Polling Libriomancer Fans
In 2014, I wrote a short story called “Chupacabra’s Song” for the Kaleidoscope anthology. (An excellent anthology of diverse YA science fiction and fantasy, by the way.)
The story is about Nicola Pallas when she was a teenager and just discovering her power.
If I were to self-publish this and put it out there as a 99-cent ebook, would you:
- Buy it and be happy
- Buy it but feel like you were getting ripped off
- Not buy it, because 99 cents is too much for a short story
- Not buy it, because of other reasons
ETA – Cover art would possibly look something like this (only, you know, without the iStock watermark):
I’m also thinking about doing some original stories, probably between 15K and 25K words, that would connect to my existing universes. I’d probably start with libriomancer stuff, but could branch out into goblins and princesses, depending on time and inspiration and such. What do you think is a reasonable price for stories in that range?
- 99 cents
- $1.99
- $2.99
- Other
I’m not making any promises here. A lot will also depend on contracted deadlines and how much else I’m able to get done without breaking my brain. But it’s something I’d like to try…
Thanks!
Martin
December 21, 2015 @ 1:40 pm
a) Buy it and be happy
b) Pay what you deem reasonable (and still be happy)
Joseph
December 21, 2015 @ 1:43 pm
a) buy it and be happy
b) $0.99 – $1.99
Nick
December 21, 2015 @ 1:44 pm
I’d buy it for $0.99 and be happy. I might buy it for $1.99. Probably no more than that.
Andrew Betts
December 21, 2015 @ 1:53 pm
Buy it and be happy, whatever the price (as long as you’re not charging novella+ length prices.)
Derek Hawkins
December 21, 2015 @ 2:02 pm
I wouldn’t buy it as an ebook (I’m still the Analog Kid in the Digital world who prefers dead tree books), but I would buy a second copy of “Revisionary” when it’s released in paperback just to get Nicola’s story there.
Jim C. Hines
December 21, 2015 @ 2:06 pm
Thanks, Derek – I’ll definitely keep that in mind, but I’m not sure the publisher would go for it.
Scott Harris
December 21, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
I’d buy all the stories, I think, so long as they weren’t more $1.99 to $2.99 even for the longer ones.
David
December 21, 2015 @ 2:22 pm
I’d pay $0.99-$1.99 for the short stories and be fine with that.
Alan DeHaan
December 21, 2015 @ 2:29 pm
Oh that’s a hard one. I’m so used to binge-downloading full books for $1.99 a pop, but I have to remember “Those are sales, you silly person”
But yeah. $0.99 for a short story isn’t unreasonable at all, and might be a decent way for you to supplement your income a little bit. As long as it’s your time and money that’d be great.
Jim C. Hines
December 21, 2015 @ 2:31 pm
And I might play around with sales and freebies from time to time, as I start to build up more inventory, or to promote new releases, things like that. So many possibilities…
Stephanie
December 21, 2015 @ 2:31 pm
Buy it and be happy. Agree with a range of $0.99-$1.99.
John Lamberth
December 21, 2015 @ 2:35 pm
If I had my perfect scenario, I think I’d love to have a whole bunch of short stories (including Chupacabra’s Song, Heart of Ash, How Isaac met Smudge, etc) into a nice little Libriomancer Compendium/Companion.
But, I’d probably end up buying the single story for $.99 if necessary. I love this series too much to miss out on any of it.
Uli
December 21, 2015 @ 2:41 pm
Buy it and be happy for 0.99-1.99 $. Especially since I don’t really like short story anthologies (Jehova!).
Robert L. Slater
December 21, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
Yup. $0.99 for a single. $1.99-2.99 for the novellette/novella lengthers!
redheadedfemme
December 21, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
0.99-1.99 is a reasonable price for a story, especially one up to 25K. I’d go for that.
Bill Sides
December 21, 2015 @ 2:47 pm
I’d buy and be happy. .99 is a fantastic price point, but would still buy your work at 1.99. My personal favorite is an anthology so I don’t end up with tons of short stories on the kindle.
Andrew Zimmerman Jones
December 21, 2015 @ 2:54 pm
Pay it and be happy.
Deb
December 21, 2015 @ 2:58 pm
Buy it and be happy for the short story. $1.99 for the others. Please offer them for Nook users as well. Thank you.
Jim C. Hines
December 21, 2015 @ 3:02 pm
Thanks! I’d definitely make it available for as many platforms as possible.
Sally
December 21, 2015 @ 3:10 pm
Buy for 99c and be delighted. There might be a tiny squee. (Also on Nook.)
