Thursday 9 August 2012

Is this prior retribution?

Amazon have done it again.

   At first I priced my Kindle books at $0.99. I sold a few and all was well. A few months later I listened to other, more experienced writers than I, and increased the price to $1.99.

   Yet nowhere on Amazon are my novels priced at $1.99. They range from a wide variety of prices and seem to change at the whim of whoever  is in charge of these things. I think they're currently at $2.03 but have changed several times now over the past few weeks. That's even if you or I can find them. 

   With the exception of a Little Twist my short story collection I put my other three up into paperback as well. You would think that because they're all on sale at the same outlet you would be able to see them all together. Or at least each different novel in both Kindle and paperback on the same page. However that's not the case. 

   Has no one at Amazon ever heard of marketing. I would have thought that there was  more chance of selling either, or both, if they were on the same page. Perhaps I'm being simple. I understand that they have to rationalise their sales, and that they aren't a charity. But to increase the price of titles that aren't selling so well and separating them cannot be good for any future sales.

   Or is it because I've revoked my allegiance of Three Hoodies One and given notice that I'm withdrawing from KDP on the 22nd of August, and just to rub it in, putting it on smashwords as well. Is this their way of getting me back?

6 comments:

  1. I've seen this on Amazon, but I thought it was the authors who were pricing weird.

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  2. It might be for some of them but not me. I had the same thing with CreateSpace. Two of my books with the same pages length had to be priced completely differently. I had no choice. And my price was the lowest, just to get them published.

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  3. Very weird, indeed. This is making me nervous as I'm readying my novel.

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  4. Don't be. The price fluctuations aren't that great.I've seen it with other novels as well. Perhaps Amazon's prices are linked to the international exchange rate other something equally as stupid.

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  5. They are such a big organisation and 'reputable' name that it does seem strange to hear them acting so erratically. You would expect them to function at optimum efficiency. I would guess that you are probably on the button with the exchange rate idea. It sounds more than plausible. I'm also following your experiences like Shelly as at some point I'd like to put up my own book - but I think I'm still months away from doing that (I get far too distracted) so I'm sure their whole operation will probably have changed by the time I get there!

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  6. Don't bank on it but we can all hope. I'll let everyone know what happens after Hoodies 1 goes over to the other side. And if you don't hear anything at all from me then you can draw your own conclusions

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