Discontent by Melissa Haag - Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway

What is the Profit in an eBook

by Melissa Haag

I knew nothing about the profit (or lack of) in self-publishing an ebook when I started writing.  And I think that was a good thing because I might not have even tried.  However, as I reader, I think the actual profit an author sees is important to understand.  I've seen so many discussions where a reader states it's ridiculous to pay 2.99 for a 41 page story. As a reader, I COMPLETELY agree (I'm a penny pincher!). As an author, though, I've been exposed to a whole new world...and it's all business.

Did you know that it costs about $700 to self-publish a book? Say whaaa?! Yeah, I know. When I started publishing (way back in Jan 2013), I researched what I should do (hire an editor, hire a cover artist, advertise), how much it could cost (around $1000), and decided to try doing things differently. I figured I could self-edit and save myself $500 and buy Photoshop elements ($150) and save myself more $$ over the long term by designing my own covers. And I'd heard stories of people who just published and became famous...so why advertise, right? Eh! Wrong!

You readers are smart (obviously smarter than me) and don't want to weed through books littered with grammatical errors. Within a very short time, I saw my mistake and knew I needed an editor (a team, really...I now pay for a content editor, a proof reader, and still depend on volunteer proofers to catch what they miss). As for the covers...well, it was obvious my artist's eye wasn't as artistic as I'd thought. I now outsource the covers to an actual cover designer.

Anyway, my point is, there's an initial investment to self-publishing. When an author prices a book, they keep the size of the book in mind along with their initial cost. HOWEVER, Amazon throws another little wrench into the growing math equation. If an author prices their book at 2.99 or higher, they earn 70% of the sales price. If it's less than 2.99, only 35%.

Ready? Here's the word problem...

Question: If I write a 40 page novella (about 20k words) and price it at 99 pennies, how many copies would I need to sell to see a return on my ($600) publishing investment?

 Answer: 1765 copies.

And that's just to break even. It would take most self-published authors months (maybe even a year) to sell that many. Imagine wanting a $600 profit...that would be another year. That's not a good return. The only financially smart option is to up the price until the author can see 70% of the sale, which means a 2.99 price point. That would bring the copies an author would need to sell down to 294, which means an author could see a profit within a month.

Writing is a business and as the author, it's my job to understand (hopefully) what readers want. That's why I'm always reading comments, reviews, articles, etc. And, what I'm hearing is "Don't sell me 40 page books for 2.99."

Rest assured, I will listen.  :)

As a reader, I never knew what thoughts had to go into setting a book price or what factors influenced the price selected. As an author, it's a nail biting decision with every book.

(Dis)ContentJudgement of the Six #5

Melissa Haag

Publication date: November 24th 2015
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

I hate. I thought I hated before the letter, before the werewolves, but now I understand that was nothing more than a chip on my shoulder. The urbat took what was mine. They will pay. 

Isabelle leads a very normal life…for an emotional syphon. If not for Ethan and his bar, she would have lost her sanity long ago. But everything changes with the crash of her fighting cage and a man who transforms into a wolf. There’s something about Carlos—when he’s not growling at her—that makes her do things she wouldn’t normally do, like sigh and daydream. 

Attraction aside, she is faced with the very real evidence that werewolves and urbat exist, and the urbat are after her. And the only way she can keep Ethan safe is to join with the werewolves and Carlos. It’s a race against time to stop a war, fight for love, and find the last Judgement. 

Previous books in the series:

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / iBooks / Smashwords

Book 1, Hope(less) is available as a free series starter on all retailer sites!
Find the complete series on Amazon here!

EXCERPT:
The phone rang before my alarm. Hell hath no fury like a woman woken before her alarm. I fumbled to find the phone in the dark.
“Hello?” My voice cracked.
“Hey, Z. This is your reminder to pack your bag. You promised to cover tonight.”
“Ethan. You are sick to call me this early. I said I’ll be there. Now, leave me alone.” I ended the call without a goodbye.
The phone rang again before I could drop it back on the nightstand.
“What?” I answered.
“I’ve dusted your gloves, babe. You’re overdue.”
The call disconnected, and I smiled in the dark. Only Ethan, the huge pain in the butt I called friend, could annoy me and make me smile at the same time. He was right. I needed to go in and really purge.
Hitting the bag at home helped, but I suffered from a slow buildup. Ethan compared it to PMS. I grew moodier until I started an actual fight. Except the fights were never fair. In my anger, I pulled too much of my opponent’s emotions, and they tended to just stand there with a stupid smile as I hit them. But I couldn’t avoid the fights. I needed them. Hitting an actual person drained me way more than the bag, and it was the only thing that helped when I got like this. I hated fighting but didn’t see any other choice.
With a sigh, I slid from the sheets and shuffled to the bathroom. My long, red hair was a tangled mess, and I scowled at myself in the mirror. The green of my eyes seemed vivid against the bloodshot background.
I should have slept longer. I already felt edgy and knew it would be a long day.

Author Bio:

Melissa Haag currently resides in Wisconsin with her husband and three children. Touch was her first published novel. She is currently working on book five of the Judgement of the Six Series...along with several other new books. 

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