For 25K I might go for $1.99 but no more. 99 is an instant buy.
If a bunch of shorts (Magic, Goblins, Princesses) were gathered into an anthology that would only be in one nice neat file*, I would pay even more for the convenience. Maybe even full novel price.
*Every time I scroll through, I regret getting “The Human Division” in 13 parts.
Diana
December 21, 2015 @ 3:21 pm
I second Sally. I now find having the Human Division in all 13 parts seriously annoying. That said I’ve bought quite a few short stories/ novellas in the $0.99 – 1.99 range and would do that with this work without thinking twice
Misha
December 21, 2015 @ 3:24 pm
Buy it and be very happy 🙂 I’d pay 2.99 for a short story, from an author I know I like (less for an unknown-to-me author).
Antje
December 21, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
0.99 EUR and being able to purchase it from Germany (amazon.de) would make me very happy.
sharon
December 21, 2015 @ 3:31 pm
Buy it and be happy
Bill Davis
December 21, 2015 @ 3:36 pm
I would buy it and be happy at 0.99-1.99 or even 2.99 for a somewhat longer work (novella/novelette/whatever)
Bill Davis
December 21, 2015 @ 3:37 pm
Oh, and I would be interested in buying other similar short works from you too.
Jeri Lynn
December 21, 2015 @ 3:39 pm
I would totally buy it and be happy. The other question? Probably in the .99 to 1.99 range, depending on life at the moment.
Katie
December 21, 2015 @ 3:51 pm
Yes, this.
Beth
December 21, 2015 @ 3:54 pm
I think .99 is great for a short story. I’d jump at the chance to buy it. If it is available for my Kindle, I will throw money at it until it is mine. xD
As for the hypothetical 15k-25k stories, I think any of the prices you listed would be reasonable. I’m tempted to say I root for the .99 option, but that is because it tends to be easier for me to get ebooks a dollar here or a dollar there. xD I don’t think 1.99 or 2.99 would be unreasonable though. Maybe 1.99 for the ones closer to 15k, and 2.99 for the ones closer to 25k? Either way, new stuff from you (especially in the Libriomancer universe) would make me a happy bunny.
Pam Adams
December 21, 2015 @ 3:57 pm
Buy in a minute!(And be happy!) Price break .99 to 1.99. I love the opportunity to buy short stories individually. I can’t buy ALL the anthologies.
Roy Sachleben
December 21, 2015 @ 4:03 pm
I’d buy it. $0.99 is a great short story price.
Kevin Ryan
December 21, 2015 @ 4:07 pm
I would definitely buy it and be happy about it. I will say that I like the idea of having a short story collection in the Magic Ex Libris world – whether or not that would count as a .5 release (i.e. how some authors have a part 2.5 that is released along with the 3rd book and then tells the go-between of the 2nd and 3rd books).
Holmelund
December 21, 2015 @ 4:12 pm
Not by it because of other reasons:
I do not read e-book. I only read real books.
Sehvrin
December 21, 2015 @ 4:24 pm
a) Buy it and be happy
b) If they would cost 0.99 – 1.99 dollar I think I would buy those who interest me a bit and not only those who interest me a lot (which would be the result with a higher price).
Patrick Grady
December 21, 2015 @ 4:29 pm
$.99 for the short story, and squee. Especially for Nook.
$.99 or $1.99 depending on length of the story and even more squee. Mostly because if you are self-publishing, you’re getting more of the money. I can stand a typo or 3 and the odd format error. And if there is a feedback link here to a particular story sub-forum so all of us can spot errors and not duplicate too much effort for an edit for later buyers, all the better
Paul
December 21, 2015 @ 4:43 pm
I would pay .99 for shorter pieces and 1.99-2.99 for a novella
Amanda
December 21, 2015 @ 4:49 pm
I would honestly rather buy a full collection of stories in real book format rather than single stories on an ereader, particularly since I would have to buy an ereader.
However if I was to buy single short stories I think .99 to 1.99 would be a decent price range.
Leslie R.
December 21, 2015 @ 4:58 pm
I would probably buy it and be happy. I don’t think I’d pay more than 1.99 for a short story, but I would gladly pay that for a quality short story by one of my favorite authors, if I were going to buy it in e-format. I’m probably more likely to just buy the anthology in regular old book format, but sometimes I like to have things on my Kindle also.
claudia
December 21, 2015 @ 5:01 pm
up to 2.99 would be wonderful. And PLEASE the goblins and the princesses (love them most) and availible from amazon.de
(and to set a point: I only read ebooks nowadays, no paperware)
Ian Boswell
December 21, 2015 @ 5:53 pm
I would be incredibly happy to spend anything in that range ($1-3) and get more from the Libriomancer world. Heck, I’d probably even spend a little more. Good stories are like drugs. I’m excited that you’re looking into doing this!
