A book’s price isn’t a calculation but a message. It tells readers which league your work belongs to before they’ve read a page. €0.99 signals disposable, €29 signals expertise — regardless of the actual content.
Value decides, not cost
Classic calculation asks: what did production cost? The better question is: what problem does the book solve, and what is the solution worth? A guide that saves an entrepreneur an expensive mistake may cost more than a novel of the same length — because its benefit is different.
Readers don’t pay for pages. They pay for the change the book promises.
The psychology of thresholds
E-book €2.99–4.99 — impulse buy, high reach
E-book €6.99–9.99 — perceived expert value
Print €14.99–24.99 — gift- and shelf-worthy
Over €25 — only with clear authority or specialist knowledge
Test instead of fixing
Price isn’t a one-time decision. Successful self-publishers experiment: low launch price for early reviews, then raise it. Time-limited promotions for visibility bursts. Bundles of e-book and print. Every adjustment yields data — and data beats guesses. Those who treat price as a lever rather than a label leave no revenue on the table.
Most important: don’t undercut yourself out of insecurity. Too low a price costs twice — directly on revenue and indirectly on perception. When in doubt, the slightly higher price is almost always the better choice, as long as the book delivers on it.