Average Price of E-Book Best-Sellers Rises as Cheap Books Are Squeezed Out
More expensive titles continue to sell more e-books than their cheaper counterparts.
The average price for an e-book best-seller in our top-25 list jumped to $11.79 this week, it’s highest point since we launched the list in August and a marked increase from last week when it was $10.43.
The increase was mostly attributable to several less expensive books that appeared last week falling off the list — two at $1.99 and two at $3.99. This week, the least expensive book on the list is Amazon’s Arctic Fire by Stephen W. Frey, which sells for $4.99. Along with The Hunger Games at $8.99, Arctic Fire is one of two books on this week’s list priced below $9.99.
The lower-priced titles on the list have been ostensibly replaced by a spate of new releases from brand-name authors and larger publishers pricing their titles near or above $10, including:
– The Bone Bed (Kay Scarpetta Series #20) by Patricia Cornwell (Penguin): $14.99
– The Perfect Hope: Book Three of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy by Nora Roberts: $9.99
– The Racketeer by John Grisham: $12.99
That’s not to say that lower-price books aren’t selling well. See which ones are selling the most in our other best-seller lists linked below.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending Oct. 20:
– 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.
Sponsored by:
| Rank* | Title | Author | Publisher | Price** | Change |
| 1 (1) | Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel | Sylvia Day | Penguin | 9.99 | – |
| 2 (3) | Gone Girl: A Novel | Gillian Flynn | Random House | 12.99 | +1 |
| 3 (4) | Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | 9.99 | +1 |
| 4 (5) | Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | 9.99 | +1 |
| 5 (2) | The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three) | Rick Riordan | Hyperion | 10.99 | -3 |
| 6 (12) | NYPD Red | James Patterson; Marshall Karp | Hachette | 14.99 | +6 |
| 7 (7) | Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy | E L James | Random House | 9.99 | – |
| 8 (n/a) | The Bone Bed (Kay Scarpetta Series #20) | Patricia Cornwell | Penguin | 14.99 | New |
| 9 (n/a) | Arctic Fire | Stephen W. Frey | Amazon | 4.99 | New |
| 10 (8) | Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot | Bill O’Reilly; Martin Dugard | Macmillan | 12.99 | -2 |
| 11 (9) | The Casual Vacancy | J.K. Rowling | Hachette | 14.99 | -2 |
| 12 (10) | Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel | Sylvia Day | Penguin | 9.99 | -2 |
| 13 (11) | Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | 9.99 | -2 |
| 14 (n/a) | The Twelve (Passage Trilogy Series #2) | Justin Cronin | Random House | 13.99 | New |
| 15 (14) | Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | 9.99 | -1 |
| 16 (20) | The Perks of Being a Wallflower | Stephen Chbosky | Simon & Schuster | 9.99 | +4 |
| 17 (13) | Mad River | John Sandford | Penguin | 12.99 | -4 |
| 18 (19) | The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Series #1) | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | 8.99 | +1 |
| 19 (21) | Winter of the World: Book Two of the Century Trilogy | Ken Follett | Penguin | 19.99 | +2 |
| 20 (17) | A Wanted Man: A Jack Reacher Novel | Lee Child | Random House | 12.99 | -3 |
| 21 (n/a) | The Perfect Hope: Book Three of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy | Nora Roberts | Penguin | 9.99 | New |
| 22 (22) | No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden | Mark Owen; Kevin Maurer | Penguin | 12.99 | – |
| 23 (n/a) | The Racketeer | John Grisham | Random House | 12.99 | New |
| 24 (23) | Low Pressure | Sandra Brown | Hachette | 12.99 | -1 |
| 25 (24) | Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy | Ken Follett | Penguin | 9.99 | -1 |
* 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.
This is probably a good thing for independent writers. If big publishers can’t see at ten bucks and start dropping prices then they actually might start “squeezing out” cheaper indie books. Which is really not happening at the moment, despite the headline.
This is the way writers should want it to be–being able to offer lesser-known works cheaper.
That price bracket best-selling list is very interesting and handy, by the way. Thanks
Interesting article but the list above has very well knowned authors, if like me you are not knowned at all then who would by your book, my first at those prices. My book, WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME is selling okay in the States and is selling very well in the UK. In fact its around the #900 bestseller on kindle, #7 in True Crime and True Account, also #69 in Biogarphies. Yes its at a low price, 2.99 US and 99p UK.
The book is based on true events that happen when I visited Spain and I’m very pleased and encouraged by the number of 5* reviews it has received.