Ken Marable
December 21, 2015 @ 6:11 pm
A) Buy it and be (very) happy
B) Considering what I regularly pay for an average eComic Book, easily 1.99 or 2.99 for a novella I was excited about.
Just like hardcover/trade paperback/mass market decisions for printed works, my interest and how excited the topic sounds are much larger factors in how much I would pay as opposed to length.
Spriggana
December 21, 2015 @ 6:23 pm
Another thing to consider – I do not know how much control selfpublished authors have on prices outside USA, but often the price in Europe is higher because of reasons. Shortly after starting selling ebooks in Europe Amazon tried to explain that it‘s because of VAT and such, but strangely the surcharge had been constant no matter what the starting price. I do remember quite well a promotional free story from Peter F. Hamilton collection which had been free in USA, but European price in Amazon somehow had been equal to the standard surcharge of $3.44 (just checked, it has been June 2011).
I do think that Amazon had at least lowered the extra fee or learned how to add VAT properly, but still the prices can be higher.
hk hill
December 21, 2015 @ 7:08 pm
I would happily pay a buck or two for new short stories from you. More Goblins would be fantastic. Jig was left with quite a task, and I would love to see how that world is getting along.
Nicole
December 21, 2015 @ 7:26 pm
A) Buy it & be very happy.
B) I would not hesitate to buy a story for .99 – $1.99 for my kindle, and have done so for other authors I really like. At $2.99, I’d probably hesitate, try to calculate how long I think it would take to read, and still buy it regardless of the outcome.
Michael W Lucas
December 21, 2015 @ 7:43 pm
I sell stories of 8K-25K words for $2.99. People buy them.
And I’m sure I have a far, FAR smaller fan base than you.
Mason T. Matchak
December 21, 2015 @ 7:44 pm
I’d buy it and be happy, though I’m not sure about prices because I’ve never bought an e-book and don’t keep track of their usual pricing. But I’m always in favor of more libriomancer and/or princess stuff, so odds are good I’ll pick it up in whatever format you make it available.
…for the record, I typed “libriomancer and princess stuff” first, then had to add “/or” because my brain immediately went “CROSSOVER!” and then started to hurt from how incredibly metafictional that would be. (I’d still read the hell out of it.)
Matt H
December 21, 2015 @ 7:55 pm
I’d be ecstatic and would pay up to 1.99 for a short story. I’d pay 2.99 for a novella.
JillK
December 21, 2015 @ 8:16 pm
One: Buy it and be happy!
Two: I’d probably pay any of the above, but I’d buy quicker for 99 cents or $1.99. 🙂
Cristina
December 21, 2015 @ 8:54 pm
A) Buy it and be happy
Two) Any of those prices is reasonable to me, you should charge what you feel it is worth. And do not undersell yourself, it is the worst mistake creatives make.
PS: Please don’t break your brain.
Marie
December 21, 2015 @ 9:41 pm
Short stories I see as impulse purchases, better at lower prices. I won’t get an ebook >6$. Not that I begrudge an author their bigger e-profit but they already get a MUCH larger share in an ebook. I’m willing to wait for library or used dead trees because of my budget if it’s higher. There was a graph at Smashwords showing relative sales compared to price (http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/05/new-smashwords-survey-helps-authors.html)
Despite the tables and articles, I lean toward setting a price I’m willing to pay/I can afford in a budget.
Bob
December 21, 2015 @ 9:46 pm
(A) I’d happily buy that at 99 cents
(B) I’m pretty easy on small stuff – my internal radar doesn’t really trip the “this wasn’t long enough for the price” until I’ve paid over $3.
As a related aside, 2-3 short stories set in the same universe for $5 (or whatever) is easier to file and more satisfying to roll through than a random short story here and there (as someone upstream also mentioned)
Brendan
December 21, 2015 @ 9:56 pm
Buy it and be happy as it’s a great price for 99 cent is fairly common price for short stories.
I think 1-3$ is fair depending on the size. Lower prices for short story and higher price for nouvella (up to 4$)
Thomas
December 21, 2015 @ 9:56 pm
I’d buy it and be happy for $0.99. $1.99 for longer novella-length stories.
Steven
December 21, 2015 @ 10:01 pm
Agreeing with Martin & Katie
Rich Bowers
December 21, 2015 @ 10:23 pm
Buy it and be happy
Pay what you deem reasonable
Demand more
Kurt
December 21, 2015 @ 10:26 pm
Yes, I would buy individual short stories at 0.99 but I would rather buy a printed book of many short stories the same as the main novels.
