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I have been asked a lot recently about pricing. A lot. Everyone has different ideas about where work should be priced at. How much should I ask for my eBook? How much should I charge to proofread? Why do I charge what I do for formatting?

Each question is one I asked myself. Then I asked my wifesty Yvonne to get her opinion. Then I looked around at what others charged. Scoped out what was being charged for the style of eBooks we sell. Took the time to truly research the competition. Researched out what people paid for editing, proofreading, formatting, etc. Then settled in to decide what our work was valued at. Decided what our authors work was worth. This of course took some hard conversations with people who often think their work is priceless.

Value is a hard thing to decide on. Some give it away for free. Take our eBook Tank . I wrote Tank . You would think I would want to sell it for something. Am I giving it away because it isn’t any good? Or am I using it as a loss leader to bring people into the website? Why give it away for free?

Yvonne and I talked about this. I wanted to give our readers something they could read. The word to remember is give. We have a lot of work on the website now. All of it for sale. There was nothing there for a reader to call their own.

Tank is good. One that took quite some time and a lot of help with but in the end, I think of it as valuable. A value good enough to give away without worry of rejection. A value I believe will draw the readers into looking at the samples of the other books and giving them a try. So yes, it is a loss leader. But it is also a good eBook.

So, what about the others? Why price them the way we have?  The price on the others is a direct reflection of where we and the authors decided to price the eBooks regardless of how valuable of a read, we think it is. You have to be realistic. People know what they will pay for an eBook. They have tons of others to choose from. Most are looking for a cheap read. They will only pay the big bucks for established authors. Which we understand. However, we refuse to undervalue an eBook or our services. So, don’t let the prices fool you. Inside each eBook is a great value.

Look at Love Letters . It is priced at $1.99. When you read it, and you will if you like romance style work, you will be moved. It is a great book. An emotional book of love, understating and sacrifices a couple make for one another. However, Anna Smythe, the author; didn’t want to seem uppity when we discussed pricing.

She wanted her work out there. Wanted people to read it so she wanted the price low in the hopes people would read her book and pass it on to others. Word of mouth is a powerful advertisement tool. One we know people will use when they either like something, or they hate it.

What about services? How much do you charge for them and why?

A large factor of how much we charge is based upon how long we feel it will take us to do something. I have been paid by the hour my entire life. Therefore, I translate how long I feel it will take me at what I feel is a competitive hourly rate and set my prices based upon that.

Do I charge by the hour, every time? Not normally. We charge by the job scope most times. We take the work required and produce a bid for the client. Each bid is different as each job is different. We have set rates of course we base the bid on. Rates we are open about. We like transparency. We want our clients to know what they are getting is something of value. And believe me when I tell you this, our time is valuable. We price it accordingly.

So, what’s a fair price?

You have to decide that one for yourself. I had another publisher offer me a penny a word to edit his authors work. I laughed. I asked him if it was the year nineteen fifty. And then he offered me three cents a word. I asked him if he thought it was nineteen sixty and gas was still a quarter a gallon.

There is an ugliness about the writing business no one wants to talk about. Most people don’t want to pay for anything to do with writing. The Huffington Post is an excellent example. You can get published on the Huffington Post. It is one of the most prolific and read blogs on the web. It reaches readers all over the world. And yet? They do their best not to pay you. They cite such things as exposure. Expect you to give them the work. They will pay some of course, but if they can get away with not paying you, they will. As most publishers or businesses will do.

Others want the moon and the sun along with the writing. Think about what it takes to produce the work. Think about edits and rewrites and all those things which consume your time. You will find you are spending a great deal more time on a project then you anticipated in most cases. Use this to determine what you will charge and why so you can be upfront with the client.

And set limits. We set a two-time limit. You get to send it back to use twice on the editing side. You would be amazed at how many times a client will want to rework a document. Set a limit and stick to it. Once they hit that limit, charge them. And be upfront about it all. It is the best way to handle clients. Be upfront and honest and if necessary, be willing to drop them.

Do we offer discounts or freebies?

Yes, if the occasion warrants it. Everyone wants a deal. We certainly do. However, this is a business, so we need to make money to pay the bills. Bills big and small. Like copyrights. They cost $65 a pop. Start applying for a couple and they add up. Same with the other expenses involved in publishing.

Tell me something. What do you value your time at?

I’m Ross, The Editor-in-Chief at The Pyrateheart Press and I’m out.