Magic ex Libris: The Next Chapter
Some of you might remember me talking about a 15,000-word novelette I was working on between wrapping up Terminal Alliance and starting on Terminal Uprising.
That novelette is called “Imprinted,” and it’s the next Magic ex Libris story.
It’s about Jeneta Aboderin, and it’s set roughly eight months after the events of Revisionary.
I haven’t set a publication date yet. There’s a bit of work left to get everything ready, and with Terminal Alliance coming out in November, I’m guessing it will be available in January or February.
I also haven’t set a price. $2.99 would be ideal, because that’s where ebook royalty rates jump from 35% to 70%. What do you think? Does $2.99 seem fair for a 15,000-word story, or should I bump it down to $1.99 and take the royalties hit?
Finally, as long as you’re here, what do you think of the not-quite-finalized cover?
JamieC
August 14, 2017 @ 10:21 am
Given the choice, I’d rather pay $1.99, because, you know, less money. But, particularly knowing the 35% vs. 70% royalty rate, I’ll pay $2.99 because I want to support the author and I want to see more stories in this universe in the future.
Jim Carroll
August 14, 2017 @ 10:23 am
I would gladly pay $2.99 – these are my favorite stories of yours!
colleen
August 14, 2017 @ 10:39 am
$2.99 the extra $1 (1.25 cdn) is worth it for that big of a royalty jump. I consider it an investment in future books from you.
Regina
August 14, 2017 @ 10:52 am
I really like the cover – and I’ll happily pay $2.99 (or whatever the equivalent will be in Euroland).
Patty Rau
August 14, 2017 @ 10:56 am
Knowing the difference is how much you actually make from it, I would happily pay more. Personally, I would pay even more to have a dead tree edition.
Maybe some day you will have enough short stories/novellas from the series to publish them all in a paper collection.
Stacey Harlow
August 14, 2017 @ 10:57 am
I’d be happy to pay $2.99 knowing it helps to support you. It’s not like the difference from waiting for the paperback after the hardcover. The cover looks great!
Lisa Kueltzo
August 14, 2017 @ 10:57 am
2.99 is reasonable to me, but I am also biased (I am going to buy it either way).
Dorothy
August 14, 2017 @ 11:00 am
I don’t know why more authors don’t do this. Yes, I will pay that price for a story and as a way to support an author whose work I enjoy.
Leslie R.
August 14, 2017 @ 11:04 am
I would definitely pay $2.99 for it – your stories are totally worth it. I would also pay for the dead tree edition. 🙂
Colleen Theisen
August 14, 2017 @ 11:23 am
I would pay $2.99. I would pay even more for paper.
CC
August 14, 2017 @ 11:24 am
I would absolutely pay $2.99 for a new “chapter” in Ex Libris! Cover is well done.
Bruce Karlquist
August 14, 2017 @ 11:44 am
Not all of us do ebooks…
I’d gladly pay for a book!
Avilyn
August 14, 2017 @ 12:05 pm
I would happily pay $2.99 for this, and would also buy a paper edition (or a later collection of shorter works in the universe). I like the cover!
J.R.
August 14, 2017 @ 12:25 pm
Charge whatever you like, just promise me an audiobook!
Erika Ensign
August 14, 2017 @ 12:25 pm
I will add my voice to the chorus of folks who would happily pay $2.99.
Ariel
August 14, 2017 @ 12:42 pm
2.99 seems reasonable given the jump– but I wish it was more obvious to readers! Of course, I’d buy it regardless, so.
Sean
August 14, 2017 @ 1:16 pm
If royalty was the same I’d say lower, but I hand’t known about this difference in royalty before, 2.99 sounds fine!
Would love a breakdown of standard royalty rates accross different channels, like ebooks on amazon vs barnes and nobles, etc, paperback/hardback same, if its possible, would make for a good article to add more transparency for fans.
Joie
August 14, 2017 @ 1:29 pm
I’m also here for the 2.99 price. I would love to make sure these stories are sustainable for you the write and that you GET PAID.
Michael Smith
August 14, 2017 @ 1:35 pm
The extra dollar isn’t going to kill anyone. The stories have always been well worth the price of admission. Don’t mess up your rates!
BookGeekGrrl
August 14, 2017 @ 1:37 pm
I think $2.99 is a reasonable price point, especially knowing about the royalties thing! Also I LOVE LOVE LOVE that cover.
Susan
August 14, 2017 @ 2:05 pm
I LOVE the series(just got my Hubs started on book 1 – yay!) and would gladly pay $2.99
David E
August 14, 2017 @ 2:33 pm
I’d absolutely pay the $2.99. That’s not a ridiculous amount of money as it is, and your readers know you’re worth it. Can’t wait to read it!
Ed
August 14, 2017 @ 2:40 pm
Heck, go all out, make it $3.00 exactly. Or, dare I say it, $3.01!
Rich B
August 14, 2017 @ 2:54 pm
2.99 is fine
venus
August 14, 2017 @ 3:19 pm
I’m going to buck the trend here and tell you that I would price it at .99, actually. Typically, stories this short are priced at .99 on Kindle, regardless of author, with the sole exception of erotica. Most of the time, successful ebook story authors at this length sell with Kindle first, price at .99 for the regular price, offer at least 3 days of free sale, and make most of their money not from direct sales but from the Kindle subscription program; once the story has been released for two or three months, THEN bump to $2.99. What you price your book has no impact on the kindle subscription price–that is SOLELY pages read, and determined by the pool price.