Deby Fredericks
December 21, 2015 @ 10:36 pm
Buy it and be happy.
Would gladly pay $1.99 for a novellette or novella.
Would be better if I could get it for Nook.
PLC
December 21, 2015 @ 11:16 pm
For “Chupacabra’s Song”, I’d be happy to buy it at $.99, unless I buy the whole anthology first, which I am now considering.
In regard to future stories, a $.99 price point is pretty much an automatic buy. I would probably be happy to pay up to $2/story depending on length (TBH, I think of length in terms of paperback pages and don’t translate readily to word count). Beyond that I’d probably still buy but maybe feel a bit ripped off. Ideal scenario in my mind is a dead-tree collection (I don’t mind waiting to purchase a hard copy, but I don’t want to buy digital and then find out that there’s a hard copy coming out, since I’d rather have physical than digital copies).
Terry
December 22, 2015 @ 12:25 am
Buy it and be happy!
James Ryan
December 22, 2015 @ 12:30 am
I think 99 cents is a good set price for both the first story and anything following; it’s tempting and very intro-friendly. Based on both my own and some colleagues’ experiences with pricing, just under a buck seems to work best in getting people to take a look; the fact that you’ve got a good built-in audience as well helps here, too.
Louis Doggett
December 22, 2015 @ 1:19 am
I think this is a great idea.
99 cents is a good price for stories. Other pros charge that much.
As to what price for that story range. I would say 99 cents is good but I wouldn’t turn down one at 1.99 but any higher I would feel was too high.
MoominGirl
December 22, 2015 @ 1:42 am
If I were to self-publish this and put it out there as a 99-cent ebook, would you:
a) Buy it and be happy
Michelle
December 22, 2015 @ 6:08 am
YES Yes YEs YES YES!
*ahem*
I mean, buy it and be happy to pay the dollar.
As for the 15-25k stuff I think somewhere around the $1.99-2.99USD range sounds about right. Purely because that’s about what I pay for Sanderson’s similar length short stories and he’s the only author whose shorter stuff I regularly buy right now.
I’d be happy to expand that list to two authors though lol!
The only thing I’d beg for is international releases. I’m in NZ and getting your books can be a Right Royal Pain in the Rear which makes it really hard to sit my friends down and force them to read your stuff (even though I know one in particular would absolutely adore your work).
D. D. Webb
December 22, 2015 @ 6:34 am
I personally tend not to buy short story ebooks, which is not at all a reflection on the stories or their authors, but merely of my economic circumstances. Money’s quite tight (yes, even that tight), and with so much free content online that I’m waiting to get through I can’t really justify it.
However, that’s just me, and my situation puts me in an extreme minority.
Working in the bookstore, I’ve learned that numerous big name authors are doing this, and apparently doing it successfully. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t have to explain to some devoted fan that no, we don’t have this book and never will because it’s only an ebook. Some walk away disheartened but I’ve managed to turn a good few on to ebooks that way.
Point being, at this state of the publishing industry I believe disseminating 15-25K word stories in this manner is considered part of best practices for an author with a respectable backlist such as you have. From what I have seen, .99 is the go-to price for an ebook that size; I wouldn’t go higher.
And I look forward to having the freedom to gobble up those stories myself!
Jacqui Swingle
December 22, 2015 @ 8:10 am
Your characters and creations in your series are always wonderful and engaging to your readers. I am sure your fans would happily buy any short story for $0.99 to $1.99. And many of your fans may even be happy to pay even more for a collection/anthology. It might be to your advantage to keep in mind that many readers have read a short story such as you propose and been enticed to read the actual series that the story originated from. Looking at it from this perspective, a $0.99-$1.99 price could be a win-win situation for you. Not only making existing fans happy but also have the potential to introduce many more people to the amazing worlds you create.
sadie
December 22, 2015 @ 11:11 am
Buy it and be happy!!!
athersgeo
December 22, 2015 @ 11:23 am
If I *can* buy it (being in the UK rather than the US makes that a bit more tentative than I’d like!), I’d buy it and be happy – $0.99 (or the equivalent) seems a very fair price for a short story.
Jim C. Hines
December 22, 2015 @ 1:24 pm
On the international releases, I’ll do my best!
Jim C. Hines
December 22, 2015 @ 1:25 pm
I plan on making it available for Kindle, Nook, and as many other platforms as I can.
Lyndon
December 22, 2015 @ 3:33 pm
This would happify me at $1 to $3. Especially if it had lots of company.
