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New entry May 03

Critter Notices

New Book from a Critter Member

Awesome new book, HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS, from a Critter member whose unearthed a shard of The Secret to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work. "...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUM

Stayin' Alive

If you want to make a career of SF writing, STAYING ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad, published by your Critter Captain's ReAnimus Press, is an indispensable guide to the SF publishing industry by an expert.

How to Write SF

Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)

Book Recommendation

It's like discovering a new Heinlein book: POINT ULTIMATE by Star Trek writer Jerry Sohl.

Announcing ReAnimus Press

If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]

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E-book Pricing Survey

Background

E-book readership is growing rapidly (though still small in total). Publishers who've been in the ebook business for a while, like Baen and Fictionwise, have taken the approach of pricing ebooks low, often less than mass-market paperback prices. Now that more and larger publishers are entering the space, they're pricing their ebooks to compete with hardback and trade paperback prices.

Then there's the question of pricing for shorter works, like short stories.

What are your thoughts? What is a fair price for ebooks?

Thanks for your input!

—Andrew Burt

Survey Questions

  1. What's a fair price for a novel or other full-length ebook?

      New release: $ (enter numeric dollars and cents, e.g. "3.99")

      Back list: $ (that is, a book that's been out for a while)

  2. What's a fair price for a short story, article, or other shorter-length ebook?

      New release: $

      Back list: $

    Half-baked, off the wall concept: Variable pricing. I've been thinking about a different pricing model based on reader satisfaction. Technically it's feasible to collect payment after reading, which could then be based on what the reader felt the piece was worth. More people may be willing to take a chance if they know they aren't forced to pay what they might afterwards consider too high a price. While mainstream publishers are less likely to offer this, might it be preferred and make sense in cases of authors offering their older, out of print works directly to readers?

    (What got me to thinking about this was thinking about the concept of tipping a restaurant server, where one might tip 20-25% for great service, 15-20% for average, and 10-15% for poor service.)

    The following questions explore this:

    If you liked it... If you thought it average... If you weren't feelin' it...
    What's a fair price for a novel or other full-length ebook $ $ $
    What's a fair price for a short story, article or other shorter-length ebook $ $ $

    If you want to elaborate on your thoughts or have other comments to make, please share them here.

To prevent automated responses, please enter the two words below:

[View Survey Results]

[Discussion Forum]

See Also:

Axioms in the Future of Publishing

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