This morning I was struck by the idea that I must be underpricing this book. I've been promoting my royalties-for-early-book-buyers-program in various places - website, forums, Twitter, blog - for more than a month, and haven't had a single $29 order. I believe the tribe has spoken.
I think what's in play here is the old mindset: "If it sounds too good to be true, it must not be true." See, I purposely do things that are outrageous, but few people realize I'm just a generous person. (My Generosity Experiment book will address the responses I've had to my 12 years of "intentional creative generosity.")
So.... here's what I'm thinking. Rather than a $49 book, I'm going to go all out and make it a $9,995 program for non-marketing consultants, specialists and practitioners, and a $99,000 program for marketers who want to teach my methods to their clients. The latter includes a license, authorized by me, payable in installments over 10 months... much cheaper than a lawsuit! I've limited the price for non-marketers to $9,995, only because PayPal doesn't allow single payments beyond $10,000.
Sadly, there won't be any royalties rewarded with this program. You can order early, before the program is developed, at a lower price: $6,995.
What do you think? Does that feel more comfortable to you now? If I don't hear any complaints from bona fide independent consultants and practitioners in the next day or two, then I'll go ahead with this new plan.
Andrea
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
What if I sell 10,000 more books?
If I can sell an additional 10,000 books at $49, then after PayPal fees the net profit would be $46.75 per book. Divided by 5,000 units, each unit would be worth $.00935. If you bought 10 units at $29, your return would be $93.50 per unit or $935. That's $645 clear profit, or $64.50 per book.
How I'll use the funds raised
1. My personal living expenses for 24 months as I write and promote the book. (I live frugally.)
2. Editing, proofreading, layout services for the book.
3. Book cover design.
4. Costs of doing interviews: phone, mail, fax, travel.
5. Bookkeeping fees.
6. PayPal transaction fees.
7. Virtual assistant fees for handling bulk of correspondence.
8. Cost of ISBN.
9. Advertising fees.
10. Website hosting fees.
11. Pencils, paper, printer cartridges.
12. Membership renewal: National Writers Union
13. Other out-of-pocket, incidental costs.
2. Editing, proofreading, layout services for the book.
3. Book cover design.
4. Costs of doing interviews: phone, mail, fax, travel.
5. Bookkeeping fees.
6. PayPal transaction fees.
7. Virtual assistant fees for handling bulk of correspondence.
8. Cost of ISBN.
9. Advertising fees.
10. Website hosting fees.
11. Pencils, paper, printer cartridges.
12. Membership renewal: National Writers Union
13. Other out-of-pocket, incidental costs.
Number of units
I've set up the Paypal shopping cart to allow the purchase of one copy, two, three, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred and two hundred copies (units) at once. If you want a different quantity - up to 344 units because that's as high as PayPal is willing to go - I'll make you a customized shopping cart button.
If you want more than 344 units or you would prefer to send me a check (cheque) or money order, just ask me for my mailing address. Please complete the form first.
If you want more than 344 units or you would prefer to send me a check (cheque) or money order, just ask me for my mailing address. Please complete the form first.
Units are now available
I'm offering 2400 units of a total of 5000 units in my future book, Build Your Own, One-Person Advice Empire. (This is a small niche book - I've learned that most people don't want to generate sales of a million or more a year, honest - so a sale of more than 10,000 copies is not expected.)
Near the end of 2010 I will be selling the completed book as a digital book for $49. The price of each unit before December 31, 2009 is $29. Buy now and save $20! After Dec. 31 and up to 30 days before the book is released the price will be $39 per copy.
If all 2400 units are sold, the pre-publication income will be $69,600 minus PayPal's transaction fees ($3500).
Each unit (maximum: 2400 units) will be entitled to a per cent of profits of books sold beyond the first 2400 copies. Profits means after specific expenses - book cover design, editing and proofreading fees, bank fees, etc. - are paid; and I may donate 10% of the profits to charity off the top... if unit-holders are in agreement. If there were no expenses - but there will be - each unit would be entitled to $.0098 of each book sold beyond the first 2400 copies.
If 3,000 additional books are sold, each early buyer would receive $29.40. This isn't a realistic figure - this is just a simple example - but it shows you that under certain circumstances each unit-holder (early buyer) before December 31, 2009 would have received back slightly more than the pre-publication price from book sales. Thus your initial investment would be returned in full with the sales of 3,000 additional copies sold... and, of course, you keep the book.
But there will be expenses which I can't calculate this early, so the number of copies that must be sold to ensure the return of your investment in full will necessarily be more than 3,000, which should be a reasonably easy goal to achieve.
Three more benefits of being an early buyer of my book beyond the likelihood of having "royalties" on book sales are visibility and promotion:
1. Your name will be listed in the front of every book as a patron.
2. Your name and web address will be listed on my web site under Patrons.
3. Your name and web address will be listed on this blog as Patrons.
If you're ready to invest in my book, please use this registration/payment form. You will receive a printable certificate for your files or wall.
Near the end of 2010 I will be selling the completed book as a digital book for $49. The price of each unit before December 31, 2009 is $29. Buy now and save $20! After Dec. 31 and up to 30 days before the book is released the price will be $39 per copy.
If all 2400 units are sold, the pre-publication income will be $69,600 minus PayPal's transaction fees ($3500).
Each unit (maximum: 2400 units) will be entitled to a per cent of profits of books sold beyond the first 2400 copies. Profits means after specific expenses - book cover design, editing and proofreading fees, bank fees, etc. - are paid; and I may donate 10% of the profits to charity off the top... if unit-holders are in agreement. If there were no expenses - but there will be - each unit would be entitled to $.0098 of each book sold beyond the first 2400 copies.
If 3,000 additional books are sold, each early buyer would receive $29.40. This isn't a realistic figure - this is just a simple example - but it shows you that under certain circumstances each unit-holder (early buyer) before December 31, 2009 would have received back slightly more than the pre-publication price from book sales. Thus your initial investment would be returned in full with the sales of 3,000 additional copies sold... and, of course, you keep the book.
But there will be expenses which I can't calculate this early, so the number of copies that must be sold to ensure the return of your investment in full will necessarily be more than 3,000, which should be a reasonably easy goal to achieve.
Three more benefits of being an early buyer of my book beyond the likelihood of having "royalties" on book sales are visibility and promotion:
1. Your name will be listed in the front of every book as a patron.
2. Your name and web address will be listed on my web site under Patrons.
3. Your name and web address will be listed on this blog as Patrons.
If you're ready to invest in my book, please use this registration/payment form. You will receive a printable certificate for your files or wall.
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