Hi to all of DP members! I apologize at the beginning if this is not the correct section to start this thread. In that case, moderators please move this to the appropriate category. Well, I was just checking the e books section of DP and I was amazed to see that people are selling copies of their e books for prices like 10$,15$ even 5$. I was really surprised to see these prices as in general an e book requires lot of hard work and formatting. Generally, a small e book consists of 10k words and it cannot be sold for a value like 5$ or 10$, I guess. Another thing, how can they sell the same e book to different people? So, there is no copywriting issues involved in an e book? Even if there is, then what are the rules? Can anyone please explain?
They own the copyright if they created it. They can sell it to as many people as they want. Do authors only sell one copy of a book they write? No. You can sell as many as you want. Some people do only sell one copy, and for a good price. When they do that, it's so that the buyer can then sell a lot of copies for smaller amounts and make more money over time.
Thanks for mentioning and the explanation as well. Can you tell me another thing: what should be the good price to sell an e book (Only one copy in this case)? Suppose, the book is 50 pages long. Another thing that I wanted to ask. What should be the better option of the two. Choose a theme and select an e book and then re write the entire content or download two e books from related niche and then merge the two. Obviously copyrighting issues will be solved in the first case. But, the second one is less time consuming.
Both examples you mentioned would be copyright infringement. You cannot create a derivative work from someone else's work unless you have a license or the permission of the copyright holder. You need to research the exact copyright laws in your own country. Price depends entirely on what you're selling and to whom. If you're an authority in the niche, you can charge more than someone who's just done basic research and compiled it into an e-book for example.
Thanks for explaining the rules properly. I understood the pros and cons of e book writing. I will definitely check the copyright laws of my country to have a clearer idea.
Just asking, but are you looking to sell your ebook to someone else so they can claim it as their own, or are you looking to market your own ebook? One of my internet marketing guru friends told me that you should base the price of your ebook on every 25 pages or so and go from there. In her opinion, $10 per 25 pages, especially if you're giving people actual solutions. If you're trying to use it as a marketing tool and aren't really offering "meaty" solutions, then very little money like $4 for the entire thing or even free just to boost up the publicity. Anyway, trying to market an ebook yourself could potentially bring you more money in the long run if you've written for the right audience.
There's much more to effective pricing than that. It's a primary part of your marketing mix for good reason -- it can make or break the launch of the product. There's bargain pricing, discount pricing, middle-of-the-road, and premium pricing just for starters. Then, yes, length might play a factor, as would the depth of the content offered. The authority status of the author could also play a role. Historical sales statistics for similar e-book launches by the author should come into play when applicable. The most important factor though is the target market -- what can they afford, what can they invest, and what is the best mix of copies sold and price per copy to maximize the author's profits?
Well, there may or may not be. She wasn't about to divulge her full strategy to me, and she didn't have enough time to expound on my question much more than that, but this is a woman who earns more than $300,000 a year in affiliate and internet marketing, especially with information products, so I figured the advice she was giving certainly works great for her, so it might work well for me. She certainly has great authority, and people trust her, so it may work way better for her than for me, who a lot of people really don't know, even though I've been putting my stuff out there for at least 5 years now.