Monday, July 30, 2012

How Long Do You Want It and How Much Are You Willing to Pay For It?

Of course, I'm talking about books. Long ago, when I first considered writing romance novels, Harlequin set the rules. All their books had very specific length requirements and sensuality levels for the different lines. I'm not quibbling with Harlequin. But, with the advent of ebooks, books now come in all lengths from 2,000 words (about 10 pages) to more traditional tomes in all genres.

For myself, I have found that I like shorter books (sometimes called novellas). Maybe I just have a short attention span, but I now check to see how many pages a book has before I commit to buying it. I've also found that I like writing shorter works---probably for the same attention span reasons.

What about you? Do you like short reads---something in the 8 to 20 page range.
                            Novellas----20 to 80 pages (I don't know if there are any hard and fast rules about what constitutes a short story vs. novella vs. novel, so I'm just throwing some things out there.)
                           Novel---100 pages and up.

And, how much are you willing to pay? $1.99 to $4.99 seem to be the range on most ebooks these days (other than the big best sellers).

Do you think that there is a relationship between price and quality?

What about free or 99 cent books?

Feel free (in fact I encourage you) to use this like Pooky's Quiz a couple weeks ago and answer here or copy and paste into your own blog with your answers. I'd really like to get a wide range of responses.

Thanks!

12 comments:

  1. Celeste, I've got to get out the door, but here it goes: I am in the camp with you for the most part -shorter 20-80 pages, I am fine with the price range you list -I don't want to pay much over $5-$6, and price and quality seem to play a part. 99 cent book might not catch my attention. A free sample is always great, though. Have a great day.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by on your way out the door. Hope you had a good day. Thanks for your input.

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  2. Having a free selection from an author is always nice; partly because its free and because it gives the reader an example of what the author's writing, story telling abillities are like. I've read a free sample before and then gone and bought every title that author has listed. I go both ways on length though - some of the greatest stories I've ever read have been under 40 pages, some are over.

    I think $4.99 to 7.99 is reasonable for an ebook. Don't make your work too cheap!

    I finished your books (wowsers!) but lost your contact info - you had said you wanted to ask me something about them so feel free to send me an email (under Redbooty, remember? lol)

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    1. You make a good point about sampling the stories on Amazon or other sites. I've read blurbs that sounded great, but then when I read a few of the sample pages, I wasn't so impressed. And vice versa.

      I've read several reviews on Amazon where they say "well, this was pretty good for a free book". There does seem to be a correlation between price and perceived quality.

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  3. Hi Celeste. I've been thinking about this too and on pricing it seems that the best price point is about $1 for every 5000 words. This works up to a point, of course, after which it plateaus at about $5-6. If an author develops a following, then maybe there can be some price creep upward, but I'd be reluctant to pay more than $6 for a self published ebook in any genre.

    As for length, it really depends. Personally I'd read novels of greater than 100k words if they could hold my interest. In this genre, though that means having more than one pair of characters who have relationships. I've read long "spanking novels" that bored me because they got repetitive---the same two characters repeating the same incidents. The fix for that is to have more than one couple as part of the plot. The two novels I've written have main couples but also have other multiple pairings or aggregations. If the story is about a single couple, though, I'd say it should be no more than 10,000 words.

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    1. $1 per 5000 words is an interesting concept and that does seem be the case with many books.

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  4. Hi Celeste,
    I like a spanking novel to be between about 20,00 and 30,000 words, mostly. I like it to be long enough to relax and read it and enjoy the characters but not so long that I can't finish it in a couple of sittings. I tend to get busy and forget where I'm up to.

    As for price, I think under $5.00 is enough for most novellas but if a longer book appeals to me I will pay more.


    There's always exceptions to every rule.


    Good post Celeste. Very thought provoking :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I think there is something to be said for being able to read something in one or two sittings, or something that you can sit up in bed and finish without staying up all night. It's always exciting to find a book that's worth staying up to read, though!

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  5. How many words was 21 Days? I agree, I guess for spanking fiction I prefer reading a novella to a novel and under $5. I just finished a short story (7000 words) to offer on Amazon for free or .99. For some reason writing shorter was harder for me....

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    1. 21 Days is about 10K words.

      Loved Betrothed, btw.

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  6. Hi, sorry I am late here! I like free samples however I will pay up to 5-6 dollars for a story but my comfort zone is under 5. I think the length should be whatever is needed to tell the story! I enjoy it all.

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    1. Thanks, Minelle. I agree about price. I tend to pause if it's over $5, but below five and I'm filling my cart.

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I love getting feedback. Thank you for taking the time to comment!