I started my indie journey with one goal in mind: get my books in the hands of the most readers possible. Not a bad goal, right?
In service of that goal, I have tried to remove as many barriers to my books as possible.
No Heart for a Thief has been a $0.99 ebook since it released, with the notable exception of the two free sales I ran in 2023, giving away over 3,400 ebooks.
I have given away review copies to any reviewer who has asked, with the exception of those looking for payment for reviews.
No Heart for a Thief and No Safe Haven are both on Kindle Unlimited.
My novella, Don’t Bloody the Black Flag, is free for anyone who signs up for my newsletter.
To an extent, this strategy has worked. I am honored by the number of people who have read my books, reviewed them, shared cover reveals, or done anything to help spread the work about the stories I write. However, I don’t 100% buy into this strategy any longer.
The indie publishing world moves extremely quickly. This strategy got very popular and the field of $0.99 ebooks is saturated. The low price doesn’t make books stand out in the same way it once did.
Additionally, I have come to understand what it will mean to be in this long-term. For many authors, it takes several books—even several series—to find the readership they need to make their passion financially viable. There are the standout examples of authors who connect with a large base quickly, but that hasn’t been the case with me.
This is not a woe-is-me moment. This is me acknowledging that it is time for a change in course.
My goal has changed. I want to sell enough books to make being an author financially sustainable. Without getting too far into the numbers, I lost over $7,000 in my first year of publishing. That’s not unheard of with the costs of editing, cover art, and everything else. However, that is not something I can continue doing.
Given time, I believe my books will earn my money back. In the meantime, I need my sales to help me with my next release and the one after that.
I am not looking to make large amounts of money—though it would be nice. I’m looking at you secret billionaire Malitu fans. However, I am looking to lose less of it so that I can write all the series in my head. I have more stories I want to tell you all.
So how does this affect my pricing?
My novella will still be free for newsletter subscribers. I still intend to keep my pricing low. However, Amazon offers 30% royalties on ebooks under $2.99 and 70% royalties on ebooks over $2.99. There is an additional handling fee, but it isn’t a huge factor. Brass tax, I make about $0.30 on a $0.99 ebook and about $1.99 on a $2.99 ebook.
Breaking that down: by raising the cost of No Heart for a Thief by $2, I earn about $1.69 of that price increase per book.
For those of you unwilling to pay $2.99 for an ebook, I will still take part in a few sales every year. I will still offer review copies of my paperbacks to honest reviewers. But I need to focus on longevity.
For those of you asking why the hell are you writing an essay about a $2 price change, I think transparency is important. Fans of indie authors enjoy supporting the community. And indie authors, especially debuts, are always looking to learn from other people’s strategies.
And before you can ask, yes, I will continue to share my costs and sales reports about every 6 months.
All of this is a long way to say, the Narratess Indie sale from April 13-15 will be the last time to get a No Heart for a Thief ebook for $0.99 for a while. If you’re interested, No Safe Haven will also be $0.99 for the sale as well. After that, No Heart for a Thief will be $2.99 and No Safe Haven will be $3.99.
Thank you for your support. I hope this strategy helps me continue sharing my stories for years to come, and as always, I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.