Late Night Thoughts
It's late, so my mind starts getting weird and over-thinky. Yes, over-thinky is a word. It's 2 am. Don't judge.
Anyway... On the brink of releasing my next Shiva XIV backstory, (The Dragon Warrior of Kri) I found myself wondering if pricing it at 2.99 was too expensive. I mean, it's a novella and only 57 pages... And all my other Shiva backstories are .99. I waffled back and forth in my head. One side said, "Most everyone else charges .99 for short stories and people might even think you're trying to rip them off!" But my other side said, "Hey, I worked hard on this story and it's not a small short like the others!"
(Yes, I often have at least 2 sides in my head arguing. What, that's not normal?)
I waffled until I really thought about how absurd the whole thing is. I can't believe I'm actually feeling like I might be overcharging for a measly 3 bucks. I mean, people easily spend that much on things they really don't need or even savor. It's far less than coffee at Starbucks and way less than a movie ticket or CD or painting or most everything! It's enormously less than a concert! In fact, most every other art form goes for way more than 3 dollars.
Why should books be valued so little in comparison? Authors work diligently on writing/editing/formatting, pouring our hearts and guts into stories we hope will inspire or at least amuse. We indies often market ourselves as well, which drives most of us batty, to be honest. None of it is easy, and a lot of our books are worth far more than we sell them for! Sometimes it feels like we're just giving it all away!
So, yeah, I'm sticking with 2.99. Sure, I'll run a special sometimes, and it'll be .99 or maybe even free... But ya know what? I put a lot of effort into my story, and I know it'll entertain. Conclusion: We indie writers need to start treating ourselves like we matter. If we don't, no one else will! As my fellow IndieFab sisters would say, huzzah!
