Before the Internet, self-publishing was expensive and then you also had to go to the trouble and expense of promoting your book. Thanks to the Internet, though, ebooks can be created practically for free, with the exception of the investment of time, which varies considerably depending upon how much research you have to do. Still, there are thousands and thousands of ebooks available online, many of them for free so not only do you have to make yours stand out, but you have to pay careful attention when deciding upon the right price for it.

Assess the Value of Your Ebook

Determining the price of your ebook can indeed be tricky because if you price it too low, the perceived value of it will almost surely decline as well. However, if you price it too high then it likely won’t sell very well and that will defeat your purpose as well. You certainly have to take the length into consideration. Because there is no standard length for ebooks, one ebook may contain 10,000 words while another one may be 70,000 words long. Obviously, these two ebooks should not carry the same price.

While you are assessing the value of your ebook, look closely at the information it contains. If it is merely a compilation of information that anyone could find for free online that you have gathered into one succinct ebook, that doesn’t mean it is not valuable; it just means it is not as valuable as an ebook that contains new information or specialized information or techniques that one could not easily find online. Obviously, the more technical or specialized your ebook is, the higher price it should fetch.

Conduct Market Research

It is imperative that you conduct market research before deciding on the final price of your ebook. Look at other ebooks not only in your niche, but also of about the same length and level of expertise as yours to see how they are priced. Give a few copies away and ask the recipients how much they would be willing to pay if they were purchasing the ebook. This would also be a good time to get testimonials for your ebook to include on your sales page.

Once you have decided on the initial price for your ebook, be sure and conduct split testing to gauge how well the price is working. You may offer it on two different sites with the same exact salespage but with the price changed in order to tell which price converts the best. Once you have conducted a fair amount of market research you should have a good idea of what other ebooks similar to yours are selling for and price yours accordingly.