Avilyn
December 22, 2015 @ 6:36 pm
This also gets my vote. 🙂
CyberLizard
December 22, 2015 @ 7:04 pm
I’d buy it at $1.99
Lene
December 22, 2015 @ 10:36 pm
I’d be more than happy to buy it.
wanderthe5th
December 22, 2015 @ 11:00 pm
I would buy the Nicola story, and probably for a friend as well. I’d most likely be happy with $0.99.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
December 23, 2015 @ 1:15 am
I’d buy it and be delighted at $0.99. I’d buy it at $1.99 and be happy.
JJ Jacobson
December 23, 2015 @ 1:04 pm
a) Buy it and be happy, and then go looking for the next one
b) Pay what you deem reasonable (and still be happy)
Eric
December 23, 2015 @ 3:15 pm
I’m not likely to buy shorts in your princess or goblin series, which I don’t really follow, but I’d happily pay $3 for 25K of a Libromancer story. Basically, I’d pay the same prices I do for equivalent lengths from Charles Stross or in the Dresden Files series. Some story ideas work really well at that length, and they can sometimes be my favorite parts of a longer series.
Sally
December 23, 2015 @ 9:40 pm
Also please to not forget Google Books. The fact that I pretty regularly have a buck or two in credit there has NOTHING to do with this, of course. 😉
Jim C. Hines
December 23, 2015 @ 9:43 pm
Uploaded it over there today. Just waiting for everything to get processed, but I should have purchase links up in the next few days.
Heidi
December 23, 2015 @ 11:03 pm
I’d happily pay $0.99 for a short. I pay $1.99 for stuff like the Elliott James shorts (Amazon says they’re usually between 30-50 pages Kindle pages). I’ll usually pay up to $4.99 for a decently lengthy novella, but that’s about where I start to get pissy about it. That makes me sound like a brat, but it’s the sorry truth. I read/buy too many books to go higher than that without dipping into the grocery budget.
Carol
December 24, 2015 @ 1:51 am
To be honest, I would not pay .99 for a short story. I have much to read and much to keep track of (and much to buy). I generally expect that when you get enough material you will put out either a collection of short stories or a collection of Libriomancer short stories. I will buy and read them then. For 5 pages of story I will not be futzing with payment systems and DRM. Sorry. Looking forward to your next book. 😎
Gregory Lynn
December 25, 2015 @ 11:05 pm
Pricing things short of about 50k words at more than 99 cents would mean not selling much to people who aren’t fans already which is perfectly reasonable, but 99 cents buys are often impulse buys that can get you a new fan.
You might want to consider something like Patreon where your core fans can get a story for a buck a month or so, and eventually you collect them into something that’s going to be attractive at $2.99.
At most places a single $2.99 sale will pay you as seven 99 cent sales.
April Bruch
December 26, 2015 @ 5:46 am
I would pay definitely pay 0.99 for a Pallas story. I really like reading short stories. It takes a special skill to be able to write a short story that has a developed plot line. I have read your kitemaster and other stories book and enjoyed it very much. So I would happily buy and enjoy any short stories that you would publish. I would love some more stories set in the Princess universe, as it is one of my favorite series that I have read! I usually stick with a price of 0.99 to $1.99 when buying short stories. Also short stories also can give new readers a chance to try your work without costing them to much and hopefully pick up some new fans willing to buy your novels. Good luck!
Margaret A. Davis
January 3, 2016 @ 6:32 pm
I would love more Magic Ex Libris material and would definitely purchase any short stories, novellas, etc. if offered for Kindle. Price is less important to me than content. That said, I’ve bought several eBooks for $3.99 lately. But hopefully you will choose a price point below $10.00. Thanks for asking and please do write more in the Magic Ex Libris universe!!
Margaret A. Davis
January 3, 2016 @ 6:36 pm
Patreon is awesome for published authors who HAVE a fan base. I’m currently supporting two of my favorite authors. Apparently it works less well for authors sf/fantasy fans have never heard of. The way it works is that you publish snippets (a scene or two?) once or twice a month. Fans pledge to pay monthly ranging from $1 up. If you get several hundred of your fans supporting you, it starts to look like serious money. I recommend that you at least look into it at https://www.patreon.com/ . Then, if you sign up, BE SURE TO LET YOUR FANS KNOW, such as via Goodreads and, of course, your Web site.
Jim C. Hines
January 3, 2016 @ 6:50 pm
I can pretty much guarantee that anything I self-publish will be under $10, unless I end up doing something weird like a compilation of everything I’ve ever written in my life all in one volume.