Launching Your Book at 99 cents is a Huge Mistake!

Nerd alert: I study book launches. Successful ones and not-so-successful ones. Before I continue, let me ask you a question. Would you light $17,000 (or more than $66,000) on fire, just to watch it burn? If not, keep reading...

About that Huge Book Launch Mistake, Hc.?There seem to be a?lot?of people who launch their books at 99 cents. At first glance it seems like the logical thing to do: sell it at the lowest possible price and tell everyone in the world about it. Get the word out and make some money while we're at it. Sound reasonable right? Sure. But what can go wrong? Well, as luck and data would have it, quite a bit.

While this was a solid strategy even a couple of years ago,?it isn't anymore—and here are two key reasons why:

1. The royalty rate at 99 cents is 35%.?35% of 99 cents is, well, not very much. Which means, when you sell a ton of books, even as many as 10,000, you'll still make less than $3500. That's a bummer, considering that it costs more than that to?professionally publish?the book. Not to mention the time and effort that goes into writing it!
2. A 99 cent launch is also usually geared toward "everyone."?When you market to "everyone," you're confusing those extremely powerful online retail algorithms. Directed algorithms organically sell books?forever. Confused algorithms?die. So, you'll get a lot of initial sales, but the long-term success of the book is in jeopardy.

What should you do instead??There isn't a simple answer to this one, but here are the basics:

1. Assemble an Advanced Reader Team consisting solely of the ideal reader for the book. One hundred enthusiastic advanced readers will do just fine.
2. Ask them to buy and review the book.?You can even price it for them at 99 cents.
3. Once you’ve got a solid number of reviews from your ideal readers (and you've trained the algorithms), launch the book at full price.

Imagine selling 9900 books at even just $2.99 (the lowest price for the 70% royalty). You'd make $20,930 (more than $17,000 than at 35%). If you priced your book at the maximum price for the 70% royalty, at $9.99, you'd make $69,230.70.?A difference of about $66,000.

You can see why I think a 99 cent launch is a huge mistake. A well-executed launch, one that sells books Day One and One Day (i.e., a long time in the future) is complex and relies on several factors. If you're interested in learning more, I share my entire pre-launch and launch formula in?Publishing Ph.D.

I'll see you tomorrow!

Honorée Corder | I help professionals write, publish, market, and monetize their books.

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