Ebook Best-Seller Prices Fall to Lowest Ever, Self-Published Title Retains No. 1 Rank
In the ebook era, anything is possible.
If you told publishing observers and executives at major publishing houses a year ago that the average price of a best-selling ebook would plummet to under $8.00 and that a self-published title would be the No. 1 best-seller for several weeks, they would probably say that’s impossible.
“Impossible” just isn’t in the ebook dictionary anymore.
For the second straight week, a self-published title is the No. 1 best-selling ebook, Wait for You by J. Lynn (the self-publishing pen name for hybrid author Jennifer L. Armentrout). Also in surprising news, the average price of a best-selling ebook is now $7.40, down from $7.61 a week ago and from $7.56, the all-time low, recorded in mid-Feb.
The two headlines are not linked. In fact, the price of Armentrout’s book went up from last week to this week, from $0.99 to $2.99.
Harlequin Has a Hit
Unlike much of the rest of the romance book industry, which has benefited greatly from the ebook revolution, Harlequin seems to have been left behind. Its latest financial results showed that ebook growth was coming up very short to stem print retraction.
Lately, though, prospects at the company are looking up. Last week, Harlequin made headlines when it signed best-selling author Sylvia Day to a two-ebook, seven-figure deal to kick off its partnership with Cosmopolitan magazine. And, today, Harlequin has an ebook hit on its hands with Three Sisters (Blackberry Island) by Susan Mallery, which is currently sitting at No. 2 on our best-seller list and selling for $5.00.
The Return to Narnia
In the brand new tradition of major publishers discounting big-time back-list books to juice sales to previously unheard-of levels, HarperCollins is selling the beloved Narnia series of children’s fantasy novels for $1.99 and combined it with an Amazon Kindle homepage promotion. Sales have followed. Four Narnia titles are in the top-25 — at ranks 3, 12, 21 and 22. In fact, these four books surging on to the list help explain the price drop we’re seeing among ebook best-sellers.
See the rest of the the best-seller lists for the week ending March 17:
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $10.00 and Above
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $8.00 – $9.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $3.00 – $7.99
– Digital Book World Best-Selling Ebooks Priced $0.00 – $2.99
Read and comment on our methodology.
Sponsored by:
| Rank* | Title | Author | Publisher | Price** | Change |
| 1 (1) | Wait for You | J. Lynn | Self-published | $ 2.99 | – |
| 2 (12) | Three Sisters (Blackberry Island) | Susan Mallery | Harlequin | $ 5.00 | +10 |
| 3 (n/a) | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis | HarperCollins | $ 1.99 | New |
| 4 (2) | Alex Cross, Run | James Patterson | Hachette | $ 11.99 | -2 |
| 5 (3) | Mirror Image | Sandra Brown | Hachette | $ 1.99 | -2 |
| 6 (5) | The Hunger Games Trilogy | Suzanne Collins | Scholastic | $ 5.00 | -1 |
| 7 (n/a) | Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead | Sheryl Sandberg | Random House | $ 12.99 | New |
| 8 (4) | Safe Haven | Nicholas Sparks | Hachette | $ 5.62 | -4 |
| 9 (6) | Gone Girl: A Novel | Gillian Flynn | Random House | $ 12.99 | -3 |
| 10 (7) | A Week in Winter | Maeve Binchy | Random House | $ 9.99 | -3 |
| 11 (14) | Firefly Lane: A Novel | Kristin Hannah | Macmillan | $ 2.99 | +3 |
| 12 (n/a) | The Magician’s Nephew: The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis | HarperCollins | $ 1.99 | New |
| 13 (n/a) | The Host: A Novel | Stephenie Meyer | Hachette | $ 5.99 | New |
| 14 (8) | Calculated in Death | J. D. Robb | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -6 |
| 15 (9) | The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel | Matthew Quick | Macmillan | $ 9.99 | -6 |
| 16 (16) | The Storyteller | Jodi Picoult | Simon & Schuster | $ 12.59 | – |
| 17 (19) | Fifty Shades Freed: Book Three Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | +2 |
| 18 (13) | Into the Darkest Corner | Elizabeth Haynes | HarperCollins | $ 1.99 | -5 |
| 19 (23) | Defending Jacob: A Novel | William Landay | Random House | $ 7.99 | +4 |
| 20 (10) | Rush (The Breathless Trilogy) | Maya Banks | Penguin | $ 7.99 | -10 |
| 21 (n/a) | Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia) | C.S. Lewis | HarperCollins | $ 1.99 | New |
| 22 (n/a) | The Horse and His Boy: The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis | HarperCollins | $ 1.99 | New |
| 23 (n/a) | Fifty Shades Darker: Book Two Of The Fifty Shades Trilogy | E. L. James | Random House | $ 9.99 | New |
| 24 (18) | Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson) | Patricia Briggs | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -6 |
| 25 (20) | Touch and Go | Lisa Gardner | Penguin | $ 12.99 | -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.
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Fascinating list. A new core competency is \price strategy.\ I wonder if a book like SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK would get a big bump now from a price promotion? The book obviously has been a huge seller because of the movie and has been at $9.99. But now it is starting to drop (down to 15 from 9) and will probably drop off the list in the next few weeks. But given there is still a \high Book Q\ rating for it, would a price drop to $4.99 double sales and push it back up? Or is it best to just keep it at $9.99?
What we’ve been observing, Jack, is that price decreases without some sort of promotion don’t have very much of an effect. Additionally, small price decreases have little or no effect whatsoever.
So, in the case of SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, probably a large price decrease combined with aggressive promotion could help lift sales significantly. At least, that’s what we’ve observed with other titles.
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