Anyone Have Experience with Non-Fiction E-Books?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I just wrapped up a 10k reference related to crime fiction I plan to self-publish through Smashwords. Anyone have experience with non-fiction pricing for e-books at this length? Any rules of thumb?

[Cammy May Hunnicutt]

If you sell six times as many at a buck than at 3 bucks on amazon, you make the same.  Not an unlikely scenario with something this short.

And if your piece is a promo wth "ads" for yourself and your other books or whatever, it's self-liquidating advertising.  A bargain.

If it's not... think it over.

[Cammy May Hunnicutt]

Actually, you can get your ebook to run for free on amazon.  Many do.   If you put it up elsewhere for free, then draw their attention to it, they will often lower their price to match.  Not always.  Depends on amaLogic.

And anybody who thinks a 99 cent book isn't worth the effort hasn't been paying attention.  John Locke, good case in point. 

There are uses for it, as there are for all pricing.  

[Charles Kelly]

Cool strategy, Cammy.  I may try that to get my article out there for free. I want to use the true-crime article as a promo for the novel based on the crime case.  If I use this strategy, I may be able to make it free all the time, rather than just five days a month with Kindle Select.  I've published books on Smashwords, too, so I know the drill.  Thanks again.

[Cammy May Hunnicutt]

This seems to be a sort of standard model that I'm seeing a lot of on Kindle freebie books and shorts.

I don't think readers care about promo at the end of the book, maybe even at the front.  I don't.  Big publshers do it, too.

I read a short story that has links to novels at the end, cool.

What I think sucks is people like Michael Connolly flooding half-books out there.  Frist 20 chapters of his new novels and such.  That's like  "the sex is free except the last thirty seconds, and you have to go get your credit card for that".

[Cammy May Hunnicutt]

Most of the books like that I've seen deal with how to write, market books, get rich, or buy into some nutjob health regime.  I would say your options are 99cents and Free.