Average Price of E-Book Best-Seller Rises Nearly $2 in Four Weeks
Hachette’s The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling debuted at No. 23 on our list, but we expect it will rise much higher next week.
Are publishers leaving money on the table by keeping their e-book prices relatively low?
Higher-priced e-books have dominated the Digital Book World E-Book Best-Seller list since its debut in mid-August, suggesting that despite complaints about the cost of e-books consumers are willing to pay higher prices for books that they want to read.
In the past four weeks, the average price of a book appearing on the list has increased by nearly $2 — from $9.65 the week ending Sept. 8 to $11.37 this week. Penguin’s Winter of the World by Ken Follett has been resilient at No. 7 at $19.99 after debuting at that spot last week.
Hachette’s The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is priced at $17.99 and debuted on the list at No. 23 (an artificially low rank because the book came out late last week, giving it little time to make headway on our list). Much was made last week of the high price of the book — but still, consumers are buying it. When our list comes out next week, we expect the title to rank much higher.
In fact, the top ten best selling books in the $10 and above e-book best-seller list are all in the top 25 overall. Meanwhile, only two of the top ten books priced $0 to $2.99 are on the top 25 list. This ratio has been fairly consistent since we launched the list.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending Sept. 29:
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $10.00 and Above
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $8.00 – $9.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $3.00 – $7.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $0.00 – $2.99
Read and comment on our methodology.
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| Rank* | Title | Author | Publisher | Price** | Change |
| 1 (1) | Gone Girl: A Novel | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $ 12.99 | – |
| 2 (3) | Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | $ 9.99 | +1 |
| 3 (6) | Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | $ 9.99 | +3 |
| 4 (5) | Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | $ 9.99 | +1 |
| 5 (4) | A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel | Lee Child | Random House | $ 12.99 | -1 |
| 6 (2) | No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden | Mark Owen; Kevin Maurer | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -4 |
| 7 (7) | Winter of the World: Book Two of the Century Trilogy | Ken Follett | Penguin | $ 19.99 | – |
| 8 (8) | Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | $ 5.99 | – |
| 9 (9) | Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | $ 5.99 | – |
| 10 (11) | Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel | Sylvia Day | Penguin | $ 7.99 | +1 |
| 11 (10) | The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | $ 5.00 | -1 |
| 12 (15) | Low Pressure | Sandra Brown | Hachette | $ 14.99 | +3 |
| 13 (14) | Zoo | James Patterson; Michael Ledwidge | Hachette | $ 12.99 | +1 |
| 14 (18) | Thicker Than Water (A Leo Waterman Mystery) | G.M. Ford | Amazon | $ 1.99 | +4 |
| 15 (13) | Delusion in Death | J. D. Robb | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -2 |
| 16 (n/a) | Notorious Nineteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel | Janet Evanovich | Random House | $ 13.99 | New |
| 17 (22) | Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel | Sylvia Day | Penguin | $ 9.99 | +5 |
| 18 (17) | Simply Irresistible (Lucky Harbor Series #1) | Jill Shalvis | Hachette | $ 0.99 | -1 |
| 19 (16) | The Time Keeper | Mitch Albom | Hyperion | $ 9.50 | -3 |
| 20 (n/a) | The Perfect Hope: Book Three of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy | Nora Roberts | Penguin | $ 9.99 | New |
| 21 (19) | Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy | Ken Follett | Penguin | $ 9.99 | -2 |
| 22 (n/a) | Severe Clear (Stone Barrington Series #24) | Stuart Woods | Penguin | $ 12.99 | New |
| 23 (n/a) | The Casual Vacancy | J.K. Rowling | Hachette | $ 17.99 | New |
| 24 (21) | Fifty Shades Trilogy Bundle: Fifty Shades of Grey; Fifty Shades Darker; Fifty Shades Freed | E L James | Random House | $ 29.99 | -3 |
| 25 (20) | The Light Between Oceans: A Novel | ML Stedman | Simon & Schuster | $ 11.99 | -5 |
* Previous week’s list rank in parentheses.
** Price reflects minimum price across all retailers throughout the week. Price may vary between retailers and may change throughout the week. Contact Iobyte Solutions for more information on e-book pricing.
Methodology available here.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending Sept. 29:
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $10.00 and Above
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $8.00 – $9.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $3.00 – $7.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling E-Books Priced $0.00 – $2.99
Read and comment on our methodology.
