I’ve see a comment and I figured I’d clarify my pricing structure and address it.

First, I’ll say, I write novels, novellas, standalones, series, series of standalones. These are different types of books and all very valid. They are generally not made for the same kind of readers. People tend to have a preference. As a reader I have a preference too (300 pages is my sweet spots and I prefer standalones in romance, trilogies in fantasy, as a reader).

I adore people who just pick up everything from me but in truth, you should pick and choose what you’re likely to enjoy. (If it’s everything? Awesome!) 

Now I’m going to expend a bit.

I charge this, pretty consistently across my portfolio*:

0 to 20000 words: 2.99

20000 words to 45000 words: 3.99 

45000 words to 75000 words: 4.99

75000 words to 100000 words: 5.99

100000 words+: 6.99 

Any discount from that is likely because it’s a first in a series and / or a promo. 

*Sometimes during  preorder I don’t know where the word count is going to be so it’s higher/lower than it is on release (when you pick up a preorder if the price goes up you pay the price you agreed to when picking it, and if the price goes down, you pay the lowest price so it doesn’t matter when you pick it, you’ll always get charged the lowest price.) 

That said I have a fair few free books at any given time. 

After Darkness Falls 1 is almost always free, now. It’s a 300+ page standalone. It wasn’t always. The first couple years it was never discounted from its 3.99 (should have been 4.99 but the first in the series tends to be about a dollar lower as an intro price). Now, it is permafree, because it’s book 1 out of 7.5 books and the series is over. It shows what the rest of the series is like. It’s a piece of cheese at the supermarket. If you like it, purchase more. It is not free because it’s short or worth less, it’s free because it’s a marketing product now. 

One of the Dirty Kingdoms is discounted. Again, 300 pages plus. Same reason. It’s a finished series, and when I offer one, it’s because I’m saying, if you enjoyed it please go read the other 3. 

I routinely set Shy Girls Write it Better as free. I also almost always set up Scrooge McFuck as free during the holidays because, duh! It’s fun this time of the year. Again…book 1 and 2 in a series with 8.5 books. And every single one of those books is either a novella or a short novel. Book 1 and 2 aren’t worth less. They’re your taster. 

The comment was “This is short! It should be free.” I deleted it and moved on because I’m not about to fight about my pricing on my page, but I figured some pricing transparency couldn’t hurt. 

So, why are my 50-150 pages novellas not all free? It’s actually pretty simple: novellas are not samples. They’re a book. A type of story that a certain type of reader enjoys. (Busy professionals, busy moms, with 2 hours here and there and who just want to grab a book and finish it, typically.) 

I started my writer journey with novellas an occasionally I come up with stories which are just that simple and don’t need hundreds of pages. I will never be the type of writer who adds fluff: if the plot is simple, it will be a short book. 

Getting it for free is not going to make anyone value it more. People who do enjoy novellas as a genre are generally happy to pay a lower fee for my short work. And if they were free, people who dislike novellas would pick it up because it’s free and dislike it, then proceed to just write me off as an author because surely if I can write one single plot line without side threads I can’t handle more complex stories. It’s quite simply not a good marketing product hence why my shorter work are in fact *less* likely to be free than long series starters. Setting them up as freebies is just offering them up to be one star bombed by people who would never have picked them up if it weren’t for the price. 

About 35% of my portfolio is novellas. And my readers have proven that plenty amongst you love those. My fairy tales were adored when I released them. Age of Gold is one of my most successful series. Some Girls do It and Age of Night also mostly include novellas and did really well. But not with everyone. Because they are novellas and some people don’t / will never enjoy those. (And to be frank…no book is universally loved by everyone. But novellas are hated by long book lovers while novella lovers tend to be far kinder to longer books.) 

If you are the type of reader who doesn’t enjoy shorter, simpler plots, trimmed of any side quest, I suggest turning to the 65% made for you ❤️ pricing shouldn’t come into consideration. Pick what you enjoy.

Parting statement: telling someone you think one of their work should be free is like someone telling you your employer shouldn’t pay you for the last two weeks because you were working on an “easy” project (actually some of the some girls do it were some of my hardest work…short doesn’t always mean easy.) Or asking for the croissant for free because there’s a cheese sample. Indie authors and publishers price their books. As a reader, your one decision is whether you want to buy it or not.

We write because we love it and we want to continue doing it but that’s only possible if it generates an income. Please don’t tell an author their work should be free. Feel free to say you don’t like it. That’s absolutely a valid point. But no one else has a say on our pricing.