Do you think that $7.99 for an 117 page book that has a large font and loads of spacing between lines is overpriced?
I won’t mention the actual book or author I’m referring to, but the book was written by a Best Selling Author and the book was the third volume in a trilogy. As I fell in love with the series in book one, I was frantically eager to read the second in the series, which didn’t compare to the first. I still loved the characters and knowing that there was another book in the series made me compelled to read volume three.
Being on a budget, I was thrilled to get a copy from the local library. When I stood at the counter checking out the book, my first reaction was “Wow – that’s a short book.” When I quickly flipped open the book, I was further disappointed to see that not only was the book thin, but the font was huge and the spacing ridiculous.
I read the novella. Essentially it was a long epilogue that didn’t offer any twists or any extra perspective on the characters. Very Disheartening!
Even though I didn’t actually purchase the book myself, it made me think about how irritated I would be if I had shelled out cash for the book.
I’m not naive enough to be ignorant of all the publishing costs involved in selling a book. There is obviously a minimum cost to producing books. But was this book overpriced simply based on the author’s past sales? That seems very short sited on the side of the publisher. This publisher is in the process of publishing a spin off to this series. Before I read this book, I was very much looking forward to reading the spin off. I feel like the publisher has cheated the readers by over charging for this book. Honestly, I’m less likely to purchase the books in the spin off.
Do you consider the length and pricing when choosing books to purchase?
I apologize for the tone of this post. I love to read and I usually try and stay positive on my blog, but I can’t help but rant today.
See Related Post:
How to end a book series?
I completely agree. I was in a similar situation when I got hooked on a series but each book only had about 70 pages and each one was $2.99. Doesn’t sound like much, but for 8 segments; that was about $23 for under 500 pages that I ended up paying over the course of a year. I was upset when she ended up releasing it in paperback format for half the price I had paid for the ebooks once the series was completed. I think some authors just overdo it sometimes.
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You must have more patience than me, because I don’t have the patience for books that are released in bits like that.
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Lol oh no, I griped about it every single time but I needed to know how it ended. That’s the last time I’ve ever done that though. Ain’t nobody got time for that lol
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I agree with you. I know a book being longer or shorter doesn’t effect the potential quality of the reading experience, but I grudge having to pay the same amount of money for a book that’s only 100 pages compared to one that’s 400 or so pages. Honestly, I think some books are overpriced and this does the book a disservice in the long run – when I’m on the fence about buying a book or not, or if its between two books, the price of it and the actual size of it are important in helping me pick, so if it’s overpriced I’m guessing it won’t sell as many copies.
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Well said.
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