Pricing your print edition
A common question I get is what to price your book at.
It depends on the cost of printing which is dependent upon the size and number of pages. Be sure to first use the IngramSpark pricing calculator. When you see Amazon discount the price of a book, they take it out of their own margin, not yours. But if you only set your book up on CreateSpace, they won't likely discount it at all - since it will only be available on Amazon. IngramSpark solves this problem by making your book available to more retailers, of whom Amazon has to compete with.
Ingram Spark¶
To sell outside of Amazon, I'll recommend you setup your book with IngramSpark. But I'll also recommend you set a higher price. Here's why:
IngramSpark recommend you set a 55% discount to retailers. This is because there is a % that the distributor (Ingram) takes (usually 15%, but it varies depending on the arrangement with the retailer). The reason they recommend 55% is so retailers can be assured to purchase at a 40% discount.
So in the scenario above, to get a $5/book profit for the same 250 page book, you would need to set a price of $15.45:
You can find the IngramSpark royalty calculator here.
Amazon KDP (Formerly CreateSpace)¶
Use the provided calculator.
I recommend you aim for a $5/book profit.
Here's an example:
Keep in mind that paper is a commodity and printing costs will fluctuate over time.
The shipping is a pass-thru to the consumer. The good thing about having your book on Amazon is being able to tap into the millions of prime members when Amazon pays for the shipping!
You can also check out the cost for another printer we use often here