Prices, prices, prices …

• Posted in About Books

One thing that I wanted to mention in regards to Touch of Frost, the first book in my new Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series, is the price — $9.95, according to Amazon.

I’m wondering if some readers will complain about this — especially since the book is shorter than the ones in my Elemental Assassin series, which are priced at $7.99. For the record, Touch of Frost comes in at about 87,000 words. There are also some extras/bonus features in the back of the book, so let’s say the final word count is about 88,000 total. Tangled Threads, the fourth book in the Elemental Assassin series, comes it at about 95,000 words.

So why will Touch of Frost cost more? Well, for one thing, it’s coming out in trade paperback — a slightly larger, bigger paperback than the mass market format that the Elemental Assassin books are printed in.

But mostly, I think the price has to do with the market –$9-$10 seems to be the general price point for most YA books out there that are published as trade paperbacks. For hardcover YA books, it seems like the price point is around $15-$16.

I don’t know why this is. Maybe teens don’t care to spend more for books than adults do. Or maybe their parents are just so happy that teens are reading in the first place that they don’t blink at the price of the book.

Personally, I don’t mind paying a little extra for the YA trade paperbacks. I like the size, the covers are almost always gorgeous, and I think the fonts in them are usually a little bigger and easier to read. And the trade paperback YA books are still less than the $14-$15 that adult trade paperbacks are priced at. However, I’ll admit that when I buy books (YA or adult), I usually shop around for the best price — or have a coupon handy. LOL.

Now, my YA publisher, Kensington, is really good (and really smart) about giving discounts on their e-books. Most of the Kindle editions of their mass market romance books are around $2 — or more — below the paper book prices. I’m not sure if they’ll do the same kind of pricing with the new YA line, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t. So if you have an e-reader, you can probably get a good deal on Touch of Frost when it comes out on July 26.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is that I don’t set the prices — I just write the books. No matter what price you buy my book at, I hope you’ll think that it’s time and money well spent.

What about you guys? Do you like the YA trade paperback format? Do you mind paying more for YA books? Share in the comments.

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12 Responses to “Prices, prices, prices …”

  1. Natascha says:

    As someone in her mid-30’s, I like YA trade paperback and hardcover format. Usually, the cover art is gorgeous. I only use a coupon and a paid store membership program to purchase the book. My only complaint about trade books is that they are heavier than paperbacks and it makes reading on your back give your biceps a workout. Arm definition is not a priority for me. 😉

  2. Melissa says:

    Actually, it goes with what the industry has been doing. Wouldn’t have really expected otherwise.

    Now, if I can convince my doc I’m reading AND exercising… then it will all be good. 🙂

  3. Sal says:

    Working in a bookstore, that doesn’t surprise me. Like you pointed out, that size for adult books can be from 15-17 or sometimes I’ve seen them up to 24 for that size in paperback. I’m just glad the YA ones are a bit cheaper. They do have Mass Market YA books which are anywhere from 5.99 -7.99 though. Either way I want that YA book of yours!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      A $24 trade paperback? Ugh! I would have to insanely want a book to pay that much for it. Maybe it’s what I’m reading (mostly YA fantasy) but I haven’t seen that many $7 YA books. It seems like they’re all either $8 or $9.

      But I’m glad you’re looking forward to Touch of Frost — no matter what price it is. LOL.

  4. Erin says:

    I take advantage of my bookstore memberships. A lot of the times I get emails from them with coupons for 20-50% off. I tend to buy the YA books with those coupons simply because they are a bit more pricey and not as long…that discount evens things out though so I don’t mind the price increase.

    I’ve only been reading YA books for the past two years. I dove into it to study how to write for that market. I fell in love with the easy reading and dialog heavy style. I look forward all of your releases this year!

    • Jennifer Estep says:

      Me too. And I usually surf over at Amazon and see what kind of discount they’re offering. Most of the time, it’s actually cheaper to buy the YA and mass market paperbacks someplace like B&N so you can get 10 percent off them …

      Thanks! I appreciate that.

  5. Tia Nevitt says:

    I absolutely can’t wait to read this. Yes, I’m aware that it is a bit more expensive than a MM paperback, but as you pointed out, it is a trade paperback, and therefore is a bit higher quality. So I think of it as being priced LESS because I am comparing it to adult trade paperbacks, not adult MM paperbacks.

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