Now, you’ve got lots of fans here saying they will pay 2.99, and that’s great. However, speaking as someone who makes a lot of her income this way? $2.99 for 15K is just too much for a starting price and most people will pass. YMMV, etc etc, this is just offered as someone coming from the experienced sales side of the aisle rather than a fan side.
Jim C. Hines
August 14, 2017 @ 3:21 pm
Venus – last I checked, the Kindle Unlimited subscription program required exclusivity. In other words, you couldn’t publish/sell the book anywhere else. Has that changed? (Or am I misremembering?) I’m not willing to give Amazon exclusivity on this.
Mel
August 14, 2017 @ 4:41 pm
I like the cover, and I like that you would get a higher royalty rate at $2.99. Realistically, though, for myself, my budget is already tiny, and at $1.99 it’s more likely that I will buy a copy for myself, rather than begging the library to get a communal copy. Yes, a dollar makes a difference. It’s not because I think your work isn’t worth it, it’s that often, there’s just no space.
kiwi
August 14, 2017 @ 5:02 pm
Fangirling for more Magic ex Libris over here!!! 😀 wohoooo XD
I think the cover fits to the other magic-ex-libris covers and i like the words coming from her hand/e-reader. I would totally pay 2.99 and i think people who are interested in reading imprinted like magic ex libris enough to pay that too. I think someone not interested in the books would pay neither 1.99 nor 2.99.
Crystal
August 14, 2017 @ 5:04 pm
Yes, Kindle Unlimited still requires exclusivity.
As a reader, I would definitely pay $2.99.
As a self-publisher, the common understanding seems to be that $1.99 is a dead price; that you will get less traction at it than at $2.99. I did a quick Google to see if I could find my original source for that with no luck, so that it for what it is.
I think Gail Carriger would be an excellent model to examine for pricing self published short stories and novellas. A quick look showed me several $0.99 stories and one $3.99 novella.
Angie
August 14, 2017 @ 6:01 pm
$2.99 is fine. I’ve happily paid $2.99 for short stories in the four to five thousand word range; for a novelette I’d be fine paying $3.99 if you wanted to charge that. $2.99 is definitely cool.
Kindle Unlimited does require exclusivity, and yes that does suck.
Re: what Crystal said, I’ve also heard that $1.99 is a dead price. If nothing else, you make only about seventy cents for each sale, versus about $2.10 for a sale at $2.99, but you’re not likely to get 3+ times the sales at $1.99 than you will at $2.99. Even if you sell twice as many books, you’re still making less money. If you value the eyeballs over the dollars, then you should just go for ninety-nine cents and be done with it.
Angie, definitely looking forward to another Magic Ex Libris story
Mason T. Matchak
August 14, 2017 @ 6:59 pm
This makes me very happy. I don’t even care about the price, I just want to read it and will buy it as soon as it’s available. ^_^
Edmond Woychowsky
August 14, 2017 @ 7:16 pm
Looks good and I’ll pay $2.99.
chacha1
August 14, 2017 @ 7:55 pm
Love the cover, and I’d happily pay $2.99
Dawn Betts-Green
August 14, 2017 @ 8:02 pm
2.99 is more than reasonable!!! <3
Sally
August 14, 2017 @ 10:45 pm
I’d prefer $1.99, being poor AF. I get that $2.99 is the royalty sweet spot, but for 15K words, I dunno.
I’m not sure your blog followers are the right people to ask — we buy everything anyway! 🙂 But only people already invested in MeL are going to buy it anyway, so maybe we are…
I’m no help, sorry. But some escapism into fake people’s problems would be swell right now at any price.
Sally
August 14, 2017 @ 10:46 pm
(Also, I would probably be buying it on Google or maybe B&N, so YAY for no exclusivity)
Marcia
August 15, 2017 @ 1:14 pm
Love the cover. As to the price, $2.99 seems very reasonable to me. Can’t wait to read it.
Terry Hickman
August 15, 2017 @ 3:42 pm
I’d pay the $2.99 price, for sure. But I’d love it to come in a dead tree edition, too! I’ve got all the other Libriomancer books, they pine for this addition to their shelf!
Jeffrey Linder
August 17, 2017 @ 4:23 pm
15K is novella sized and $2.99 seems to be a fair and sweet spot for a Novella issue by an established author (Novels should be between 7.99 and 11.99 depending on size and author, shorts $.99, novellas by new authors $1.99 – my opinion only)
Thomas
August 20, 2017 @ 8:57 pm
I’d prefer $1.99 for a story of that length, BUT given the known author, the known property, and the known royalty rate bump, I am okay with you charging $2.99 for it. I’ll buy it day 1 in either case.
Keith Foster
August 21, 2017 @ 5:32 pm
I’m fine with paying $2.99. I loved the entire series, which I just finished yesterday. I read all four books over a two week period. Speaking as a newly minted fan, I’d love to see a 3 or 4 book series with Ponce de Leon as the protagonist.