebody else.  I don’t say that to be nasty or a prima donna. I say it because this is  my living and I know what I need to charge to make a living. I know how  much my production costs are. I know how much my time costs are. And I  know the price point that works best for me to maintain a decent living.  I also know the price points that attract the type of readers I want…  FANS. It’s not that I never want casual readers. If you want a casual  fling with me, I’m grateful to have you, but what I really want long  term are rabid readers who froth at the mouth waiting for the next book,  read it on release day, and then ask me where the next one is. hehe.

Others can charge what they want, that is their business.

Read the rest of the post on The Weblog of Zoe Winters.