eBook Pricing Info
Who sets the price of my eBook?
You select a digital list price between $0.99 and $9.99. This range ensures that your book will be eligible for sale at the widest possible array of eBook retailers. Set your price in the online publisher before you submit your book for publication.
The actual customer price a reader pays for your book may vary if retailers opt to discount off of your digital list price. Most will follow the suggested retail price that you set. However, some retailers may choose to list the book at a discount. Book Country does not control this, as it is retailer-discretion.
Note: Apple requires all book prices end in $0.99. If you price your book differently, we will submit the closest price to Apple to ensure your book is not rejected. For example if you set your book price at $2.00, we will need to submit it to Apple at $1.99.
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How do I know the best price for my eBook?
There are a few rules and things to consider before you decide to set the price for your eBook.
- It cannot be priced at $0.00. This is because each retail website charges a small service fee for the download of the eBook file. An eBook must be at least $0.99 in order to be sold on any retail website.
- Anywhere between $0.99 and $9.99 is considered an "acceptable" price. Research has shown that customers are more willing to purchase an eBook if the book is priced significantly lower than a paperback or hardcover book.
- Do some research. What is the price for other eBooks in the same category as your book? Readers are typically willing to pay more for a well-known author's book than a new author. Do some research on similar books, ask around, and be competitive.
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What's the minimum and maximum I can charge for my eBook?
Each retailer has a different policy. When you enter the page, our online publisher tool with show a default price of $4.99 that you can change if you prefer to between $0.99 and $9.99.
The minimum and maximum prices for Book Country are based on what retailers require, as well as industry standards. Our retail partners' policies are as follows, as of November 2012 (all prices in USD):
| RETAILER |
MINIMUM |
MAXIMUM |
| Kobo |
$1.99 |
$12.99 |
| Barnes & Noble |
$0.99 |
$199.00 |
| Amazon |
$0.99 |
$200 |
| Sony |
$0.99 |
none |
| Apple |
$0.99 |
$39.99 |
| Google |
$0.99 |
80% of lowest print price |
Please note: Some retailers will offer lower percentage of net for lower priced books. For example Amazon and Barnes & Noble pay a smaller percentage for books priced under $2.99.
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But there are eBooks available for free, so why can't I offer mine for less than $0.99?
You may notice there are some eBooks that are "sold" for free. Amazon for Kindle has a Top 100 Free eBooks list, for example. But, how can they do that if retailers forbid a book to be priced at $0.00? To be eligible for giving away their book for free, these authors are not permitted to distribute outside of Amazon. They must exclusively make their book available through Kindle Direct Publishing to be able to offer their book for free. The authors who sign-up for this are only allowed to give away their books for free for a limited amount of days and must limit their distribution to this single retailer.
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Why is a retailer selling my book at a lower price?
The actual customer price a reader pays for your book may vary if retailers opt to discount your digital list price. Most will follow the suggested digital list price that you set. However, some retailers may choose to list the book at a discount. Book Country does not control this, as it is at the retailer's-discretion.
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Can I change the price of my book later?
Once your eBook is published, you can change the price. Simply click the "Resubmit" button to unlock your book in the Dashboard, make the change, and resubmit your eBook. The price change will show up in online bookstores in one day to four weeks, depending on the retailer. But, we recommend you do not change the price of your book more than once every 60 days.
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I changed my price, but my old price is still listed on the wide network. Why?
Book Country does not control the speed with which third parties in our distribution network update their prices. We send the information out within 24 hours of the change, but it may take some time for them to update their records.
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