In this step you decide which sales channels are allowed to sell your book, and at what price. The overview directly shows the sales channels that are activated and the margins that you will receive through sales via these channels. Feel free to adjust the sales price. By increasing it your margin (and ours) will go up. Of course, if the price is set too high, it might negatively impact your sales figures. Should you decrease the margin, our shared profit will lessen. Your own margin can be set to 0 if you wish; however, our margin has a minimum.
Be aware that in some countries (e.g. The Netherlands, Germany) certain legal circumstances may prohibit you from adjusting the price of your book.
Tips
- Take your time when deciding on the sales price of your book; too high a price might result in fewer or no sales. Do some research on the price ranges of books similar to yours.
- We advise you to price your e-book significantly lower than your printed edition.
- Certain sales channels (often bookstores) may offer lower margins than others. Allowing these channels to sell your book will improve your reach, but sales via these channels will of course make you less money.
FAQ
What does the pricing step entail exactly?
During this step you determine the retail price of your book, as well as which sales channels will be allowed to sell it.
How is the price calculated?
We present you with an entirely transparent cost calculation for both your print book and your e-book. The final pricing is made up of the following components:
- Print price: this is the price we are charged for printing a copy of your book. It depends on the number of pages, the size and the use of colour.
- Sales costs: these are the costs we incur for selling your book, e.g. fees to payment providers and margins to various sales channels, such as bookstores and online shops.
- Margin platform: this is our commission. These funds are used to cover the costs of developing and improving our website and are invested into improving the service in order to offer you extra functionality in the future.
- Margin author: this is the margin you earn yourself. This is always the same amount as the platform margin, unless you choose a lower margin than the set minimum or a higher margin than our maximum margin. You can also set your own margin at 0, should you not want any profits for instance.
- Taxes: VAT or Sales Tax, paid to the ambient government for selling your book. The percentage differs per country.
- Price: this is the final retail price of your book, which you decide. The price calculator will suggest a retail price, which you can adjust, though you can never set it lower than the sum of the print costs, sales costs and our minimum platform margin. Be aware: setting your sales price too high may reduce your chances of high sales figures.
What are sales costs?
These are costs related to distribution. In addition to this, you are charged more when you choose to activate all sales channels, e.g. bookstores, as they will take part of your margin.
I see various margins. Why?
Your margin depends on the sales channel. Sales directly via our web shop increase your margin, whereas sales via other channels can result in a lower margin.
Where and when do I determine the price of my e-book?
When you’ve finished publishing the print edition of your book, you can immediately start publishing the e-book version. At that point, you will determine the price of your e-book.
Where and when do I determine the price of my print book?
When you are finished publishing your e-book, you can immediately start publishing the print version. At that stage you will determine the price for your print book.
Is it possible to change the price of a book after it has been published?
For print books this varies depending on the country the book is sold in. In the Netherlands and Germany for instance, there’s a so-called “Fixed Book Price”, which prohibits this. You’re usually allowed to change the price for an e-book however.